Tanuki

TBH I can totally understand JLR chasing the middle/upper-class market segment. That, after all, is where the money is! A couple of decades back a relative was doing a MBA and chose to focus on the automotive industry: her findings were that it cost not-much-more to build a top-of-the-range car over a distinctly-proletarian model. Parts-cost is surprisingly-low, the big costs are in gathering the parts together and actually installing/staffing/running the production-lines, then shipping the finished cars out to the point-of-sale. "A gearbox is a gearbox: it incurs essentially the same production-costs and install-costs whatever model of car it's fitted to". Better, therefore, to fit that gearbox to a car that sells for $100K over one that sells for $50K. One of her contacts happily said that if markets got tough they'd happily halve their vehicle sales by pruning-out the low-end low-profit models. To me this makes total sense - producing 50,000 vehicles and making on average $10,000 on each generates as much profit as 100,000 vehicles with a $5,000 profit on each - and your site-leasing/operating/staffing costs are halved. Remember - JLR are not in the business of making cars, they're in the business of making money. OK, the've screwed-up by investing crazily in Diesel (presumably to satisfy the European obsessed-about-CO2-emissions market) but outside the Euro-bubble petrol is still supreme - and this truth's coming home to bite them now. I'll be interested in seeing what the New Year brings in terms of a New Defender. I've got the cash sitting in a slush-fund, and yesterday took a Ford Ranger for a test-drive.

I've got a couple of the standard DIN type 12V power-outlets (with waterproofing covers) mounted on the outside of my 90; I use them to power lights/radios etc when camping. https://www.durite.co.uk/ItemDetails/ItemDetails.aspx?ItemNumber=060119&SingleResultCriteria=&catid=55585 They're wired direct to the battery through 16A fuses - so I can also use them as connectors for trickle-charging if needs arise.

Whatever you do, check the oil-drain-pipe from the turbo to the sump. I've seen a couple of well-used TDIs where this pipe has been full of clag and carbonised/tarry oil-sludge to the point where it would have been impeding the free drainage of oil from the turbo back to the sump. If the oil can't drain freely, it seeks the next-easiest path - through the turbo seals to freedom! A new turbo-to-sump pipe is a cheap investment to make sure you don't blow another set of seals.

Something similar's been the case for Morgans in the past: when the "Plus8" model was announced a few decades back they sold the first year's production-run before anyone had seen/driven it. This: https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/industry/jaguar-land-rover-%E2%80%98poised-cut-5000-jobs%E2%80%99 is of note. JLR bet the farm on Diesels and Chinese sales: now the world's turning big-time against Diesel and China's having a bit of a slowdown.

I've run H4 bulbs on Mk.2 Escort rally-cars in the old Cibie "Dipping Oscars" with both filaments normally lit and the dip-switch switching-out the 60-Watt element. RAC scrutineers never noticed, and the lights gave 'plenty' of forward-illumination. Bulb-life never seemed to be an issue. These days I'd do it with LEDs. To be honest, in the last few years LEDs have made all previous lighting-technologies look rather sad!

Yesterday, I had the arboriculturalists [tree-surgeons] contracted by Scottish&Southern Energy come to do do the five-yearly growing-Ash-tree-clearance of the 33Kv powerlines that run over my land. In the past they had Defender-110s as their standard transport, and a 6-wheeled (6x4) Defender-130 carried their cherry-picker for extended access. And a Defender 130 HCPU with built-up sides to haul away logs/wood-chips. They still have the cherry-picker D130. They own it outright. You can't get a 3-year lease on Defenders any more so the 110s have been replaced by top-of-the-range 3.2 auto "Wildtrak" Ford Rangers and the replacement for the HCPU is a Mitsubishi "FUSO" tipper-truck. Later in the day their boss came by and I had a chat with me over a couple of cups of coffee [he saw my 90TD5, and got on well with my dog]. He says that the Rangers are faster, more crew-friendly and more economical than the 110s, automatics don't suffer clutch-burnout issues when shunting trailers in the yard, and that the replacement for the cherry-picker will probably be UNIMOG-based. He said that the biggest 'traction' challenges his guys have were when contour-following over the downs on early-morning-dew-wet spring grass while towing a loaded trailer. Tail-wagging-the-dog, the tow-vehicle tends to end up having its back-end dragged through-90-degrees and pointing straight-up the incline, which is not-easy to recover from. The boss drives a V8 LandCruiser which he says is better than any Range-Rover. I wonder how any "Defender 4.0" will address these sorts of considerations? [Me? Well, I've gained a couple of tons of logs and a bit of enlightenment from the chat].

I was originally with Green Flag: over the years [with 100% no claims] they ramped the annual cost up as my Defender got older. When it got to £125-a-year for 'basic' cover on a ten-year-old vehicle I phoned them and asked to be put through to their 'retentions' team. They refused to budge [I'd have expected them to come down at least 50% because of my no-claims history] so I told them to stuff it. Now with RAC at around £45/year. I think most of the cheap deals are really aimed at covering the easy-to-fix callouts to people who don't know how to change a flat tyre, need a jump-start because they've left their lights on overnight, or have run out of fuel/put-petrol-in-a-Diesel-at-the-filling-station. How they'd deal with a dead Defender with a 3.5-ton trailer in-tow is a different matter.

Must admit, I'd prefer a Haldex/intelligent-traction-control system over lockable diffs: after all, a computer can apportion torque to different wheels and adjust the balance tens of times a second as conditions change, something that brute-force difflocks can never manage. A friend of mine says that "Difflocks are invariably engaged when it's many ohnomilliseconds too late" I know which I'd rather trust when towing a big heavy trailer on wet/icy motorways ! For me the big issus about a "New Defender" are what powerplant it comes with and what UK tax-class it fits into. I don't want a Diesel, because Diesel's going to get murdered over the next couple of decades on account of its particulate emissions (some cities are already banning Diesel cars when air quality's bad) I want to be able to register it as a 'commercial' not a car, which means I don't get stung for ridiculous Vehicle Excise Duty and the stupid "first four years crazy higher tax because you bought a nice car costing more than £40,000" penalty. [Also, I don't have to pay VAT on a newly-registered commercial vehicle]. For me, economic considerations are just as important as 'roadability' - and I suspect this applies to the majority of prospective "New Defender" purchasers too!

The "glowplug" light on Pumas (and TD5s) is misnamed - it's not controlled by the glowplug controller, but by the overall ECU. It would be better to call it a "system checks complete, ready for ignition" light. [On both Pumas and TD5s under cold-start conditions the glowplugs may be periodically activated for quite a few minutes after the engine's started, as an emissions-management system. Certainly on my TD5 if I start it in sub-zero temperatures and leave it idling for a few minutes I can hear a periodic change in engine-note after the glowplugs cut in and out]. If your glowplugs are not working as-intended then this can certainly cause smoke! A healthily-glowplugged TDCi or TD5 should start on the first or second rotation of the engine even if ambient temperature is down to -20 or so.

"Gorilla glue" is these days a brandname covering a range of different products, just like "WD40" can mean the original water-dispersant along with a bunch of degreasers/contact-cleaners/silicone-lubricants sold under the same brand. IMHO if you are using proper seals they shouldn't need any sort of goop to keep them in-place. No goop was used on the original LR production-line, after all. Spend your time and money on proper seals, not on a sticky-stuff pikey 'fix-up' for cheap B******t carp.

I consider "OEM" to be a meaningless designation: for example I've got a 'wall-wart' power-supply for my Internet-router here and the brand on it is actually "OEM" !! If buying parts these days I ask for the actual manufacturer: things like oil/air/fuel-filters I'm happy to go with Bosch, Mahle, Mann+Hummel [but beware I've seen some filters in Bosch-lookalike boxes though when you look closely they're branded Bosgh]; brake-parts Mintex/Delphi/Ferodo are kosher [though I've seen Chinese-made calipers that look like Lockheed because they were clearly cast using genuine Lockheed calipers as the pattern - cylinder bores were still full of swarf!]. Gaskets - Payen are OK; the Britpart top-cam-cover rubber seal for my TD5 I bought by mistake was about as useful as a jockstrap in a nunnery. Electrics: the last alternator I fitted was a NipponDenso, and Yuasa is my go-to for batteries. While you can get good-quality stuff from online sources if you're lucky, I prefer to go to trustworthy suppliers: for example there's a local industrial bearings/belts supplier I can take a worn part to and discuss over-the-counter what the replacement should be. They have GKN, SKF, Dayco and NSK stuff - they're not in any way the cheapest but they _do_ have proper parts traceability (they supply several businesses who maintain aircraft at Gloucester Airport) and I'm happy to pay a bit over the odds for known-good parts rather than fitting cheap stuff and having to do the job again in a few months.

While you're in there, change the short shaft with universal-joints and the collapsible-bit that links the bottom-end of the steering column itself to the steering-box. Slack/wear in this bit adds 'random slop' to the steering which will make piloting your vehicle down the M5 at 80MPH in windy conditions a bowel-loosening experience. Trust me on this.

OK!! they have 'classic' status - but I have horrible memories of back-breaking weekends with the things. Mr. Chapman arranged his twin-cam-chain drive so it ran up the front of the block - in front of the water-pump! So when the water-pump failed [which it did regularly if you were in the habit of taking the engine to its design 6500RPM limit] you had to remove the entire camshaft-drive enclosure and chains to get access to the water-pump. On a Lotus-Cortina there was room-to-do-this if you had slender arms/fingers. Do it on a Lotus Europa and you'd be wanting to outsource the fiddly-bits to a double-jointed dwarf! And you could be sure they'd be back inside a year to do it all again.... [Worst job I ever did was replacing the handbrake-pads on an E-type Jag. They have inboard discs fitted either side of the diff... and precisely-zero access-space]

I wonder if this is ever likely to make series-production and then be type-approved for the UK? https://products.rivian.com/suv/ https://products.rivian.com/ And if so, what sort of tax-breaks/subsidies would be available to purchasers here? If they can get a range of 250 miles on one charge I'd seriously consider it!

The Perkins "Prima" was basically a dieselised version of the old Austin/Morris/BL O-series engine (which was itself an OHC conversion of the 1950s-vintage B-series lump). Usually found in first-generation Sherpa vans, Montegos and Maestros. Noisy (it was a first-generation direct-injection Diesel without benefit of anything like dual-stage injection to tame the rattle) but tough and economical. They were a popular 'Series' fitment in the 1990s when you could pick up a MOT-failed Maestro/Montego for £50 - but those days are long gone. Some history of the B-to-O-to-Prima engine evolution here: https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/morris/marina-ital/engones-o-series/

Modern turbo-Diesels run hot - it improves efficiency, prolongs engine life and reduces emissions. Temperatures in excess of 100C in the head are quite common (thats also one of the reasons why you need to have the right coolant concentration - the Glycol raises the boiling-point significantly). I'd be aiming for 100C as a 'good' exit-temperature of coolant from the head. My TD5 does take ages to warm-up though: starting up after an overnight 'cold soak' in frosty weather the needle doesn't move off the stop for the first 3 or 4 miles - it's been like that from new. And in similarly-cold weather if you hit stop-start traffic when the outside-temperature's zero and you've got the heater going full-blast the needle soon sags back into the blue because the heater's sucking more heat out of the coolant than the engine generates at idle. If I were you I'd be checking your thermostat, and also the condition of the engine-to-earth/battery cable, as corrosion here could generate 'odd' readings. But also remember that the TD5 temperature-gauge is actually driven from the ECU, using data from the injection's Coolant Temperature Sensor - so it could be worth getting a code-reading done in case you have an undrlying issue with the CTS or its wiring.

What will you be using it for? A few decades back I did a 45-mile-each-way daily commute along M4/A34 in a petrol SIII (with RR 3.54 diffs, the compression raised to 9:1 and a 2-inch SU carb on a homemade manifold). It'd cruise happily at 65-70MPH and I still had functional hearing. I would have hated to have to try the same journey at the same speed in a Diesel. Also, where will you be using it? There's a growing anti-Diesel movement and I suspect that in the next couple of decades Diesel-engined vehicles will be banned or seriously-restricted from use in many cities/suburban areas - which is likely to see the resale value of Diesel vehicles fall faster than petrol. A nicely set-up 2.5 petrol engine [highest compression-ratio you can achieve, Weber progressive carb, head-work, tubular exhaust-manifold and free-flow silencer] would be my preference. You should be able to get at least 120BHP and it'd be nicely quiet and free-revving.

There is a version of the Bradley jaw-and-pin hitch where the top of the pin is a standard towball. Very convenient ! Rated to 5000Kg - should be strong enough! https://multec.co.uk/shop/tractor-hitch-lifting-attachments/bradley-ball-pin-tow-hitch-eu-approved-5000kg-swl/

In my experience, doing that will ensure that there never will be a 'next time'. Land-Rovers have psychic powers: they know the failures you are prepared-for - and cunningly arrange to fail in an unprepared-for way!

ISTR an issue with the brake-pedal switch on a bunch of LR and Ford products. The switch has several sets of contacts and controls several circuits - one is the simple brake-light supply, the others tell the ECU you've hit the brake [so it can disengage cruise-control] and tell the ABS about what you're doing. Fit a new switch, and adjust it properly.

Why are you so obsessed about getting a sinking pedal? Ask your MOT tester what he thinks.

Regarding the glowplug-threads issue: I'd run a tap down the hole in the cylinder-head to clean up any damage to the threads (put a dob of grease on the tap to pick up any swarf it generates) then whack in a new glowplug and see what happens. [Must admit, I never liked old style clockwork Diesels: life's much easier when you can hook up a laptop to the ECU to see cylinder-balance/timing on the screen and then dial-in new values as needed]

I'd change all the oils [engine, gearbox, t/box, diffs] and the clutch/brake-fluid (which will have absorbed atmospheric moisture during the layup). You may well find a few 'tight'or seized pistons in the brake-calipers, and/or that the friction surfaces of the pads have 'grown' on to the discs. Same applies to the handbrake-shoes if the handbrake's been left on. A "stuck" handbrake may free off [with a loud bang!] when you try driving: alternatively the linings may come unbonded from the shoes in the process, causing a bit of a mess.... Also check all the coolant hoses for perishing and change the coolant: after 5 years though it may still have the 'right' level of freeze-protection the corrosion-inhibitors will be well past their best. The oil/water heat-exchanger on a TD5 is made of very thin metal and can 'pinhole' if the right coolant's not in there. Then give the engine a couple of fuel-system-purges as described, and go for liftoff!

It all looks too high-up. The bottom arms should be a lot lower, they should be near-horizontal rather than tilted up as yours are. Only 2 bolts into the X-member is not good; TD5 chassis is designed so that to fit a towbar you fit a transverse load-spreading angle-section _below_ the crossmember, with bolts that go vertically into captive nuts in the underside of the crossmember; this angle-section then has two boltholes to take two of the tow-hitch bolts. Photo here shows the TD5 hitch [and the under-the-crossmember angle reinforcement]

In your photo it looks like the top part of the coil is actually forced up-against the roll cage to the extent that the coil is being bent back. Even if you try to put any insulation between the roll-cage and the top of the coil, it won't work - the issue here is electrical *capacity* between the earthed roll-cage and the bit of the coil that's close to it. This will detune the antenna causing all sorts of unpredictable effects. Also, the coil looks horribly close to the drip-gutter, which will also add further undesirable capacity. Relocate the antenna so there's no metalwork within six inches of the top of the coil or any part of the whip. A "clamp mount" on to the rollcage itself would be a good move, provided the rollcage is properly earthed.