nickwilliams

I think the need for 're-shimming' the LT230 if you change the bearings is over stated. The shims are required to compensate for differences in the machining of the alloy case, but once the shims have been selected during original manufacture, unless you change the case parts I don't see why re-shimming is necessary at all. Any replacement bearings or other steel parts will be machined to tolerances which are at least an order of magnitude better than you can measure in any normal home or motor vehicle repair workshop, so unless you swap any of the alloy parts there is nothing to be gained by messing around with shims. As for re-shimmng the input gear bearing, the mounting plate which provides the pre-load on this bearing is separated from the gearbox case by a fibre gasket. There is therefore absolutely no point in messing about with shims to tolerances of .05mm when a difference in torque of a few NM on the mounting bolts for the bearing carrier will squash the gasket by more than this. Incorrect shimming will not cause the box to disintegrate after 5 miles. If the shims are too small so the bearings are loose the box will probably be noisy (rattly) and if they are too tight it will get hot and whine. Either way, the life of the box will still be at least several thousand miles. The LT230 is not a piece of high precision engineering. From new a box can last for 100,000 or more miles before they need to be replaced and you can bet that the tolerances on the bearings are nowhere near +/- 0.05mm near when it's done that sort of milage, yet they rarely (if ever) fail catastrophically. Nick.

Some people are more sensitive to it than others. Lots of good info on the risks from iso-cyanate paints and how to deal with them on the HSE web site. Nick.

AA/RAC use the 150A rated ones and 25mm sq cable in their roadside assistance vehicles. You really don't need 350A unless you plan to be jump starting bulldozers, trucks or large farm machinery. Nick

Is this what you were thinking of? Nick.

At risk of being accused of stating the bleeding obvious, can I just point out that the 3500 kg max. towing weight is only applicable if the trailer is rated for it. If the trailer itself has a lower rating then the weight is limited to whatever the trailer is rated for. Another point which is often missed (and is not actually relevant here but I will say it so the information is all in one place) is that if the towing vehicle has a lower towing weight, the RATED towing weight of the trailer must not exceed the towing capacity of the towing vehicle. In other words, it is technically illegal to tow a trailer rated for 3500 kg behind a vehicle which is only rated for 2500 even if the actual combined weight of trailer plus load is less than 2500kg. I'm not sure this gets enforced very often, but it is the law! Nick.

What does the voltage sensitive switch in the heated rear window circuit actually do? I realise that it switches the chassis side of the relay through which the rear window heater element is supplied with 12V and hence can turn the rear window heater on and off, but the service manual and circuit diagram give no clue as to why it is actually there. Is it simply to ensure that the heated rear window only comes on when the engine is running? It seems an expensive way to solve that problem if that's all it does. Any one got any good ideas?

A gas lens is an insert which goes in the torch and produces laminar flow of the shielding gas. This increases the effectiveness and accuracy of the shield, and is particularly good for high precision short range work. Easy enough with the right wire and an argon based shielding gas, but you need plenty of power. Not easy with cheapy welders which only have disposable CO2 gas cartridges and low power. Nick.

Have you got the gauge connected to the low fuel light warning switch terminal instead of the fuel gauge sender terminal? Working from the rear of the tank, the three terminals are earth (black wire), low fuel warning light (white/slate wire) and gauge sender (green/black wire). If you have got the wires on the wrong terminals you could get the effect you are seeing. Nick.

Only 3 now! Nick.

Be aware that it's not just a case of whether they will fit when the vehicle is sitting still. They also have to still fit when the suspension is at maximum and minimum extensions while moving at speed. The consequences of them being too long or short in these circumstances should be obvious! Nick.

He sold them to me, and I know he was moving house so he may have missed your message. I've not seen them yet (except as a photo) - they have been collected by a friend of mine close to him and I'll be getting them in a month or so. I'll report here on fitting them when I've done it. Nick.

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=59192 I've not actually got 'em yet, mind, but I've had a look under the bonnet of my next-door-neighbour;'s 10 plate 90 and so far as I can see the fixings are identical to the ones on my 1990 vehicle. Nick.

My 16L 300tdi engine came complete with air filter and pipework, but until today, I had not realised that the air intake is on the driver's side of the vehicle whereas on the 19J it's on the passenger side. (doh!) Obviously there is a range of options, including making the correct size and shape of hole in my OS wing to allow the intake to be moved across (less than completely satisfactory since the orientation of the intake will be wrong, and the hole is an irregular shape with a rebated edge which will be a PIA to re-create) through to obtaining a OSF wing from a newer vehicle. One option is to fit a snorkle. I had not previously intended to do this since I think they are largely bling and I wasn't going to waste my money. However, if it's an alternative to spending money on a new wing and simply involves drilling a round hole in the top of the wing and routing the intake pipe up to it, it starts to look a lot more like a sensible option. What have others done in similar circumstances? Is there a fairly simple option which does not involve major metal work modifications or expense on new parts? Does anyone make a snorkle which does not mate to the wing side intake but goes straight through the wing top, and if not, which snorkle option would be the best one to start from to make such a set up? Nick.

My chassis came with holes in the right places in it already. I've been told that some MOT testers do not like brake pipes to be secured with cable ties, although frankly I see them as no less secure than the plastic clips used as original equipment by LandRover. I suppose there is an issue with the need to stop the pipes from moving or vibrating due to varying pressure loads, particularly on ABS systems. Where I think I would agree there is a problem is with the pipes being secured by being tied to other 'services', or where other items (wiring etc) are secured by being tied to the brake pipe. Apart from anything else, this makes it difficult to properly inspect the brake pipes and I can understand that being a no-no. Nick.

OK, I understand now. Yes, the equivalent part for the 300tdi is ERR2344.

I don't think that part number can be correct - it should have four numbers, not three. Do you mean ERR2344 ("Washer-sealing", item No. 28 in drawing B238 of parts book STC9021)? Nick.

All different metals have the potential for electrolytic corrosion. Even different types of galvanising will corrode differently from one another. Zinc plated nutserts are available but they have a miniscule thickness of zinc over plain steel so I've taken the view that stainless ones will last longer than zinc plated ones even if some corrosion takes place. As I see it, it's whether the bolt has rusted to the nut which makes the difference as to how difficult they are to undo later, not whether the nutsert has corroded in the chassis. I'll be using stainless screws in them so there should be less corrosion where it really matters. I can't make the entire vehicle out of exactly the same material so it's a case of choosing the least worst available combination. I did some reading around and asked a couple of metallurgists and their response was that using stainless would certainly be no worse than using thinly galvanised steel. And everything is being slathered in paint, Waxoil, CopperEase or a combination of the three as it goes together. Nick.

My chassis (300 tdi Defender 90 standard) came from Marsland with all the holes for the brake pipe clips in it already. In fact, I was told that it is a genuine GKN chassis which Marsland have had galvanised. I'd be very reluctant to drill holes which will compromise the galvanising. Instead, I'm putting M5 stainless nutserts in the holes and using stainless P clips to fasten the pipe. IME, while cold galv. paints are better than nothing, they are certainly no substitute for hot dip galvanising. Nick.

Now that's interesting. I found myself with the wrong kit of bits for the idler pulleys so I had to make a bush and washer and replace the bolt that holds them into place so that's got to be a prime candidate. Is the gasket anything fancy? I make most of my own gaskets but if it's a special item then I'll need to order it along with a new crank case seal. Nick.

I did not disturb the camshaft seal. Before I changed the timing belt, there was no (significant, at least) leak. I don't recall if the part was OEM or not, TBH, and I no longer have the packaging.

I replaced the timing belt on my 300 tdi engine a few weeks ago, including replacing the front crankshaft oil seal and the idlers. This weekend was the first opportunity to run the engine since and I find that oil is fair tiddling out of the timing case breather plug hole. It's inevitable that I'm going to have to take it apart again to cure it, but before I do would anyone care to comment as to whether this is likely to be anything other than a case of replacing and correctly seating the front crankshaft oil seal? Is there anything else which might cause a gross oil leak out of the timing case? FWIW, the leak only occurs when the engine is running - it does not leak a drop when stationary. Nick.

Who sells a simple ROPS for a Defender 90? All I want is an interior hoop (with braces). Are there any designs out there so I don't have to invent my own? (and, before anyone says it, yes I do trust my welding that much). Nick.

I don't personally see much advantage in these since IME by far the most unreliable part of the 'traditional' lights is the connection between the holder and the bulb. If I'm not going to be able to get a completely solid state lamp which looks like the original UK spec one's I'm just going to buy a set of standard lamps and holders and make sure there is plenty of silicone grease on the electrical connections when I put them on the vehicle. Nick.

So far, no reply from Bolt On Bits about returning the lights if I don't like them. Has anyone tried these which BoB are selling via e-bay but do not appear to be in their own web shop? Or these? Are these the Le Perie ones from Bearmach mentioned by Litch? How do NAS lamps differ from the UK spec ones fitted to my 1990 90? Are they just bigger, and if so, does any one make/sell LED lights which are the 'normal' size? Nick.

I obviously don't know exactly what you are trying to do, but can you achieve what you want to with one of the Durite 0-728-02 relays and a pair of diodes? I have one of the Durite 0-728-02 and could do a quick experiment with it if you tell me what you want. Farnell list lots of different types of latching relay in their catalogue. Note that many of these are from the 'extended' range, which means they have to come from the US so they cost a significant amount extra on postage. However, using their catalogue you may at least be able to identify a part which you can look for elsewhere. You are probably looking for a 'dual coil' latching relay. IME this sort of thing tends to be more common in the US - European and Japanese designers tend to use a clever bit of electronics to solve this sort of problem (per the e-bay item you identified) whereas Merkins use electromechanical devices. You may struggle to find anything cheaper than the e-bay item you listed, particularly taking into account how long you might have to spend looking! NIck.