Tanuki

I think you need to give us some more info: the wiring-loom for an early Diesel-Turbo 90 or a first-series 200TDi is a very different animal to one from a 90TD5.

Check that the exhaust hangers are all OK: if the hangers get 'tired' and let the silencer/pipes move about they can foul the chassis under cornering and kick up a hell of a racket.

From memory, under the current number-plate regs it's no longer permissible to supply the old "stick on" self-adhesive plates that fit to curved surfaces - unless the vehicle was first registered in the last millennium, that is. New plates have to have the supplier's name and post-code on them.

Check the brakes: my TD5 produced an intermittent noise rather like what you describe: I called it "moosing" - which turned out to be a tight brake caliper not allowing the pads to retract fully.

Bilsteins have always been good in my experience. Not cheap though - still in life there's good and there's cheap - you rarely find both good and cheap at the same time!

Must admit, I'd totally missed the Konis. Have had good experience with the orange-enamelled Koni 'Classic' shock-absorbers in the past - they're 'adjustable' but only in the sense that the adjustment is intended to accomodate wear. Will definitely investigate this option - specially since I have contacts-who-have-contacts with Koni's importers and they might just be able to get me a trade-price deal.

The G90s were a distress-acquisition [came from an acquaintance, £50 each including the wheels!] I agree they're not the best road-tyre but when it comes to unsticking a fully-laden twin-axle Ifor Williams trailer, or a bogged Mitsu Pajero *spit* from a muddy showground they're really rather effective. I got them with supposedly 5000 miles of use. Now after another 20,000 miles they're getting close to replacement-time. Must confess, they did have a rather predictable breakaway characteristic, specially on wet roundabouts.

I've always just used a bronze drift and gently tapped the nut round until the wheel-bearing's not showing any end-float.

After 10 years the time's come to replace the OEM shock-absorbers on my 2001 90TD5. It's used for "fast road" duty - occasionally lugging a twin-axle flatbed trailer carrying a couple of tons, or a smaller 1-ton twin-axle stock-trailer. What's the received wisdom on good-quality, durable shock-absorbers that will enhance on-road handling and overall adhesion/stability/cornering? (It's running standard suspension and a mix of front Goodyear G90/rear Avon Rangemaster rubber on the OEM steel wheels). I've had good experiences with Bilstein gas-shocks on a range of vehicles (stuff like rally Mk.2 Ford Escorts, and track-day BMWs) in the past, and am tempted to follow my instincts with the Bilsteins. Sadly, Koni (my other traditional shock-absorber supplier-of-choice) doesn't offer anything for the Defender.

The bolt has rusted into the central metal sleeve in the damper's rubber-bush. Angle-grind the head completely off the bolt. Put a stack of washers over the protruding threaded end, and then tighten the nut down on it: this will draw the bolt out through the metal sleeve in the 'eye' of the damper. When you reassemble, put plenty of Copper-grease on the bolt where it goes through the bush - this will give it a fighting chance of coming apart again in ten years' time when you're next replacing the damper.

Check the tyres: last case of "bad steering wobble" I came across was due to a tennis-ball-sized swelling on the inner sidewall of one tyre where it was starting to delaminate.

Air bubbles in the fuel-line are definitely a bad sign. Sometimes the fuel pipework and seals on the filter/sedimente can develop micro-perforations so when the engine starts to suck hard, air gets in. Which is definitely bad news - can cause poor starting (because the diesel drains-back in the fuel lines) and/or poor performance/cutting-out. I'm more used to systems where there is an electric lift-pump in the fuel tank. Could you perhaps have a clogged intake screen on the pickup-pipe in your tank? When did you last drain the tank? There's a fungus that grows in 'stale' Diesel which can clog intake-screens (it's been the cause of several aircraft-crashes when it's been growing in AVTUR and has starved jet-engines of fuel).

If you're putting in effort on an engine-upgrade and want to keep it Land-Rover with all-off-the-shelf parts, there's only one path - go TD5. All the parts are available off the shelf. It's a far better, modern free-revving Diesel engine, starts first-time-every-time, will let you bypass the London Inner-city "Low-emission-zone" penalty-taxes stuff, and has rather significant tuning-potential. 30MPG if you're careful, 25MPG if you're not careful, 17MPG when you're out hunting BMWs.

On my 2001 D90 I squirted expanding-foam into the voids between the bonnet strengthening-webs and stuck aluminium-foil-faced rubber foam to the underneath of the bonnet. It cut down the rattle a bit, but the big problem is getting something which remains stuck. Heat and gravity mean any insulation tends to sag - and this is not good when it dangles down perilously near the turbo. Truth is, trying to silence a Defender is always going to be a nightmare: the strangely-variable crackle of a TD5 competes with the whine of the transmission, the drone of the Goodyear G90s and the roar of the wind. You either learn to cruise below the legal-limit or if you're like me and enjoy chasing BMWs down the outside lane of the M4 at 95MPH - just fit earplugs!

I certainly wouldn't recommend doing it: any electronics (ECUs, immobilizers, radios) that are receiving power run the risk of getting "spiked". There are electronics in places-you-do-not-expect: intermittent-wipe timer, the relay that cuts your heated-rear-window after it's been on for a while. The alternator itself will also be at-risk. If you really *must* do it, I'd suggest that you turn on some significant electrical loads (headlights, HRW, heater-blower) to help absorb the more traumatic of the electrical spikes.

You need a "Seal-puller" - basically a thin, stiff metal thing with a twisted hook on the end. You can achieve the same result using a bicycle-spoke: push the angled spoke-end that normally goes into the hub past the seal then turn it through 90 degrees so the 'lump' engages with the seal. Grab hold of the end of the spoke with a Mole-wrench, and give a mighty yank! When it comes to fitting the new seal, I recommend a thin smear of Hylomar on the outer part of it, and using a short length of plastic pipe to tap it into place.

When you activate the alarm/immobiliser it may continue to draw a significant current for some time (15 minutes or so) before going into 'sleep' mode when the current drain will drop. If your reading is 65 Milliamps then that is probably the "not yet gone to sleep" current. Wait a while with all the doors/bonnet closed and the alarm/immobiliser active, and you may see the current drop! --Tanuki

Given how cold it is at the moment, my first 'non-starting' check would be to see that the glowplugs are all working.

Sounds like the fuel-pump. I've had recent experience of this: my D90 [2001, 90,000 miles] started whining from the rear end [noise like a cat in a blender] - then it started making gurgling sounds when starting from cold, occasionally lost power, cut out at random and eventually complete failure-to-start. Initial diagnosis was a failed fuel-pump. A new genuine Land-Rover fuel pump was fitted: still the same whining/gurgling noises from the rear and cutting-out after a few miles. A second new pump was fitted - same symptoms. Eventually diagnosed to failure of the copper head-to-injector seals, allowing combustion-chamber gases past and into the fuel-system. Replacing the washers [less than £10 for five] fixed the problem! If your TD5 has been quietly enduring this malady for a while, the leaking combustion-gases will have dumped a mess of combustion-carbon and other crud back into the fuel tank via the bleed-off circuit. Fixing the injector-seals alone is not enough - you need to drop the fuel tank and clean it out [jet-wash then rinse inside with clean diesel] internally, also clean the fuel-pump intake screen [the screaming/whining noise you hear from the rear is the pump desperately trying to suck fuel through a clogged intake screen] and change the fuel-filter too. Given the labour-cost to drop the tank, I'd suggest replacing the fuel-pump anyway - it's £250 for a new one and it would be a pity to have it all put back together after cleaning only to find the pump dies from its previous overwork after a short time.

Been there, done that. Does the fuel-pump make a "gurgling" or 'swishing' sort of noise as well as whining when it's priming? If so I'm betting you have failed copper seals on the injectors. Combustion gases get into the fuel system through the leaky seals - then the engine is trying to run on frothy fuel, which won't inject very well!

Copper seals on inkectors need replacing. Just had to have this done on my TD5, after 90,000 miles. And a new furl-pump too. First, the fuel-pump becomes progressively more and more noisy at startup because it has to prime/pressurize the system: then the engine becomes reluctant to start/lethargic under load. As the seals leak more and more combustion gases into the fuel system, the pump becomes progressively noisier [to the point where it makes a noise like a cat in a blender that you can hear from 30 feet away] and the engine will either not start, or start after a lot of priming and then likely cut out at random. Leave it too long like this and the strain *will* kill the fuel-pump!