JimAttrill

No 110's either assembled or sold in South Africa had that Boge unit. (They obviously know what is what) The only one I have ever seen was on an ex-Uk 110 from some place way up in Africa (Cabora Bassa?) We fitted the TD5 progressive springs and the owner was pleased with that. Having driven just about the length of Africa with its ass dragging on the ground was not funny. It's a stupid and expensive thing - a replacement waiting to happen.

I don't have this problem as I used the HRW switch to switch a Disco fan fitted at the front to push air through the aircon element. My Defender didn't come with an aircon fan as standard. As I had never ever used the HRW this wasn't a problem.

Mine weren't made by Dunlop.though I can't quite make out the stamp. They are not 4 or 8 mm but 6mm! But they still weigh about 22 kg

If you have the patience old brake fluid will remove most paint

I have seen a Disco I with both problems. Welded chassis, replaced bushes with SuperPro and shocks with something else. Britpart standard springs are ok. OME will take all your fillings out.

Dogs don't like the taste much, but cats and small children do. The antidote is ethylene aka 'booze'. I used to warn the mechanics about sucking a pipe to siphon coolant. None of them knew it was poisonous as it is not marked so on the bottles. The liver turns the stuff into formic acid which then becomes formaldehyde. The same applies to brake fluid and methanol. Ethanol is more 'attractive' to the liver so it ignores the other stuff which is then passed out through the skin. So keep a bottle of vodka or gin handy

BERU are OEM and last. Whatever you do don't use cheepos from Britpart or Bearmach. I did, and one burnt out after 6 months and then seized in the head. I have had only 3 glowplugs for years now...

OME went out of fashion because they used to fail at about 3 months old. Quality control problems I think. For the rest, their springs are too hard and their bushes will break your chassis. I am not anti-Australian as the bushes in my LR are from there, but not OME. If you want really good Australian dampers, Try Ironman as they last for ever.

It depends. Some of the modern plastic/alloy radiators can handle it but the steel type do not, so you might need a new radiator. You may have to change the water pump because of corrosion of the blades, and for the rest just put the correct antifreeze mixture in it and hope for the best. When you get the oil-in-the-water problem in the TD5, normally caused by corrosion of the cooler element, the trick seems to be to run it with a mixture of non-alkaline soap solution, drain and keep on trying until the oil is out. This won't remove corrosion, though

Just as I was posting about antifreeze my water pump went! At 17 years and 308000 kms. Note the lack of corrosion. The bearing went though. http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a196/JimAttrill/waterpump.jpg[/img]"]

Sounds good - many of the auto boxes here fail because they are used to tow heavy stuff like horseboxes when it is hot and the oil gets too hot. Apparently DXII oil degrades at over 120c. We recommend and fix DXIII synthetics which help a lot. And it doesn't cost much more. I have the Detroit locker in the Salisbury of my Defender - I didn't know they made one for the Disco rear axle. I know a guy with two Tru-lockers in his Disco and he reckons it is fantastic.

Damn! Tanuki beat me to it! That is without doubt the answer to your friend's problem It also happens on road cars if the bearings are loose. Luckily adjusting the wheel bearings is not difficult if you have the right box spanner for the hub nuts. Worth buying one if you don't have one. Best to take the hub to bits and renew the grease while you are at it. If greased well the bearings last for ever.

I reckon any tester is better than none. The problem we have here in South Africa is that the stuff is called 'Anti-Freeze' and those living where it never freezes just top up with water. I have overhauled a 300Tdi which was full of rust inside. The blades on the water pump had rusted away and the engine overheated. They do call it "Antifreeze and Summer Coolant" but what they don't emphasize is the corrosion protection. And here the normal thing is to get rid of that OAT stuff - it turns to glue eventually and clogs up your motor. It is used mostly because it is non-poisonous and not because it is a better antifreeze. Best thing is to use good Ethylene Glycol and change it every two years before it becomes acidic. My Tdi has 308 000 kms and the whole cooling system is original 27 years later - even all the hoses ..... I do keep an eye on them though. Oh, and here is a picture of what dry OAT can do to a TD5 casting - strangely enough it corroded under the hose where it was dry ,,,

I have seen one Defender with cracks around the bolts on the servo. I suggested Pratley Steel which is a 2-part epoxy which sets like steel and can even be machined. Haven't heard from the owner on that one.... There must be an equivalent epoxy sold in the UK. Steve (Bogmonster) reckoned just about all the Defenders on the Falklands had had their servos changed because of cracks. Obviously the roads are bad there.

Front main bearing? Unusual on this engine. I have never had to even have a crank ground - just polished. I have known a broken con-rod though.

The Tdi head has been known to crack in No1 exhaust port but this can be fixed. I think you need to get the head tested especially as it is already off. Your compression test readings show that your gauge needs calibrating. The manual says 24 bar max on a new engine. I have never measured a cylinder at over 20. My engine (after K&N 'filter') was down to 12 bar on one cylinder, 16 or so on the rest. It would still start from warm, but smoked a lot. That was 140 000 kms ago - I didn't rebore but honed the bores and changed the rings. (and fitted a paper air filter).

I also add 2-stroke to my diesel. The starting is now a 'flick of the key' just as it was back in 1996!

We get ours fixed by a decent locksmith - there is a weak point that always fails even if you get a new one.

A decent 15w40 is perfect. The Tdi runs too dirty to make the cost of synthetics worth while. Also change the oil often. My engine is at 308 000 kms and I change the oil at 5 and the filter at 10. A representative of the filter makers here told me the filters work better when used, but don't leave them too long. (Oh, and I use 500 ppm diesel which is high-sulphur so it doesn't pay to leave the oil in the engine too long as it goes acidic).

I have a Sykes-Pickavant one that looks like an ear syringe. It has 4 balls that can float. 3 floaters = 40% which is the recommended mix for a RR Merlin! I used to ask a trivial question that went like this: It is -10c and your engine is frozen solid. What percentage of antifreeze are you using? a 25% b 50% c 75% d 100% The answer is d. If you have a ph tester, keep the ph above 8, anything lower is acidic.

So long as it isn't out of the oil pressure relief valve ...

It should rev at exactly the same speed - mine and all the others I know of do. I believe there is a sensor in there to squirt more fuel when cold to help starting, but that shouldn't affect the idle.

It is a common thing. It's just the length that worries me, but it may be ok. I would take a chance on it

It has been known for all types of LR to break their earth straps and then set the handbrake cable on fire. I saw this on a RR classic. If necessary add extra earthing straps - the braided ones are best - from here to there. You can't have enough earthing straps on a defender in order to avoid strange electrical things. On mine, the engine 'overheated' with the headlights on - gave me a helluva fright. And extra earth strap from the bulkhead to the engine fixed that.

10mm is quite long for a crack there. It is usual to get little cracks by the glow-plug holes as they enter at an angle and the alloy is thin there. But a 10mm crack by an injector - I don't think I would trust that. Get it pressure tested (as above) and it may be ok. If you have cracks between the valve seats don't even bother with the expense of a pressure test.