Matthew

Thanks (once again) Western! Very useful info as usual! Matt

Hi all.. Would anyone happen to possess a wiring diagram for a 200TDi defender ignition barrel? After drilling out the shear bolts the barrel dropped pulling 2 cables out from the spade connections on the back..and now I don't know which way round they go! Plus, not knowing what they do I don't/didn't really want to connect it up and see what happens!! Any help much appreciated! Thanks, Matt

Hi Jim, I can't remember the year they changed to disc's but certainly 84-90 were drums.....hope that helps! Matt

Hi All.. When leaving the pub last night, I tried starting my 90 and it would seem the ignition barrel has failed. You put the key in and the first few movements are ok, it turns the ignition on, the aftermarket immobiliser turns off etc. when you go to start the engine the key would normally move further round (to engage starter motor) and then back to the normal on/running position - with mine the key moves round further but nothing happens, if you give it a bit of a wiggle when going back to the on/normal running position it sometimes starts! I am assuming the ignition barrel is at fault here, but you know what they say about assumption! If it is at fault, can anyone point me in the direction of a cheap source and maybe a tech thread on replacement? Thanks, Matt

Thanks for that! had it been in there much longer I really don't think i'd have got it running again! as it turns out, i've done 2 oil changes tonight, one with some engine clearner, and its running perfect!! Going to do a few miles in it tomorrow and change the oil again then hopefully it'll be good for some more wading.........obviously after some further waterproofing!! Thanks again!!

No worries, will send over ASAP.. Managed to fill the engine up in one of the holes near the main "pit" wasn't too far from the vehicle with large mast so maybe he got some nice shots!!! we realised there was a slight issue when oil was being forced out the exhaust...... Looking at the vehicle the only place I can see where it would've gone in (water in place of oil, not air) is the breathers from the air box to the cylinder head and the sump. Everything else (snorkle, gearbox, axles etc etc) have extended breathers, but looks like the duck-bill valve on the end of the air box may have a small leak. Unless anyone else can suggest another way of water getting directly into my sump, pushing the oil out the exhast, but not causing enough damage to stop the engine?? As for the tyre coming off the rim........I knew I bought some staun beadlocks for some reason.....really should get round to fitting them!!!!!

Great day out...although I did manage to fill my sump with nasty muddy water....!? so much so it was pushing the oil out of the exhaust!! After a little trip home on the AA truck (told them i'd been greenlaning and had breaking issues) I drained out all the nasty creamy "oil" and changed the filter (knew i had a spare for some reason!) filled it back up with some very cheap diesel oil, started it and it seems to run fine!! Tested the oil after about 5 minutes of running and its still very very creamy, will try some of the oil additive cleaner stuff and give it another couple of oil changes before I take it anywhere!! Anyway...here's some pic's; (the first is what it looked like when the AA turned up...after a bit os a scrub!) ..I was over the moon when this happened, had only been on site for 5 minutes! do have some more if you want them fridge? matt

I'll be there! Haven't been to bunny lane for a good long while now... quite looking forward to it!! See ya there! Matt

4x4's... LR 90 (is there anything else?) Lancia Delta HF Integral EVO2 Non-4x4.. Renualt Clio (Sold) Nissan Almera (Sold..thank god!) Alfa Romeo GT New Mini convertable (SWMBO's) My other toys include.. 125cc pit bike Yamaha Super Jet 600cc Stand-up Jet Ski Kawasaki 750cc SXi Stand-up Jet Ski (now pushing out over 100hp....it only weighs 120Kg's!!) Brig Eagle 500TC Sports RIB SWMBO's dad has a nice collection...Scammel Explorer, Classic Volvo Artic (used for transporting his 115yr old classic yacht!), S1 bought new by family, 1986 90 station waggon, lovely V8 110 and some others! SWMBO is currently trying to get me to build her a pink rag-top 90....when she lets me have a workshop big enough she can have one!! Really want to buy a nice S2 or S3 but just haven't got the room for it...........or the money!! Thanks, Matt

6 for me please....and a couple of T shirts if possible! will send SAE... Thanks, matt

Who's the luckyboy then!! I think it may take me until after next Ladoga to save up for some portals!? I would only want someone with experiance to do the axle swap, don't think it's worth spending that sort of money unless its done right!! It is definitely something I would like to fit in the future, was following you back from Slab Common (I was the idiot with my fog light on because my rear driving lights shorted out!) the profile of your truck looks fantastic! I would love to know how it performs on and off road, i've got about a million questions..maybe at the next shire event you might like a nice warm cup of tea and a few hobnobs in exchange for some portal wisdom?

Hi Fridge, If you don't mind my asking.....how much should one put aside for such a modification? just a rough estimate...hopefully it'll put me off for a bit longer!? Northern Chris did tempt me by mentioning Jez may have a set of 303 axles, already modified to go straight on a 90...but that was some time ago... Thanks, matt

Oh how I would love portals! :wub:

I couldn't agree more, just goes to show quite how detached from reality our current government really is!! Matt

Ladies and Gents, Number 10 are considering restricting the use of classic/older vehicles, see extract below taken directly from the number 10 website... "Several EU proposals across the years are dangerous to the classic car movement. One that has been under consideration is to ban the use of cars older than 10 years. Similarly, Edinburgh City Council is considering the banning of cars over 15 years old from the town centre. These, and similar, proposals directly threaten the classic car movement, and encourage the manufacture of new cars, with the attendent environmental issues of sourcing raw materials, manufacturing, distriuting and scrapping the spiralling supply of new vehicles." You can sign an "e-petition" to reject any proposals to ban or restrict the use of older cars by clicking here: Classic Car Petition Thanks, Matt

No harm done David! Its good sharing purchasing experiances (its certainly one thing the forum is very useful for!) and I always like to hear peoples perception of both our products, and sometimes more importantly our competitors. Thanks, Matt

Yes but probably not to the same extent, I don't know exactly what materials make up an Optima's plate but with Odyssey and Lifeline they use a 99.9% pure lead plate, which means the resistance is lower and therefore the point at which the alternator stops charging will be extended, but probably only to about 85-90%. Thanks, Matt

Hi Jim and Tony, Thanks for the comments, I actually had some 3 degree arms perviously before I changed my axles and the setup seemed to work well (but thanks for the offer to try a set jim) The main reason I wanted to know about the effect of using the 6 degree arms is because I know a mate that has some nice ones kicking around that I can buy fairly cheap, but saving £50 or so isn't worth having the worng suspension set up IMHO. Thanks again guys! Matt

Personally I wouldn't use Optima, the technology went out with the ark! Both Odyssey and Concorde (manufacturers of Lifeline) were developing that technology in the early 80's, they both dropped the spiral wound cell design because independantly they both realised it was not the way forward! Nice to see Western's got himself some decent batteries! You really can't go wrong with Odyssey, I've got 1x PC2150 under my passenger seat in my 90, running lights and winch plus all the normal vehicle electrics, when I get round to fitting my rear winch I'll fit another PC2150 and have loads of power!! If the optima is showing 11v its definitely suspect! a new AGM battery should show 12.8-12.9V after a full charge and long resting period (ideally for best results leave to rest for 3-4 hours, yes we are still talking about batteries not cakes!) Thanks, Matt

This Sinergex 10amp is not a charger I've used personally (because I can borrow our workshop chargers at work) but we haven't had back and we've sold a good number of them. All customer feedback has been extremely positive. It won't have a problem being connected with the load applied providing the load is stable (no large motors stopping and starting etc). Thanks, Matt

Hi rtbarton, Sounds as if you've got the right battery for the job, yes the Sinergex 10A unit should be fine, the only possible problem may be the batteries charge acceptance rate (I.e. the battery cannot accept that much power in that short time period) but you should be fine. They all start off well but like capacity retention, this also deteriorates with time. Charging systems and batteries themselves have become much more efficient over time, 10% is pretty much the norm now but historically it has been much much worse!! Thanks, Matt

Hi, I've recently changed my axles for 24spline versions and i now want to get some caster correction arms for the new axles (which are obviously 45mm rather than 38mm) I'm running a 3inch lift at the moment, not really any plans to get any higher but certainly won't be going any lower! I've looked at the QT versions and they offer 3 degree for 2 inch lifts and 6 degree correction for 4 inch lifts. Which would be better to fit and why? What problems could I run into with too much correction? Has anyone else used 6 degree arms with a 3 inch lift? What effect would running the 3 degree arms give? (On and off road) What effect would running the 6 degree arms give? (On and off road) Thanks for any advice given. Matt.

Hi rtbarton, Amp hours are effectively how much power you have stored in the battery. If you have a 100A/H 12volt battery you effectively have 100A/H available to you. That means you could have a 1amp draw connected to the battery for 100hours and the battery would be 100% discharged at the end of it, however it is not recommended to discharge a battery further than 50% of its rated capacity, otherwise you drastically shorten the number of total cycles the battery can offer. See this graph for Lifeline AGM's So your 100A/H battery only actually has 50 useable ampere-hours, ampere-hours are only really useful to someone who wants to run a piece of equipment for a length of time, the battery for this type of application would be known as a deep cycle battery, ideal for expedition vehicles. (See:Lifeline AGM Batteries) If you want to start engines you need a starting battery, which will have a lower A/H capacity but much much higher CCA (cold cranking amps). (Small Odyssey Batteries) Most normal batteries are somewhere between the two, known as a multi purpose battery. These are fine for starting your car and running the interior light and the radio for the short amount of time when you don't have the engine running. (See: Merlin Power Pack ) If you want to batteries for a winch challenge truck you need one that can produce extremely high instant power for getting winches going (High CCA) but also one that can withstand winching for a long time with the engine at idle (High A/H). The only battery that I have found able to do this effectively for a long period of time is the large batteries in the Odyssey range. (See: PC2150 and PC2250) Batteries are also not an exact science, if you remove 9A/H's you will have to put 10 back in to be at the same level as you were before you removed 9! You can find more info on battery technology here Battery Info Pack I hope this is useful, if you have any other questions please don't hesitate to contact me! Thanks, Matt

PM Sent. Thanks, Matt

Hi Smo, Ring only re-brand other peoples products, you will probably find thier product is a chinese copy of something like the C-Tek chargers (lots of poeple seem to be trying to copy these at the moment) The charging program will not be the same because C-Tek's engineers will have developed that in house, and there is no way they would sell the design to anyone else!! I don't know that much about Ring Chargers, but their inverters are just cheap chinese carp! manufactured by a company called Cotek in China.....can't imagine their chargers would be any/much better!! I suppose its like buying cars, many have the same features but you probably wouldn't buy the cheapest would you? I can do you a good deal on a C-tek, might even be going into work this afternoon so could have a look for you then (if i remember!!) If you just want a cheap intelligent charger then you can't beat the Sinergex Pure Charge, the program isn't as good as something like the C-tek or Fronius chargers but it is a proper multi stage charger that works out what the battery needs, rather then just running through the same old program again and again! No charger should have any sort of switch that controls the charge rate, if the charger is any good it'll be able to work it out itself by sensing the batteries resistance and monitoring its ability to accept charge. Thanks, Matt