Matthew

Hello everyone! Its MOT time and I need to get the horn working...currently there isn't one at all! (hopefully that's the only thing not working!?) I've bought a standard car horn but cannot seem to trace the cable I need to connect it to. I've had a look in the tech archive and found this http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=13675 which provides useful information on what colour cable to look for (brown and black) but can't seem to find the end under the bonnet. Does anyone know where these are routed when they come off the production line? I wanted to check before i just put a new feed in. Thanks, Matt

Hi, Who makes the best set of body slides? Obviously I want something with as much strength as possible, with the least weight, is there anything else to it? Having not used these before I don't want to end up buying some cheap and cheerful carp...i'll avoid the Scorpion version!! Thanks for your help!

Thanks very much for all the help everyone..very very useful indeed!! I've had to go down the route of drilling the bolts out, unfortunately they were so well corroded to the timing chest, with all the fixing bolts removed I still couldn't shift the chest. Today I had a very helpful gent from a local engine reconditioning company come round to remove the remains in the head and heli-coil all 3 of the waterpump bolts (didn't see much point leaving the other one even though it probably won't be me making the next water pump change!) The timing chest looks like its seen better days so I thought I'd replace that at the same time, managed to source one from Cradock’s for only £53 which I thought was very reasonable. Should arrive tomorrow and hopefully I'll have the vehicle back on the road by the end of the week with a couple of evenings at it. I do have some pic's of the heli-coil'ing if anyone's interested, won't be able to post them until tomorrow though. Thanks again for all your help. Matt.

Hi All, Thanks for the useful information..once again! We've tried a number of the techniques mentioned but none seem to be shifting the remaining parts of the bolt. Following your recomendations I'm going to strip it down and do the job properly, I have arranged for a local engineer to come out on Tuesday to drill the block and replace the threads (didn't really fancy doing this myself..freehand! ) but before then I need to strip down the front of the engine. This evening I've managed to remove the rad/intercooler etc and have removed most of the inners of the timing chest, but not the chest itself. Does anyone know of a thread in the technical archive which will aid me with stripping the remaining parts? It was getting dark by the time we finished this evening and it wasn't clear exactly what I need to do from here: I have removed most of the timing pulleys but how do I remove the one circled in green? What else do I need to do to remove the timing chest? Thanks once again, Matt

Hi all, I bought my 90 almost a year ago now, the water pumps had a little amount of play since i've owned it and it's gradually been getting worse. So I thought it's be better to change it now, rather than when its shot...and my engines probably overheated! When I first looked at the pump it was clear someone has tried having this off before because one of the bolts has already had its head sheered off. So before trying to undo anything i've hit all the heads to try and break the thread, lubricated it with some "deep penatraing de-gripent" and left it to creep along and hopefully help the bolts release. All of them were very tight indeed, with one exceptionally so. Unfortunately no matter how careful I was I've managed to sheer another bolt. (The pic should show 2 sheared bolts, the one circled in Red was there before, and the one in Green is the one i've done ) My questions is...what to do now?? I could simply refit without using these 2 bolts, but given they are both very close to each other, and together they are responsible for keeping the near side of the water pump sealed I don't think that would be a very good idea! I could continue trying to turn what is left of the bolt, but if it broke before...i'd imagine it'll do it again! Has this happened to anyone else? What did you do? Any help/hints/tips and advice would be greatly recevied. I'm sure with the combined experiance of all you helpful forum members, someone must be able to suggest the best remedy? Surely I can't be the only victim of some idiot not using some form of anti seize copper grease?? I've added some extra pic's just encase they help. Thanks for you time! Matt

I'm running a standard 200TDi, 33inch AT's (for the road). Just worked out my MPG over a trip from Poole in Dorset to Salcombe in Devon. I was towing a trailer (about 750KG's) on the way down, not on the way back. Averaged 26.8 MPG. When running around locally I get an average of 30-32MPG which I didn't think was to bad!

EXCELLENT!!!!! Yes Rog you are right...these have been VERY hard to get hold of, and when you can get them they are extremely expensive!!! After looking them up on the exact fabrication website (www.exactfabrication.co.uk) i've also found the ground anchors, batteries, alternators and heavy duty weld-on diff pans which all seem very reasonably priced....can't beleive the ground anchor is only 8kgs!!!!!!!!!!! Think my overdraft's going to get some more abuse very very soon indeed..... (if my card had a face.. ) Matt

Hi Goldie, Nice looking truck! bit too clean though you need to go get it muddy!! Radius arms..just look at the thread and its position in relation to the rest of the arm. If the bolt is exactly parallel with the rest of the arm you have standard, non corrected arms. If the bolt is at a slight angle (3 degrees ) then you have corrected arms! If you really get stuck post some pic's. V8's are lovely, I know i'd love one! but they just aren't waterproof enough and my truck likes to go swimming!!! See ya!

Thanks all the comments chaps! The vehicle is only ever used off road..and when we go playing we like to get very wet indeed! (see pic!) I think, given the fact I currently don't know how good/bad my seals are, i'll stick with the EP80/90 for now, see if it leaks, then make a decision when I know what the seals are like. How long should the seals last? Anyone tried swivel gaiters?? Thanks again!!

Hello gents! What is the best type of Lubricant for the front swivels?? Obviously I could use the normal EP80/90 multi grade but is there anything better? Waterproof grease? I'd like to use something a little thicker to help keep leaks to a minimum. I've heard some people mention "one shot swivel grease" but is this any good? where do I get it and who's is best? Thanks for all your help...again!

Hello again everyone! I posted some time ago regarding some steering problems I had, since then I managed to pin this problem on the CV joints, mainly the offside but the other wasn't much better. I've managed to get hold of another complete axle from a low mileage vehicle that seems in excellent condition. Only thing is the Diff appears to be different... I have attached 3 images of my old "standard" diff and 3 images of my "new" diff. Standard Diff: I have 2 plugs which I have labelled Drain and Level Plugs. I'm sure this is correct but if I'm wrong someone please put me right! New Diff: I have 3 plugs, which I have Labelled A, B and C. A: I assume this is simply a different type of Drain plug?? It has a large slot in the bottom. B: This must be the level pug, same place as standard diff but different type of plug which is fine. C: This is the one I really need help with..what is this one for? another level/drain?? Thanks for all your help in advance!

Thanks for the comments gents! After some further investigation; Yes (Luke) the vehicles electrical system does take its feed from the starter motor terminal. I did have this connected but I hadn't connected my new starting cable yet so the starter had no power feed, and therefore nor did the vehicles electrical system. I've fitted the new starting cable and alternator, now everything seems ok (thanks western) Thanks again!

Hello everyone! I'm having a bit of trouble with the electrical system on my 90. Recently the Starter motor begun to play up so I have removed it along with the alternator and I've had them fully serviced. This evening I've bolted the starter motor back on and connected it up (as far as i remember from taking it off the connections are correct, does anyone have a diagram or could someone explain the connections so I can be 100% sure?) I then insulated the terminals for the alternator because I won't get that back until tomorrow, turned my isolator switch on and the whole vehicles electrical system is total dead. The only electrical items working are those wired directly to the battery. I've checked the fuse box (assuming maybe I had short circuited something during removal/refitting) but every fuse is in tact. Any ideas?? Are there any extra fuses other than the ones in the main fuse block by the gear levers? Tomorrow when I get my alternator back I will use a multi meter and do some fault finding and check everything, but i can't see how not having an alternator fitted would cause the whole electrical system to die? FYI I have a 1986 90, fitted with a 200TDi and everything electrical has been perfect up until now. Any comments are more than welcome. Thank you in advance.

Thanks for all the comments gents, very useful indeed! Sounds as if I have a busy weekend ahead of me then, I'll probably replace the steering column UJ's unless I find out they are too pricey, and with a bit of luck I'll be able to get away with re-greesing the CV joints instead of replacing. Thanks again I'm really grateful Matt

Hi James, Thank you for the comment, are you referring to the UJ's in the steering column? Thanks, Matt

Good morning all! Following some very useful suggestions I have tried the following; I have replaced my steering damper (because I already had one in stock anyway), Lubed up my steering column UJ's with WD40, Changed the drop arm ball joint, I tried checking the steering with a mate sat in the truck whilst I was underneath, Checked the Panhard rod (has poly bushes throughout) None of the above seemed to make any difference (although the steering does feel a little more smooth before and after the problem occurs) I've still got to check steering box mounting bolts and also the drop arm retaining bolt. Another person i know who has a reasonable amount of experiance has suggested this could be the front diff? All comments are more than welcome! Thanks, Matt

Hi, Its been happening for about a month or so and I haven't changed or fitted anything new to the front end during that time. I'll try your suggestions over the weekend and see if there is anything obvious, the problem is it doesn't seem to happen every time which would lead me to beleive it can't be, for instance the drop arm fouling on a steering guard. Any idea what torque settings I should use for the steering box mounting bolts? Thanks for all your comments.

Thanks for the reply but this problem is definitely not turning circle related, when I fitted my new tyres I adjusted the stop bolts as described. There I a small amount of play in the steering column but not enough to cause this problem (I wouldn't have thought) It feels more as if 2 gears aren't meshing properly then they suddenly slip into place, or as if the ball joint is bent so it doesn't have smooth movement.

I have a bit of a problem with my steering, though it only seems to occur when I turn to the right. As I move the steering wheel it feels as if something is catching on something else which restricts my turning ability, I have to put in a little more force and then it suddenly "jumps" round. When it "jumps" round you can hear a fairly loud knock, it sounds as if its coming from the front offside corner. Any ideas ? I was planning to change my drop arm ball joint this weekend as its a fairly cheap item to replace and a reasonable place to start? Thanks.

OK after a quick chat with Si I found out he'll be getting more stock soon, so i'm going to fit the standard LR version for now then upgrade in the future. Thanks for all your comments!

Does anyone know any other companies that produce a similar product? www.x-eng.co.uk/X-Ball.asp According to the E-Eng website they are out of stock and I need to replace mine before I can go playing! Thanks.

Thanks for all the useful information everyone, for now I have bought a new axle from a late Range Rover to get me back off road as soon as possible. Whilst I’m using this I’ll have to consider my other options and start building the “perfect” axle…ready for when this standard replacement gives up! I’m still unsure as to which route to take, mainly between the toy conversion and the ARB on LR axle. I know little about the Toyota trucks and even less about their axles, do ARB make a locking diff to suit and would I need to uprate the Toy halfshafts or are the standard strong enough? I’ve heard various things about the ARB system, some people claim to never have any problems whilst others complain of constant leaking? Is that simply down to poor installation or are there any specific problems with the ARB system? Thanks again!

Ok I've had another look at your pictures but and I'd have to agree with Steve, import the first of those pictures (Drivers1 and Passengers1) into paint shop pro or something, draw a large rectangle (to get true 90degree corners) and place one straight, vertical line over the stainless steel break line connection down to the caliper. This way you can clearly see the passenger side is further forward than the driver side.

Why not swap the springs over? That way you can easily find out whether the problems surrounds axle alignment or spring shape and coil density. If this doesn't provide any further information try swapping other components to try and ascertain which one is causing you grief.

Thanks for your comments, I’m currently running some 33inch Michelin M/T’s but I plan on going bigger in the future, up to 35/37’s. Portals would be excellent but I think a little beyond my engineering skills at present! (and that’s before I even look at the costs!) Could you explain more about the “toy conversion” please? I’ve heard many good things about the ash croft products, are they the best manufacturers or are there others? Thanks again!!