karoshi

Thanks for the quick replys! When you say low fluid are you talking about PAS fluid? in which case yes.. when the power steering disappeared I figured it for leaking but it's not lost any PAS fluid at all sofar (apart from on my father's driveway when I pulled the hoses off the pump ), also there wasn't a gradual loss of PAS, just turned the car on one night and found no power assistance and an unexpected few days of exercise! replaced the pump with a new one and new fluid anyway. I've had a broken front CV on my last RRC, a mid 80s 4door with a disco 200tdi & manual box installed, this problem doesn't feel the same as the clattery "you're going nowhere mister" noise when one goes, the steering feels fine for "normal" driving with the problem only really showing up on u-turns or full lock for parking.. I think that's what is confusing me about the automatic centre diff, if a CV joint was gone with a manual one the car wouldn't go until I locked it.. when I first noticed the problem I was going to do just that until I realised that the transfer box lever didn't move sideways! I reckon checking for wheel bearings and the viscous unit is the next job, just scared myself witless looking on Rimmer's website for a viscous unit, £490 for a pattern part .. if it is that are the pattern parts ok? is there anywhere less 2nd mortgage inducing to get them from? hah! that's exactly the kind of detail i'd miss

Something I've noticed with my 300tdi RRC is that the heater is almost useless until the engine gets up to just under halfway on the temp gauge. My problem is that mine never gets that warm unless i'm at motorway speed for about 5 minutes, on my town commute in the current cooler weather my temp gauge never really gets above the bottom mark on the gauge. I'm beginning to wonder if my thermostat might be stuck open, or the viscous fan seized on?

Would fibreglass panels take a paint finish? The worst holes on my RRC are in the bonnet and lower tailgate but holding out for finding metal replacements in the right colour (1993/4 really dark metallic red) is probably a bit futile.

Hi all, sorry to do the whole newbie 1st post with an issue thing.. I've joined up after using the rather excellent technical howto post for 300tdi PAS pump replacement to guide me through that little job over the weekend, was very impressed with the guide, the only issue I had was that at some point after dismantling the intake system my whole EGR assembly disappeared.. oh well, it's lucky I had that little metal plate to replace it with! Well, replacing the PAS pump has given me back the power steering but it hasn't solved another issue that i'd hoped was related to the failing pump, when I turn the car on full lock, as in when you're doing a U-turn through a central reservation, something odd happens to the steering, or the drivetrain maybe? It's like I can feel it binding up, if I hold a constant throttle position at say 5mph the car slows down and stops (it's a 300tdi Auto), if I give it a little more throttle it moves off but then you get a "clunk" which i think is one of the front wheels breaking traction and spinning round against the road. On normal driving and turning it seems fine. I've had RRCs before this one but this is the newest (on an L-reg, 1994 softdash) and my first one with an autobox and what appears to be an automatic centre diff.. which I admit is wierding me out slightly, my previous RRC had a manual centre diff-lock (disco 200tdi engine & manual box) which seemed like a much more sensible idea to me? Anyway, just wondering if there's anything that the above symptoms is likely to be, or how I can go about finding out what's broke / breaking down?