JimAttrill

Not LR related, but a T@y@t@ hi-ace 'taxi' involved in a fatal accident was found to have cardboard brake pads fitted

That dual gauge looks good, but I think I prefer an analogue boost gauge - one that you don't have to read. OTOH I am happy with my digital EGT gauge as I only look at it when going up hills towing or other times when the temp will get high. And I do have an audible alarm in case I forget to look. I reckon the three important engine management gauges are Coolant temp (not the LR gauge), EGT and Boost. A rev counter on a tdi is a waste of time, I never look at it, though would be handy on a higher-revving motor. I have the LR clock in the centre between the rear wipe and the cig lighter, and it is almost impossible to read unless one ducks down to the level of the gear lever. Oh, and National Luna dual battery voltmeters in front of the cubby box. Not a good place really as the LED's are unreadable in sunlight.

Funny, my manual says less than 120". There was a big discussion on this back in the LRE forum, to the extent that the 90 owner had Ashcrofts remove the locker. I think he let them know that they shouldn't fit a Detroit to a 90. The locker is OK in a 100" Disco (so a mate of mine tells me), fine in a 110 and unnoticeable in a 130. The only time I get clonks in my 110 is if I make sharp turns with the clutch in, like sometimes when pulling into my driveway or a parking slot. The diff locks and unlocks more when the CDL is engaged when in low range, but I suppose it should. I get no torque steer effects, though maybe the tdi doesn't have enough power to cause them

Sorry lost my calculator

I live within 1km of Waterford Land Rover, voted the best dealer in South Africa. I wouldn't ask them to fix my bicycle after some of the stories I have heard. And they are good compared to the rest. Remember, that in the 3rd world (which we are here in most respects) the standard of mechanical knowledge amongst those who try to service vehicles is low. Most people of any intelligence at all head for the white-collar jobs. There is nothing in the way of apprenticeships (as I served) and day-release is unheard of in car workshops. About the only place that has decent standards is South African Airways, because they have to. Getting anything that goes wrong fixed here is a nightmare. The average LR mechanic breaks more than he fixes. I know about these things because I came to this country as an 'artisan'. I worked on light aircraft for 4 weeks before giving it up. I couldn't work in the slapdash manner required. I never fly in light aircraft here. So, if your vehicle breaks it can be a terrible experience trying to get it fixed. Even T@ymota have their problems: there is a documented case of a top-of-the-range Canned Loser with auto box where none of the dealers could get it to select a gear at all! Eventually they offered him a new car. So, it all comes down to quality control. That is, your vehicle is complicated. If it breaks down the chances are that nobody can fix it. So buy a vehicle that doesn't break down in the first place. If it does break down, your only chance is to replace major components. Don't let them try to fix them. Or have a V8 or a tdi that a decent mechanic can fix. Not a computer in sight, but you can at least get Bosch mechanical pumps and injectors overhauled and fixed here. Why do you think there is a lively trade here (not by LR) of fitting coil springs to Range Rovers?

I also like PE a lot, though I haven't been there in years. I should have guessed you meant South Africa from your use of 'Caltex', but as you were in a tanker I presumed you were in the Gulf. I think here all the refineries are at Durban, so the fuel has to be transported to other centres? At least I can't remember seeing a refinery anywhere else.

I guess I'll have to measure it myself ... I'll let you know whether my results agree with Lara's. I don't think centrifugal force will make much difference to the circumference of Landy tyres. Those drag tyres are designed to 'grow' when immense power is applied through them. I don't think my tdi has that sort of grunt I've lost my little windows converter: what are 10psi and 30psi in bar?

A notice on the Manly ferry in Sydney harbour just before Christmas caused Bryan Hodgson to crack up: "Toilet out of order. We regret the inconvenience". Was it, I wonder, written by a humourless and harried functionary or a worker with a sense of fun? (from world wide words. It is, of course only funny if the word 'convenience' is or was used in Sydney the same way as in London).

Mike Mellor in New Zealand made an intriguing discovery: "On a container of Waproo shoe polish ('All Australian Owned', but made in Spain): appears 'international misuse may cause injury'." To do some real good, it should be stamped on munitions. (from world wide words) My brother (who lived near but not in Nhill at the time) sent us a tablecloth with a map of Oz on it. It was made in Ireland, which we found funny then, back in 1960 or so. Now we are all used to stuff being mostly made somewhere in the far east. His address was ... Via Nhill ... For years I thought that was the name of the place. It was only when a film came out about the place a couple of years ago that the penny dropped.

I take it you mean Saudi Arabia, not South Australia or South Africa? I used to look at the tankers out in the gulf and wish I were on one. My favourite song was "leaving on a jet plane" That was the trouble with working at Dhahran: watching all the planes taking off for civilisation while you stayed on the ground counting the days... (and your money)

I reckon the end of CKD assembly in SA and Brazil is a sign that Defender production is to cease at the end of this year. They are just too chicken to admit it. The excuse for stopping production in SA is that they need the space, which is bull****. I've been there to see Defenders being assembled - there is no production line as such, the chassis are pushed around on trolleys. The space is only that required to park about 15 vehicles. Outside there is a huge open area which is little used. They could put up a simple assembly hall in about a week if they wanted to. The story was only released here because LR had to tell the unions what they were up to in regard to retraining, retrenchments, etc. So what is the excuse in Brazil?

From the Owner's Manual, page 3: "Anything that improperly causes a difference in individual wheel speeds, such as mismatched tire diameters due to differences in tire wear or tire pressure ... can cause the NoSpin differential to deliver power to only one side of the vehicle ... " This comes with a picture to show how you should measure the diameter of each wheel and adjust tyre pressures to get these equal. However, I think that this reasoning is suspect. What is important regarding wheel speed is not the diameter of the wheel/tyre but the circumference. Tyres of different sizes or wear will alter the circumference whereas unequal loading or pressures will not. If one thinks of a tracked vehicle as an extreme example, the distance from the ground to the centre of the driving wheel will vary, but the length of the track cannot, just as the 'length' of a tyre cannot, especially with the modern steel-belted radials. So a wheel with a deflated tyre will go round at the same speed as a wheel with a tyre at the correct pressure. I am not saying that driving with under-inflated tyres or unequal loading will not affect the steering, but that the effect will not be caused by differential wheel rpm as the wheels will go round at the same speed. I e-mailed Tractech pointing out this error in their manual but never received a reply

It was a bit embarassing. Though like in many other things, the trick is to wander about with a piece of paper with a shopping list on it. And don't try any of it on

So the vast amount of backlash in mine is normal? It doesn't seem to get any worse and I'm up to 220k now. With the Detroit I have learnt to not go round corners with the clutch in or when parking. All that clanking frightens the passengers

If you look at the servicing schedule for a V8, you will notice that the the oil and filter changes alternate. If you try to do both at once you have to prime the pump, not that they actually explain that. I thought it was a bit wierd because on all other engines I've come across you change both at once.

Defender is RBJ102940 Disco is NTC9462 Although they look similar in the picture....

I suppose I qualify as the ME mod, as I spent 18months in Saudi working for what was British Aircraft Corporation servicing Lightnings. I don't know what was the worst, the bloody aeroplane or the climate or the people or the no booze. If there had been a beer occasionally I might have made it to the end of the 2-year contract. Coming to ZA on holiday did it for me. I decided sanity was more important than money. (LR content) The SAAF (Saudi.., not South African) had 2.25 clapped out LR diesels. I had never driven one before, only petrols in the RAF at the time, and found it amazing that given the whole length of the runway at Tabuk it could get up to only 70kph. Due to the Arab boycott of LR, no spares were available, so we used to buy LR piston rings in the UK and put them in other boxes. Not Fraud, they were also boycotted. Had to cut the labels off my Marks and Sparks underwear as well. The funny thing was I used to buy ladies underwear im M&S for some of the arab officers. I presume their wives or porcupines would wear it I still have a 'certificate of religion' to prove I am not Jewish. I had trouble getting it from the RAF padre (I was still 'in' when I got the Saudi job) as I had not been confirmed. I had to threaten him with higher authorities (here on earth) before he gave it to me. Small things... I had a Yamaha dirt bike, only a 125, and used to go to work across the desert. The cops would set up road blocks to test for roadworthy (the horn had to work) and I would join most of the cars and trucks going through the desert behind their backs, though actually only about 200m away. They would ignore us. The only fun we had was doing full power reheat ground runs at the same time as the outside cinema to annoy the rest of the guys. Also going down the Hejaz railway line and finding a Turkish fort, and a bullet-riddled tender. We found a Turkish uniform button and a few empty cartridge cases there. It became impossible to get permission to leave the road after a while. With Israel just up the road the ragheads were a bit twitchy. For that reason they never based any aircraft at Tabuk as Tel Aviv was about 5mins away by Mirage. Dunno why I'm writing all this stuff

Here's a big one.... and a baby one

See Bogbuster's explanation on this site - I did! http://www.lr4x4.com/index.php?act=ST&f=11&t=297 The XP image reducer is very handy.

I have a Detroit in my Salisbury. The limited slip Trutrac is made for Rover diffs but not for the Salisbury as they reckon it will break.

It's used on the Army wolf Defenders so it can't be all that bad.

The famous guy is looking out of the back window of the Disco..

It's sort of hard to explain, but the chamfer should be at the 'entry point' of the disk, ie as the disk turns it 'enters' the pads at the chamfered end. The chamfer is supposedly to stop squealing / vibration of the pads. Well, that's the theory anyway.

This is the best forum anyway

Very nice, in a way. The only trouble is that only pavement-jumpers would be able to afford it.