Paul64

It's happened again, but this time worse than before. I was filling up at the garage and couldn't start the Defender up again. As before total electrical power failure, no lights on the dash, nothing. Tried to get my arm down to the starter motor and burnt my arm on the manifold which wasn't too clever. Fuses are all good and full power in both batteries. Strange thing is if I leave the ignition on occasionally the ignition lights glow on then fade again to nothing. When the lights glow on I can get the starter to click but nothing more, when the lights fade the starter is completely dead. Some German guys helped me out by pushing and jump starting the engine which got me home. The only thing that is different compared to last time is a big earthing strap was connected by a mate from the gearbox to the chassis and a new alternator has been installed. Any ideas? Cheers, Paul

It was changed last night by a mechanic I know. It turned out to be a pig of a job as the pump had been off before and some of the nut ends were rounded off. He said he could change an army TD5 pump in about 30 minutes as apparently they are easier to get to, but with all the stuff that needed shifting out of the way on mine the job took about 90 minutes. The bearings had gone completely and the inner face plate had a monster groove in it caused by the rotating wheel as the bearings gradually failed. Nice new pump on now and all seems to be working fine Thanks for all your advice. Paul

Just checked my box of parts and I do have a new spare Bearmach water pump and gasket. My past experience with Bearmach kit has been pretty good so hopefully not far off Airtex.

I have got a spare somewhere but I don't think it is an Airtex

Just had another look at it and to be honest there is probably more that 2mm of play and when I slacked off the belt there was slightly more. I took a short video to demonstrate. No water leakage though. Do you think the play attributable to the water pump bearing? Thanks, Paul

Hi, This morning I heard a strange noise coming from the engine cavity, so I stopped to take a look. The water pump pulley wheel and the viscous fan were not turning symmetrically as if the pulley wheel itself was loose. I stopped the engine and could feel play in the pulley of maybe a couple of millimetres. The bolts holding the pulley on are tight so does that mean that the water pump bearings are failing? Thanks in advance. Paul

Thanks Les, I will have to wait until I get back over the water as the floor bolts are totally rusted over and need cutting off. I did shoot some air down each breather and one hissed back so probably blocked.

Thanks Ralph, Is there a separate breather for the transfer box as I have just had a look and can't see one from underneath?

Thanks Les, I will go to a garden centre tomorrow and get some of that stiffish green plastic coated wire to run along the breathers, just to make sure they are clear.

Thanks, I did watch him do it and the seal seemed like a good tight fit. Do you think a breather blockage could cause this?

The guy that changed it for me said the bearing was in good condition. I have just driven back to the UK which is the first big trip since the seal was changed. I had word from him tonight that I should check the breathers as if blocked could be distorting the seal? Just got to find something long and rigid enough to poke down them, or would you just blow down the pipe? If this doesn't work then I will change the flange as you suggest. The replacement seal was Britpart not OEM. Thanks, Paul

Hi, Seal, felt washer and thread lock nut all replaced but still leaking oil from transfer box. Seems worse on a long trip when everything is hot. As things cool down the oil leak slows. Any ideas? Thanks in advance Defender CSW 200Tdi 1994

A mate of mine in Romania has rerouted the cables away from the ignition to an undisclosed location in his 90 cab. Of course this would only slow someone down, but that's all any of these measures can hope to achieve. I feel gutted for Dave as I know and saw the sweat that went into his 90's rebuild, from the new galvanised chassis up. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine the insurance paying out the true value of the vehicle which makes this a double whammy

Gutted for you and really very sorry to hear this Dave. I hope you do get it back soon especially after all the hard work you have put into it. I think whoever forms the next govt are going to have to take car thieving more seriously as it seems endemic in the UK

Holland tends to be cheaper than Germany, but all continental European countries are more expensive than the UK. Try this [0]=516&postcode=&distance=&pmin=&pmax=&aw[26][min]=&aw[26][max]=&q="]site The Dutch are usually pretty happy to write/chat in English when you contact them too Swap to google chrome and you will automatically be given the option to translate each page detected not to be in English. Cheers

That's a good idea too I bought mine as in Germany at the moment working and didn't want to invest in a second washer. I know some people have a difficult time persuading their partners that a long term overland trip is a good plan. The more home comforts the better and with a portable shower, washing machine, inverter for plug in electrics along with a nice mattress in a roof tent, there's not many 'against' arguments left!

This may appeal to overlanders. I know it's not rufty tufty wash your kit in the river once a month stuff, but if you have the space I can vouch for this. I bought one last month and it does the job well. It's like a big plastic bin with the controls next to the lid on top and the motor and agitator in the base. When on the road you could use it as a dirty linen basket, so the space is not wasted. http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=286600

Now that is a result! I couldn't find the 110 book though? (update:just found it!) I tracked down the washer using your 90 book and found relevant numbers. This is a great resource and very useful - thanks. Ralph did kindly send me the part number discs a few years back, but I couldn't view them as I think it was from an old version of windows. There was a work around but I never managed to get my head around it Cheers

Thanks Errol, it all got a bit confusing as I ordered by the info above that related that number to the felt washer. Ordered the felt washer too now and hopefully will have the oil leak under control soon:) EP90 ain't cheap, so don't like seeing puddles of it on the ground Cheers

Thanks Phil!

Craddock's sent me a 571468 washer but it's made from metal and not felt, or am I missing something? Cheers, Paul

Thanks for the info guys!

Hi, I am looking for some Portofino red paint - Solid (LRC390)but can only find as an aerosol. Does anyone know where I could obtain a tin of this for use with a brush? Thanks in advance, Paul

Some good news to report, no more total electrical failures for 3 days now:) A nice REME mechanic parked my Land Rover in the biggest garage I have seen in my life. It was a bit of a squeeze but we parked it in between two tanks! Anyway, he did several tests and said the diode pack was not working properly on the alternator so changed it with the new one I bought. Instantly the V reading just up to 14V:) He then did a series of tests including the earths. He said both batt neg earths were ok but there was some resistance between the gearbox and the chassis, so he fitted an earth cable between the two. My other electrical gremlin with wiper activating when using lights has now also gone:) Looks like a good result but as always time will tell. Thanks for everyone's help and a very big thank you to the British Army!

Where you planning on buying your paint? I need quite a lot too for a bit of tidying up this spring