monkie

Thanks Mo, I now have the X-Eng gearstick lock and the X Defender steering column lock now fitted. I agree, I like the visual deterent effect of the gearstick lock. The X-Eng pedal lock will be fitted in the new year, the power cut off switch fitted tomorrow and the post fitted when I have my drive back shortly. I think that lot would significantly slow a theif down or hopefully make them move on.

I got this one: https://www.landroverdefendersecurity.com/collections/lrd-battery-switches/products/keyed-battery-isolator Not fitted it yet. it seems good to me from the specs but it the concensus is that it is not good I will send it back.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going for the security approach of adding in layers to slow someone down. I had thought that it would be easy to bypass if located in the batterybox, which is why I asked if there are any other ideas on where to locate. So with this in mind I have two ideas: 1- Fit the switch on the bulkhead below the dash on the passenger side and break the positive feed to the starter motor. 2- Fit the switch in the battery box (I prefer to break the earth to the negative battery terminal rather than the positive terminal for safety) but fix a steel box round the switch terminals to block access to bypassing the terminals with a conductive twig from a nearby hedge.

Any tips for fitting the battery isolator? I don't have anything that I am bothered about in terms of needing to be continuously connected. I was thinking of breaking the earth to the battery. Also were would be the best place to fit it so it is out of the way?

@Paddy That is a great looking garage you have. I can only dream of not getting having to crawl around on a dirty floor while freezing just as it starts to rain when working on my 110!

That looks great. I wanted one on my 19J so it looks right and I've also worried about the rubber coolant hose to the heater matrix straying too close to the turbo but was shocked at the price. What exactly is that material and where is it from?

Great song, great advice! Always reminds me of Full Metal Jacket.

When do you plan to next change the oil and filter? I thought you had already dropped the running in oil? I dropped the running in oil after the initial 500 miles on my 19J rebuild then reverted to my normal 6 monthly oil/filter change.

I think there are simple ways round most devices if you are a "professional" thief who knows what to do, its just a case of slowing them down. What I like most about those plates is they are reasonable priced, they don't look out of place (personally I hate bling, alloys, chequer plate etc - that's an argument for another day!) and they also will take the theif by surprise as thy are not visable so it should slow them down increasing the chance they give up if they are just being opportunistic. I'm probably just being tight but if I had won millions on the lottery I still wouldn't be convinced to spend £500 on LR door hinges

I also reckon that galvanised parts, particularly a chassis, let would be theives know that your LR is particularly worth taking.

That's quite a bit of money for some hinges. Wouldn't these do the same job for a fraction of the cost and keep the original look? https://www.landroverdefendersecurity.com/collections/exterior-security/products/door-hinge-security-kit

Thanks for the reply. That's too true unfortunately about violence being used, I really wish these violent types of people the very worst in life. I'm more worried about leaving it at night particularly if I have to stay away in more unsavoury areas. I was particularly impressed by your picture of the pedal lock survining an attempted attack. I've gone over budget but now have a better battery isolator and then the steering column lock, pedal lock and the gear stick lock from X-Eng. I liked the suggestion of the gearstick lock as it is nice and visable and hopefully act as a deterrant. Once I have my drive back when the extension is up I'm going to get the builder to put in that centinal post in my drive then hopefully that that lot should really slow any attempt to steal it. Thanks for the input.

For wave 1, what do you think of my suggestions of the sterring lock, pedal lock and battery isolator?

Such as this one for example? https://www.landroverdefendersecurity.com/products/centinel-c1-security-post This is something I was thinking of for wave 2. At the moment I don't have a drive while my extension is being built.

Good point, I always try to do this at night but when I go to work in my company car and my wife goes to work in her car my LR security has to fight on its own! I like the look of the gear stick lock for overnight or parking up for a few hours. As you say, nice and visable.

I appreciate that this subject is well covered ground, but is very important given all of the things I keep reading on here and else where about Defenders getting stolen has made me want to increase the security of my 110 to make the chances of me keeping my 110 in the event of some scum trying to take it. From searching through this forum I have come to the following conclusions: Trying to increase the secruity of the doors/trying to prevent entry to your LR is not the best use of your money as extra/upgraded locks are easy to get round and may give the impression that you have something inside worth nicking. (I never keep anything inside my 110 for this reason) Security items that you have to remove and put back on aren't ideal as they are a pain for you when you want to actually use your LR and the one time you forget/can't be bothered to put the device on is the time someone comes along and drives it off. X-Eng stuff seems to be highly recommended by a number of people on here, @jeremy996 posted a picture of the X-Eng pedal lock preventing the theft of his LR. Multiple devices are the way forward to really slow would be theives down and make them give up. So with all of the above in mind I think a good starting point for a budget of around £250 would be the X-Eng pedal lock, X-Eng stearing column lock and key opperated battery isolator. Any one have any comments/suggstions please?

Me too. I had exactly this problem recently plus indicators worked fine until I had my rear lights on. I put an extra earth point each side by riveting a nice thick wire to the chassis then connecting all the earths for each side. No more problems.

Even a modern plastic tank must still have a requirement to draw in air to replace the volume of fuel as the level falls in the tank? I've had diesel cars before (in recent years, 10 plate and onwards) that have a light come on the dash if it senses water in the fuel, fairly sure my car now (a 65 plate) has this and it will make the service light come on early. I think it is just an electrode in the fuel filter to let you the filter needs changing. I always try to keep my tank topped up when possible to keep air out.

Yes exactly, fumes. Petrol has a much lower boiling point than diesel so has a greater vapour pressure. Hence you can see the fumes from petrol and it will easily burst into flames if you get a source of ignition near it - where as with diesel you can see any fumes and you have a job to set fire to it with a lit match. If a tank is half full with fuel, the other half of the tank is partly air (with water vapour in it) and partly fuel vapour (fumes). A greater portion of this air/fumes mixture will be fumes in the case of petrol. The reverse is true for diesel hence water condensing from the air in the tank can be a problem if most of the tank is filled with wet air.

This piston (number 1) from the same engine; at first I thought had been hit by something but when I looked more closely I could see it had actually started to melt from a faulty injector. The idea isn't to try and scare you, but just to prepare you for you might find on a 27 year old engine with unknown service history! This engine is now rebuilt and has been in my 110 for coming up to 18 months now. Starts great, no smoke, no oil consumption and keeps up with modern traffic no problem.

Here is a picture of a piston from a 19J I rebuilt. I have seen worse, but if you look at the top of the "V" mark in the piston you can see a crack. Worn bores and rings can also cause high crank case pressure. It is certainly an idea to take the head off atleast to carefully inspect the pistons for cracks. Given it's age and also it is common for this engine to crack pistons, I wouldn't be surprised to see cracks in one or more (even all 4) pistons.

^^^good advice above. The rods are desgined to give. I have done this in the past and managed to bend a push rod, its not as hard to bend a rod as you might think.

Petrol has a much higher vapour pressure than diesel. The greater the vapour pressure of any liquid, the more air will be displaced by that vapour; so as diesel has a much lower vapour pressure than petrol, diesel tanks will have a greater volume of the dead space in the tank filled with air rather than fuel vapour and will get wetter as water in the air condenses. As well as fitting a sedimenter as suggested above it is also a good idea with a diesel (particularly if used infrequently) to keep the tank full so there is less [wet]air present in the tank.

I don't mind helping you out with a parcel, but that's as far as it goes!!

Welcome to the forum. There are few things to check first and report back on. Have you been under it when the engine is running to look for leaks and can you see oil on the floor when you are parked? Give the exterior of the engine a thorough clean and degrease as that will make it so much easier to see where oil is coming from if it is leaking when you take it on the next drive. As you have hinted, these engines do have a reputation for heavy breathing. If you google this engine, you will no doubt read alot of bad press. Looking at the facts, yes it wasn't Land Rover's finest engine, many did have serious problems yours is a late build with all the modifications to help and at 27 years old it is bound to be showing some signs of age and in my opinion is worth giving a chance. Bad ones in the mid 1980s died pretty quickly and I doubt many of the early ones are left now and yours is still here. Simple checks for heavy breathing. When you've been for a run and it has warmed up take the oil filler cap off and see if it's chugging with lots of vapour coming out, is the dipstick still firmly in place. Take the airfilter canister apart and see if the airfilter is clogged with oil, these engines push oil out through the breather pipe and straight into the airfilter. It can kill the engine if you let it get so bad that the airfilter becomes an oil soaked mess. Have a good look at let us know what you find. If you do find signs of heavy breathing then further investigation is needed.