Turbocharger

I might just have to come and have a play with that then - just to see what it's like, you understand...

I've never tried an auto-darkening mask, but I have one with a direct-vision slot at the top of the window, so you pull the mask down over your face, set up through the slot and then just tilt your head slightly as you start welding. It's only as good as your timing but nothing ever went wrong with it...

02, be aware that you're probably not insured for the time being then. I'd suggest if your card is out of date then the problem's yours?

I studiously enquired about the TGV kit to upgrade a 300Tdi - they came in priced around £1k. I made other arrangements. If you're careful to select a turbo with a suitable map then you could get your own manifold made to fit it.

Too cheap - it's stolen/crashed/rebuilt/a ringer. Nah, seriously, well done for finding a good'un! Now, two words: cam belt.

Err... yes, that's it. First answer too... Beer debt duly noted down. There are more techy people on here than I thought

Assuming you actually mean solenoid since that's what you said, the factory ones are about 10mm^2 aren't they? Not that big, anyway. I'd guess around 10A since a friend switches his with a push button (ignition switch died) and it's not melted yet.

Using Fatboy's idea, what about bracing the bar on the chassis, rotating a roadwheel to wind up some tension until the clutch starts slipping, then get a punch or FBH and start hammering the socket to 'shock' the bolt? Mind your fingers, though...

Eh? Eddy who? C'mon, you've got wallifications in electricity - how can there be residual eddy currents after current stops flowing (in longer terms than milliseconds)?

Be VERY careful applying heat, speaking entirely from memory and possibly from my behind, the front pulley has a rubber element which acts as a torsional damper, but won't continue to do so if you burn all the rubber out first. In 5th gear with the brakes on? Then tried flicking the starter motor? I'm surprised the starter isn't having it... you did take it out of gear after the static method, didn't you?

Mr Bush is right. The last time we discussed this (sigh) I played with some maths to work out if he spake the truth, and he does. The reason for it is (image stolen from the old thread, wherever it is): When the UJ angles are the same (flanges parallel), the prop accelerates and decelerates as it rotates but the speed of the driven diff is (nearly) constant because one UJ cancels the other, just as we were taught in school. Here, the output shows a slight vibration because I only calculated every 5 degrees or similar. If I calculated every 0.000001 degree the line would be flat. When the angles are not the same, (ie 20degrees at the gearbox and 0degrees at the axle, a la standard Ninety) you get a nasty first-order speed change at the diff end as the diff accelerates and decelerates twice every revolution, just as the prop does normally - there's effectively no second UJ to cancel this speed change. You can change the prop phase to superimpose a second-order effect onto the (first order) prop rotation speed change (so your average speed stays the same, but the purple wiggles on the graph above get bigger). This is exactly what LR did at the factory, you get less amplitude at twice the frequency, which are small enough to become unnoticeable on factory models. However, if you lift the vehicle the peaks of these vibrations are now big enough to be felt, and you splash out on a funky double-UJ prop before it shakes your teeth out. For bonus points (I'm not giving this one away because it gave me brainache to figure it out and I deserve to feel smug for a bit) why is the average of the purple line visually greater than the average of the blue line? ie the diff pinion is apparently rotating faster than the prop?!?!? I will buy a beer at Billing for the chap (or lady) who can figure it out first.

Pugwash, Letting the spring go coilbound (when all the coils touch) quickly destroys the spring rate, which is what the bump stops are there to prevent originally...

I've found a wing one is really really handy when you're stowing the cable away, saves getting the remote out. Of course, with a Milemarker I could wedge the cab switch to IN and go and have dinner while the cable spools back...

As I understand it: Factory vehicles are (A). The tbox output flange (blue) and axle pinion (red) are nearly parallel. The castor angle (green) is happy. The chassis is purple, the diff is black and the radius arm is light blue. (C'mon, it looks like a 5yr old's but here, Paint's in Chinese) When you lift the vehicle you move to ©, with non-parallel flanges, no castor and bad vibrations if you go over 2" or so. So you buy castor correction bushes or funky radish-arms to push the nose of the diff back down (B drawing); the prop flanges are parallel again but the working angle is too great. Best solution is to point the diff at the gearbox (D) (because UJ angle seems to be more important than parallel flanges) and twist the swivels back where you want them with corrected swivel housings (or slots in the bolts, at least). I'm off to hang my head in shame, embarrassed at the diagram.

Your bar needs to rest on the top of passenger rail or the underside of driver's side rail... (if the engine rotates clockwise as viewed looking backwards along the vehicle). Watch out for brake pipes (and PAS pipes!) in the area. I slid a piece of plywood down the back of the rad too, just in case it flailed around and punched a hole through that too.

Stub axle tolerances? If you were feeling investigative, could you swap the stubs from side to side and see if there was a difference? Of course, you probably don't want to see the thing in daylight again...

Well, if we're going to get bitchy, it was £3k that was left from the £9k I borrowed as my 'interest-free' student loan. By getting a job and paying taxes, as well as being lucky enough to have parents who would help support my rent, I had enough left to buy a cheap Disco, crash it run it for a while and then sell it for a profit to offset (some of) the interest on the interest-free loan. Less than 12 months from graduating, it now looks like I'll be giving them £12k back. Meanwhile, the rules have now changed and my youngest brother can now "take advantage" of this loan to pay his student fees up front too. Imagine a world where we helped to support the people who will go on to earn the country some money in the future, eh? None of this is getting Matt his Discovery though...

Indeed it does, thanks Tony. It looks like he's removed a lot more material there than I'd hoped though, perhaps my guess on the PCD is incorrect. Does anyone know the shank diameter of the bolts? Another tribute to the Tech Archive though, cheers!

I still feel that rotating the axle casing is a half-arsed job. You need the diff to point up and the swivels to point .. well, down, if they had a direction. Rotating the axle just moves your problem from poor steering to short propshaft life (but admittedly perhaps a better balance of the two). Has anyone actually tried slotting the holes that carry the swivel balls? Using memory and guesswork in place of real maths here, the PCD of these bolts can't be much more than 100mm, so for 3 degrees of alteration you'd need to elongate each hole by 2.6mm under each bolt head. Since the bolts have a built-in washer, the contact area would be reasonably similar - would the bolted joint be substantially weakened?

You're a student, Matt? When I was in Uni 2 years ago I had £3k to spend and found a 300 ES which had been lightly rear ended. It took another £500 or so for an alignment check and a new rear bumper, then it was good as new. I'd guess you should be able to find a straight low-spec model for similar money. I'd expect a £3k Tdi to have had all the modifications done by now (or have died getting there!) I'd say use the mileage as a guide but the condition is much more important. Chassis rot, footwells, rear floor and sills are corrosion areas, as are any leaks from sunroof(s) and heavy breathing/excessive smoke from the engine.

Well, it's 27” here in Hong Kong today, so I don't know when Tit Monday was but I'd guess about February. I'm just 'suffering' the aftermath, as it were.

If you're going to change it anyway, can you get a lubricatable(!) one? It's not good to hear though, seems the universal fix for prop vibrations isn't without drawbacks...

I thought about building a computer as I did ten years ago, but I couldn't get close to Dell's price for an entry level desktop, so I bought one and I'd do it again. Just don't tick all the extras because that's where their markup lies. On the other hand, I've had a brand-new Toshiba laptop from work for 6 months and there's a corrupt horizontal line across the screen already. Good job it's not mine, eh?

In which case, Les, I apologise for casting aspersions on your workmanship. Can you remove the hex on my timing belt (and inj pump seals!) now please?

I've been mentioned on this thread already, I think. I look at it this way: Guns - I've been shooting since I was six, the education started there with "Never point a gun at anyone. Even a toy. Always check it's empty. Respect the dangerous end". Alcohol/drugs - My parents said "Go and try". They fed me wine and beer (in moderation) if I asked for it, from a similar age. Cars - I drove cars in safe locations from age 9ish. Fire - It's hot, and I was warned. The quickest way to learn to respect that is to burn yourself. Angle grinders - I've used these with and without the disc guard. Now I only use them with the guard... With all of these, I learned at an early age and now shoot responsibly, don't do drugs and drink occasionally, in moderation and my workshop skills are safer each time a near-accident (or learning good practice from others) educates me. We'll leave my driving out of it though... The problem isn't how dangerous the gun/tool/vehicle/element is, just how educated those around it are. If everyone understands a problem, it's rarely a problem. Sadly, the easiest path is to pander to the lowest common denominator and start banning things. Then you remove what control you had and force guns/hunting/fishing to a covert group, without records or safety rules. Let's ban banning (The machine gun clip is deliberately emotive, but I can't see a problem since nobody is getting hurt. The girl is perhaps an unwilling volunteer but if she's now got vibration whitefinger and didn't enjoy it, where's her incentive to go and buy a gun?)