Oakmaster

Door locks Puma 110 CSW I was wondering if anybody knows of an easy way of easing / freeing-off the central door locking mechanism, My second row door locks have become very stiff, (to operate manually) to the point where they might unlock on the key fob, – but they never lock. And if you are not paying attention – you can leave the car open (and I often have) Is there a way I can sort this without having to take the door cards off?

"tying the landy to a lamp post as I didn't trust the handbrake"... Great Idea - BTW have used the strop round telegraph pole more than once - with great sucess, Reverse LOW Box for the 'Quick and Dirty' fix, and a Tirfor or Lever hoist for the more 'sophisticated' re-alighinment

I'd love to know the answer to that too - and a recomednation for an easy (easy for mechanically challenged peopel like me) to fit oil pressure guage kit

Blimey - Harsh or what! Im glad it doesent happen on this forum

Sadly my experience with 2 new defenders is that Land-Rover ltd are not in the least bit interested in your problems, even more so if your vehicle is a Defender, which to them is an inconvenient embarrassment, in their world of quasi 4x4s like freeloaders and revokes. I have only ever had one response from Land-Rover ‘service’ The idiot said something amazing like: “Thank you for your letter which your father must have written for you", I’m not sure what she was trying to imply, but as my father had been dead for about 30 years I was far from impressed You have 2 choices: Make a real nuisance of your self, in person, in the dealership, and embarrass them into doing something before you deter all their other customers Or Start writing letters – To everybody, CAB, trading standards, TV shows, all the motoring press, not just the land-rover ones, the motoring correspondents of all the broadsheets, cc-in the dealership. Keep to the facts, and when something is an observation or your opinion make sure that you state that it is your opinion. If you stick to the truth, then they have no action against you. Twitter it and Facebook it - stick to the truth As cackshifter said: There can only be defamation if anything untrue is stated, and as recent events have proved, it can be libellous. But if it's provably true there is no libel no matter how bad it is. And Nick Williams link to Honest John is very useful too. I hope it all works out for you

In the end we opted for the Push Button option, I now have a neat switch filling the hole on the lower right hand side of the steering column shroud (where there used to be a grommet) I take the point about the lock barrel continuing to deteriorate, (I’m very disappointed by the continued use of poor quality components by Land-Rover – Its no longer in warranty, but I did have to call them out many times due to starting / relay problems when it was) I had the same lock failure problem with a Stage 1 V8 which for many years I started by touching a loose wire to the red power socket on the dash, the ignition switch lasted about 5 years longer (and about 6 months longer than the chassis!) Thanks for the replies

Should I replace my dying Jump starter with a Proper Battery, or buy another Jump starter? A few years back I was given a ancient ride-on mower with a knackered battery, so rather than shell out £40 for new (small) battery I spent the same on a booster pack, not so convenient (for mowing), but much more useful. Sadly the booster pack has died, (basically the charging gubbins has failed) and now I'm faced with buying a replacement. At the moment Im re-charging it through the leads with a battery charger - its OK - but it made me thing I may as well buy a serious Battery and put it in a box. (and with 5 dubious Land-rover products to start-up) I was wondering what to get, I have jump leads and chargers – (and torches and compressors! so I dont need any cheapo combos - the jack-off of all trades) so what is the down side of a simple Battery? I might even put it in a ply box with jump leads, and a charger. I was thinking of a Clarke Jump starter 4000? Or spending the same on a battery? (No doubt I've overlooked something obvious so I'd welcome all advice and opinions? Thanks

My 09 Plate 110 CSW let us down in a theme park car-park on new year’s eve. Failure of the ignition switch – wont turn into the last position (the one that fires up the starter motor) I thought we could fish out the relevant wires and connect them to a Starter button, (momentary push to make) ( I did the same thing to my 1983 Stage one V8 - actually just a wire which got touched to the red plug onnthe dash) I have 2 questions Is there any reason Not to do this? Which are the wires I need (colours, main and trace) actually make that 3 questions - how much current are we talking about - ie what do I rate the push button? Thanks

The immersion heater idea is a good one - But you can buy these ready made in the USA for about $40 - I have a couple (no idea where sadly! - bought about 10 yrs ago) The USA ones are designed to heat coolant suyatems in cars and pick-up in the USA - some chilly parts of the US even have mains outlets in the same poles as parking meters - so you can plug in your block heater while you go to the diner / coffe shop / bar (you can also get a form of immersion that goes in the oil dip-stick holes to heat the block) "Just remember to unplug the cable before driving away" - I have found (the hard way) that the best way to do this is to thread it throug the steering wheel!!

Shame about LRO, I was a subscriber for years - then got fed-up when they printed that stupid review of wheel braces, none of which would fit a Landrover, was thinking of re-starting, but this has really put me off.

It would seem that the "idiot guy that "gave" his car to someone to sell..." really lost out - seems he got nothing! I personally would not buy anything from a dealer conviceted of such an obvious fraud - how could you believe anything they said? did anybody see anything about this in the various Land-Rover Magazines? (or maybe they were too worried about losing advertising revenue?)

"they need to see a permanent bed/folding bed, sink, wardrobe and windows." this is similar to what they told me, but the wanted an installed cooker too, the Wardrobe bit cracked me up - but they will allow 'storage' instead - But Lifting roof, cooker, table, but no bed- Not a camper.

Update: Rain on top of sheet ice this morning (in thick mist) Interesting but intact! Thanks for all the contributions above - since first posting this thread (back in March) the 'girlfrend' has become the wife - There are pictures in the last issue of legend - the seires one club magazine! she has swapped 'wont go anywhere' Beemer for 'might go somewhere' Beemer - I would love to hear more on people's experience with defender sized Winter Tyres - though I'm not sure anything would have made any difference this morning. Cheers

I'm lucky enough to have a Puma 110 CSW XS – its my 7th 110 and like all the others, a thing of beauty. When I bought it the snorkel was already fitted, so I assumed that the Silly whistling and wailing noise (that goes up and down with the throttle opening) was an unfortunate by product of the snorkel. Most people wonder if we are being pursued by the police, or are being followed by an ambulance. Last week I drove one of our works Transits, I've often driven them before, but never noticed the Silly whistling and wailing noise, maybe it was the journey – or maybe that patticular vehicle, but plainly it’s the TDCi engine that the Transit and the 110 have in common. Why does it do this whistling and wailing? and can it be cured?

Ive been looking at a simialr thing with a VW (which has been entrusted to us for a while) - It was a panel van - converted to camper, - but V5 not revised - there is stuff on the DVLA site that says what they want to see, Bed Storage Cooker etc this is so true> s eems Swansea can do anything, but it depends entirely on how lucky you are with who reads your letter.

I for one would be very pleased to hear from anyone having experience of snow socks?

I should have clarifed - this was at less than 20 MPH

Does ABS make it worse? I slid for about approximately 300 metres (or yards – if you prefer – approximately!) down our hill this morning on a layer of frost – I have a 110 Puma XS – the ABS was chuntering away but it didn’t seem to slow us up. (But we did go in a stright line) Normally I head for the verge and that slows me up just fine! - today I decided to see how far before I stopped Whilst I’m not a luddite, nor a great believer in old wives tales, I’m starting to wonder if the persistent rumours about ABS are true, and that in slippery conditions (Mud, ice, and snow) the ABS makes things worse! My previous 110 CSWs 300 Tdi and Td5 (Both W/O ABS) seemed to be better? Could this be true? I may have missed something obvious (and not for the first time!) If it were to be true, is there an easy way to turn the ABS on or off? Thanks

Its a big thumbs up for the Puma, I too have had most of the 110 variants (and I still have a 1989 vintage 110 V8 for 'proper landrovering' - and a series and a series two so I can breakdown, get cold, wet, and cramped, - Land-Rovers are ICONIC – Toyotas are for ‘other people’) I went from a lovely Td5 to my Puma and was knocked out by the increase in comfort, driveability, handling etc. (I had to keep asking people if i was imagining it) 3 yrs on I'm still thrilled, the heater heats, the air con cools. The speed limiter has become less and less effective, (occasionally it hesitates at about 85)and I regularly have it sitting at 90 MPH with no problem. I no longer need the GKN (I really thought they were fantastic when they worked!) I hate that transit dash, but mud rails fix the legroom problem (in a 110 CSW but leave me very pi**ed off when back in the cramped by comparison V8 Truck cab)

With apologies to the moderatrors - this probabaly should be somewhere else on the site.

VW Landrover Hybrid Hotrod Have a look at this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120996438438?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 is this a good laugh or pure Sacrilege?

It doesnt help that they are short, and in std form pitch back and forwards

Does anybody have any experience of, or advice on the Bearmach Torro Overdrive

Id agree with this - its been my experience - both for the cause - and the fix - tedious but (so far) its worked

I got 90,000 and 110,000 (staggering but true) for the front and rear pairs on my late wife’s 300 Tdi 90. From Michelin M&S 235 / 70 -16 I replaced them with a set of Pirelli STs because they came out top for braking in an LRO test – they lasted about a week! And I got 70,000 from a set of Goodrich commercials 235 / 85 -16s on my 110 300 Tdi CSW (they didn’t look very ‘Kool’ and were not ‘Mudders’ ) I don’t mean to Hi Jack this thread but as an aside – I’d be interested to hear any recommendations for a 110 Pick-up tyre ( I say 110 Pick-up because of the negligible contribution made by the rear brakes) I want to Go in the Snow and stop in the rain