DaveSIIA

I could be worth cracking the joint on the feed pipe to each injector. Do one at a time to identify which cylinder(s) has (have) no significant effect. One cylinder just confirms the location of the problem, while two adjacent cylinders suggest the head gasket has failed between them. Either way, the head will need to come off to make further progress.

Are the con rods still fitted? These are frequently marked with the cylinder/journal number and might give you a clue. However, all the parts are interchangeable as it is unlikely to be a high stress, high performance engine.

The Rover P4 has been done before, and (IIRC) is a direct replacement for the Rover diff assembly. Main issue is finding a serviceable pair. Alternatively, the 3.9 crown wheel and pinion might build into a 10 spline RRC diff with a thin spacer between the crown wheel and carrier to compensate for the slightly smaller diameter of the pinion. Don't know much about the MGB diff and never heard it mentioned as a source of components before.

Four speed ZF: fit the torque converter to the box and then fit the lot to the engine. IIRC, there is a hole in the engine back plate through which to access the torque converter bolts.

The photo's show the sequence. That's all you need to do to remove the forward casing. The rear one can stay put.

Now the box is out, I would do a partial stripdown to correct the problem and assure yourself it has been fixed properly. LT77/R380 boxes are easy enough to work on if you take your time and pay attention to detail, so this should not be a reason avoid investigating. Detailed manuals can be downloaded from the net. Most of the gears are in the forward half of the box, the casing of which can be removed by undoing the bolts through the centre plate and also removing the guides for the gear selectors. Stand the box with the input shaft end up and lift the casing off. You will have a good, clear view how everything sits. The aft end (5th & reverse) is a bit more awkward to get to as you need to pull off a collar before you can remove the housing. Reassemble with RTV silicon sealant on the joints. HTH

You have successfully removed the transfer box input gear. Time to check the splines on the main box output shaft for wear. Also check the splines on the input gear while it is in your hand and that it is cross drilled (has big holes through it to let oil in to the splines). The vehicle will go nowhere while the input gear is missing. You can safely run up the engine and check for noises in all 5 forward gears and reverse.

(ex) 5th gear on a R380 (300Tdi Defender).

My 300Tdi 110 has a similar earth lead arrangement, which is how it left the factory. One end goes to the negative terminal on the battery and the other has a ring terminal which is clamped to one of the studs on the gearbox/transfer box joint. The third terminal on the lead (a tag with a hole in) is fastened to the chassis by one of the gearbox cross member bolts. The gearbox and chassis terminals have star washers either side of them to help clean the contact patches. The main starting current is direct from the battery to the engine gearbox assembly, while the lower currents for running vehicle circuits (lights, fan, HRW, stereo, etc) are handled through the chassis connection. My experience has been that the chassis terminal is subject to vibration of the thick cable, which tends to break the soldered joint. The circuit becomes reliant on a poorly formed slack joint, leading to strange earth related electrical faults (stereo turning off when headlights flashed, etc). The solution is to run an additional earth strap between the gearbox and chassis points.

The brakes should be bled with the adjusters backed off fully (pistons pulled right back in to the cylinders). This gives the least volume in which to trap air and makes bleeding much easier. Once you have bled all the air from the circuit, then set about adjusting the shoes and centring them in the drums.

The main and transfer boxes are two separate assemblies. Taking the top off the main box won't help with your transfer box problem. For my ten penneth, I would remove the transfer box and strip it down to examine the rest of the bearings, etc. Beware though that the cost of a full set of bearings could mount up quickly against the cost of a recon box. There may be greater peace of mind with a properly recon'd box. Alternatively, pick up a known good second hand box (not that expensive) to keep you mobile while deciding your next move.

I've done 300Tdi and 2.5NAD valve stem seals without taking the head off. As Aragorn says, make sure the cylinder you are working on is at TDC. Remove the rocker shaft. Compress the valve spring with a home made tool (lightly load the spring cap and give it a tap with a hammer to unstick the collets). Fully compress the spring and extract the collets - a magnetic retriever is handy for this. Remove spring and cap, extract seal. Fit new seal and reinstall the collets (tweezers or fine nosed pliers are useful) - don't drop a collet into the engine! Put it all back together and set tappet clearances The home made valve spring compressor was a length of 50mm angle that I had lying around, with a ~20mm (IIRC) hole drilled to go over the valve stem. Other holes allowed me to drop a bolt through in to a rocker shaft bolt hole for a bit of purchase. It's a bit fiddly working through a hole, but a lot quicker than removing the head. IIRC, the valve to piston clearance is ~1mm, so the valve can't drop far so long as the piston is at TDC.

Front calipers and vented brake discs are the same for 90 & 110 from late 200Tdi (LA something or other) onward. Corresponding rear calipers and discs are different between 90 & 110. Don't know what the difference is, other than part numbers (might be the way that the caliper fits to the bracket on the 110 axle requires fitment of a different caliper and disc). Would it not make sense to stick with the standard parts as the bulk of the braking effort is at the front?

FRC8386 RRC >09/88 (non-cat); Disco 1; Defender 300Tdi/Td5 (MA>1A VIN). I used the RRC front prop when I fitted a BW in place of the LT230 on my 300Tdi 110. The reverse would seem to apply for your swap.

Gearbox crossmember off; skate gearbox in under the vehicle; lift and bolt in to place; refit gearbox crossmember and support gearbox; refit engine. I suspect the weight and length of the gearbox would make a combined engine/gearbox lift somewhat unbalanced. It could be difficult to manoeuvre within the confines of the engine bay and chassis.

The vacuum pump that feeds the servo tends to be past its best by ~120-150k miles, reducing servo assistance. Probably worth teeing in to the servo hose and checking the pressure (and how quickly it restores after brake application). The pump is an easier fix than replacing the servo. All the other stuff about discs, pads, fluid all being in good order still applies.

The advice Marslands gave to me for rebuild of my IIA on one of their chassis was to fit the rear tub and adjust the bulkhead to suit - washers/shims to set door aperture width and then adjust the alignment.

Possibly worth checking the tyre pressures first - a zero cost option.

I would hazard a guess at a starter motor for a petrol engined Series Land Rover.

I've noticed a slight increase in fuel consumption of my 300Tdi during the winter months (every fill up, mileage/quantity/cost have been logged for the past 12.5 years). The vehicle does a regular run from the Peak District to Glasgow & back most weeks. Fuel usage on that run increased by ~10% from November, which I have put down to winter fuel additives. The vehicle is regularly serviced and there are no electronics to interfere with the fuelling, so not a lot to change there. Interestingly, consumption improves during the summer months.

Does the engine get warm and the heater work? If not, then the problem may lie elsewhere. The first test suggested by Western is quick and simple. However, I found a bit of an oddity with the temperature gauge on my 1994 (95MY) 300Tdi 110. The needle has a habit of sticking at the bottom of the scale on cold days. It has done so since I bought the vehicle in 1997. The solution (for mine) is to tap the front of the gauge and then the needle responds normally.

As Dave W has noted, the Td5 110 brakes are pretty efficient as standard. You should already have vented disks up front. I used to run a td5 110 CSW with a Jeremy Fearn stage 2 tune and that was reasonably brisk for a large bus. Standard discs and Mintex pads worked fine. Braking performance was let down by the BFG MT's (particularly in the wet). A change to General Grabber AT2 was a big step forward. Make sure that all the brake components - discs, pads, calipers, lines/hoses, master cylinder and fluid - are all in good order. There is no point in expecting good brake performance from worn discs & pads or old brake fluid. Standard pads (AP Lockheed, Ferodo, Mintex brands) are up to quite enthusiastic driving but will fade sooner than EBC. Also, the suspension needs to be in good order so check for worn bushes and tired shock absorbers.

The attached file shows the wiring diagram for the Maplin central locking kit. In this circuit, the switch in a master unit (actuator motor & switch) pulls either the brown or white wire to ground (black) to operate the other units. The alarm system would need to have two outputs which can pull the brown or white wires to ground on receipt of a lock/unlock command (can't remember which way round). You may need to arrange relays to interface the alarm and achieve this, but the wiring won't be difficult. Other systems are of generally similar operation. I had a SPAL system on my old Td5 110CSW which was wired the same as the Maplin system. That linked directly to the factory alarm so that the remote armed/disarmed the alarm and operated the door locks. If it is an aftermarket alarm then you may find some wiring information on the internet. The factory alarm may require poking around in the RAVE manuals and monitoring circuits with a meter, or a visit a tame auto electrician. Maplin Central Locking YD77.pdf

Measure the voltage from each terminal of the battery condition monitor to a good earth (battery -ve terminal). If there is anything between the negative terminal and earth then you have a grounding problem. However, if the good earth to positive of the battery monitor is less than the battery voltage you have poor contacts in the supply side (master fuse box, ignition switch, etc). Test is best done with as much electrical load as possible switched on. Measure alternator, battery and auxillary circuits under the same load conditions. HTH

There's still a little across the Peak. The plough turned round at the Cat & Fiddle, so the road towards Macclesfield was impassable. On the return journey, snow had blown back in to the road even though the plough was ~10 minutes ahead of me. Minor roads and back lanes are even more entertaining. No need to go looking for lanes when the tarmac ones offer some interesting opportunities.