John Rae

I know this is well after the original post but I've only just seen it! I used to have this problem a couple of years ago with my 200TDi, but the belt tension always appeared fine so I was a bit flummoxed! Anyway when the water pump failed & we went to replace the belts at the same time, we noticed that there was an awful lot of end float on the power stering pump! Basically the pump was about knackered as a result, but the result of water was that it tended to cause the shaft & pulley to move forward which caused the belt to get out of line and the steering to go almost solid. Since replacing the pump, there has been absolutely no problem whatsoever, well until now as the box is on it's way out, but that's Land Rovers for you!!!

You could go one better!! Equicar's website has a 110 CSW shell (ie no chassis & running gear but with complete interior) for sale in their 'Offers' section that has the NEW 2007 Defender dash set-up in. The picture shows however, the older bonnet so I wonder if this was a development/pre-production vehicle from the factory that got broken up!!