TheBeastie

Thanks Simon - sorry I had not made myself clear - I meant fit resistor only at one end not at both. Ends up they DO need a resistor for any future reference. I lost rear near side indicator and on investigation it was the contact that had simply rotted away so took the plunge and replaced N/S front and back with the LED units. They flash fast and the trailer light does not come on the first flash, so off to Maplin (or on line) to get a pair of suitable 10W (or 20W if poss) 3.3R wire bound resistors - one for N/S and one for O/S. I think that sounds a better solution than the modified flasher relay since I do tow on occasion and adjusting the resistance on the LR flasher circuits looks like being more useful. Looking at the much inside where the rear indicator goes I think putting the resistor at the front might be a better idea. It gets less grot thrown at it so less likely to go bad on me. I will advise how I get on.

Well I have got part ETC4033 and ETC4034 from LR dealer but they couldn't supply copper washers (or perhaps couldn't be bothered). I now have a couple of new issues. The thread on the oil temperature sender is a bit longer than the hole in the bit that bolts the banjo onto the filter. It hits the bottom whilst still about 5mm proud of the surface so the recess surface on the hole and the part on the sender machined to fit into it are 5mm apart. Presumably I can bodge round this with washers??? The next issue is that I have a suspicion the thread on the VDO pressure sender is not quite the same as on the banjo bolt. It sort of goes in for about three turns then seems to go tight. I am not sure whether to put on copper grease and see if I can "force" the issue or if this is not just likely to strip the threads. Any advice on how best to proceed with this part? The gauges all look lovely but it would be nice to see the needle move on them!!! Thanks Malcy

Thanks Simon. I follow the logic and calculations fine. I knew all the hard work for my radio licence would come in handy one day Can I just clarify, however. From my reading of what you have said I effectively put the 3.3R resistor in parallel with one of the Perei units on each side, so sort of putting a T connection in both the live feed and the earth at, say the rear, and connecting the resistor across the stubs created from the T connection (sort of diagramatic below). Then I leave the front alone since they will always work in pairs. If so, do I need to evaluate the resistance of the Perei unit and adjust the resistor value so that the combined parallel resistances are 3.4R? Or is that simply getting too pedantic? O---------- +ve O | O R O | O---------- -ve Best wishes Malcy

Finally got the stop/tail units fitted and very pleased with them indeed For future reference the wire linking (on my 90 anyway) was completely contra-indicatory so here is what it ended up Black on LR to White in fly lead; Green on LR to Red on fly lead; Red on LR to Brown on fly lead. Having seen these units I now want to upgrade my indicator units to the same type. If I get four Perei LED indicator lamps will I need to do anything to the relay (or wherever) to get them to flash at the correct speed? If so, what do I need to get, or do? I seem to recall that if the relay detects anything less than four incandescent bulbs lighting it goes into rapid flash mode and the LED units will take far less current that incandescent. What I do not want to do is set it all up at the weekend and then find I cannot use The Beastie till I have got some other part I did not know about. Thanks for any information Best wishes Malcy

Thanks Western and sorry for late response but slugged by Christmas bugs (very horrid and too graphic for sensitive company!) I presume from your drawing I would need the banjo and the adapter then fit the VDO pressure sensor in place of PRC4043 and the VDO temperature sensor in place of PRC4372. In which case I only need to get ETC4033 and ETC4034. Does that make sense? Thanks Malcy

Santa has been kind and gave me VDO oil temperature, oil pressure and replacement water temperature gauge and voltmeter with appropriate (I hope!) sensors. Now all I need to do is fit them up. So far I have drilled out three 52mm holes in my MUD dash and fitted the gauges but the tricky bit comes next. First wiring colours - frm what I can gather from previous posts it looks like light green/white for the oil pressure; light green/green for the oil temperature and green/blue for the water temperature - not sure what it should be for the voltmeter??? Next sensors (provided by ETB from briefing through SWMBO) Oil temberature is an M10 bolt with a right angle electrical connector on the outside; water temberature looks similar but is with a 5/8" UNF adaptor; oil pressure looks like a small bomb cylinder with an M10 (possibly M12) bolt on one end and a single screw terminal on the other end. Hope these are right! From what I can also see the wire from the sensor goes to one of the three connectors on the gauge, and of the other two connectors on the gauge one (middle) goes to earth and the other takes an ingition feed +ve. The water temperature sensor with adaptor I seem to recall should directly replace the original somewhere on the thermostat housing. I also seem to recall (but cannot find the threads) that the oil pressure sensor goes by the oil filter. Ideally I would like to keep the original warning light for safety but not sure how easy this is. I am not sure where the oil temperature sensor best goes. I did read somewhere that you put it in the sump drain plug but I have fitted a Difflock easy drain thing so this is not possible. How best might I tackle this? I did search the technical forum but perhaps brain still in flu mode so did not find anything. Any help/pointers/confirmations would be really appreciated Thanks Malcy

Merry Christmas too from Edinburgh Guests about to arrive so last few moments of sanity Take care Malcy

Not fitted yet but here is where they came from http://www.dun-bri.com/showdetails.asp?id=391 HTH

Cor! Its obvious when you know where to look!!! Thanks guys

I have finally received the two Perei stop/tail LED units. They have a three wire fly-lead with red, white and brown wires. Not sure what effect experimentation might have on the LEDs and would hate to blow them so I wondered if anyone knew which was earth, which was stop and which was tail? Any help most appreciated. Having seen the quality I will upgrade the flasher units to the same Perei range in the new year since they are infinitely better than the NAS units I bought during the summer. Thanks Malcy

My problem is back. The Beastie starts fine but about 30 seconds after starting all goes wobbly. The engine is clearly fuel starved but doesn't quite stall. 10 to 15 seconds later fuel supply back to normal and not a problem again. It is possibly just because it has been a good bit colder the last couple of weeks but I don't think so. Fuel filter was changed about 1500 miles ago so should be OK. Clearly some form of air lock forming in pipes. A colleague suggested changing fuel pump since possibly a seal is weeping. Anyone able to confirm this a good course of action or suggest an alternative solution? Thanks and best wishes Malcy

Cool Thanks for the swift response. 0-5 bar it is then!

I am building a list for Santa and want a VDO oil pressure gauge for 200Tdi Defender. They have two - one goes 0-5 bar and the other goes 0-10 bar. Which one would I be best with? I think it is the 0-5 bar but would really appreciate confirmation. Thanks

I am trying to do a long overdue maintenance routine on The Beastie. Taking out the level plugs on the swivel pin housings it would seem that they may have had grease put in since it was definitely closer looking to grease than EP90. It all looked OK despite having been ignored for almost two years (hangs head in shame). Do I just leave as is on basis that if it aint broke (or at least seems to work OK) don't fix it, or should I see it as a potential problem and tackle it? The chrome seems a bit pitted (which is perhaps why the PO put in grease rather than oil. The book suggests you should drain and refill at what is now probably an overdue interval. Any thoughts most appreciated. Thanks Malcy

I recently got a Draper grease gun to replace the old one which was quite cumbersome. I sourced some tubes of grease and put one in as per the instructions on the tube. The plunger thing seemed to go all the way into the barrel which seemed a bit odd but may be OK. There is very little movement on the trigger - it seems just a short squeeze - but after about twenty squeezes a dribble of grease appeared at the nozzle. It did not really seem to have any pressure. I have just tried greasing the propshafts of The Beastie with the new gun and not getting anywhere. Ended up using the old gun just to get the job done. Is there some ancient grease gun trick known only to proper mechanics?? Otherwise can anyone suggest what I might be doing wrong? I thought it should be so simple!!! Thanks Malcy

As a followup the issue now appears to be resolved. I put a bottle of Wynn's diesel additive in the tank to try and clean everything through and then also noticed that one of the diesel spill rail bolts had slackened off too so there was a drip. Really must find the time to replace the whole rail with the new one Not sure which sorted the problem, perhaps it was the combined effort. Thanks for the help anyway.

Well at those rates these would seem a bargain! I am just a little nervous of ordering and finding they do not fit but have just noticed there is a drawing giving measurements so I will measure up the plinths I have and see if they might work.

I am still looking for a proper LED lamp to fit to The Beastie and the dark nights just make me more determined to change. I have found these http://www.dun-bri.com/ShowDetails.asp?id=391 Does anyone know if these will fit into the standard Wipac NAS plinths? If so then they might be the answer since the units seem to come without any plinth. Any help most appreciated Thanks Malcy

Thanks stuntman but if it was a failing fuel lift pump would it work fine once it was going? This morning it actually fell over on me about 10m after I had pulled away. It restarted on second try of ignition key. I think I will change the fuel filter tonight to see if that does anything but need to try and get to bottom of it since I dislike the unreliability of it!

Thanks Mike I thought I was confused before When you say stamped on the rim, would that be on the inside which is nicely concealed by the tyre? It would seem to fit the pattern! The tyre I now have on my spare is a BR205S16S689 if that is any help.

I got my last full set of tyres - pretty normal Michelin 205S16 tyres I think - from Quik-Fit and they had inner tubes. I had a valve problem and another branch of the same said, oh no should not have inner tubes on those wheels, removed the tube. Wheel seemed fine. Have just replaced the burst one and no tube fitted. I seem to recall reading here that LR tyres are meant to have inner tubes. Who is right and what should I have on my wheels, inner tubes or not?? Thanks to anyone who can shed light. Malcy

The last couple of times I have started The Beastie the engine seems to go all fluttery and sounds as if it is going to stall just after I have pulled off (perhaps 20 seconds after I start the engine) - I would guess fuel starvation. It starts fine but then just goes away. So far it has always come back but I fear the worst. Once it has got over its initial reluctance there seems to be no problem. Any ideas what might be doing this and how I sort it? Thanks Malcy

OK. Thanks guys. Well at least it wasn't that I was using the wrong sort of tyre (a la British Rail and the wrong sort of leaves). I will off and see if I can get a matching tyre. Having lost my spare made me quite apprehensive so had two of the team stamping out in front of me an axle width apart to try and ensure a safe path so that could get the job finished. They found nothing and so we got on OK. I guess it was a 1 in a thousand chance or something and whilst I never win anything that relies on chance I "won" that one! I suppose the answer is two spare wheels.

I had a wee bit of a disaster at the weekend whilst towing radio masts out at Barns Ness for a contest. Despite carefully walking my route I managed to run over an ancient fence post protruding about 40mm from a depression in the sand buried by marram grass. To be honest I think it would have been almost impossible to find, but sod being what it is ... The tyre ripped on the inside wall. Is there any way of avoiding this sort of thing through tyre selection etc? The tyre came off better than the 40m Yagi which ended up snapping the 20m tall mast in what must have been close to 70mph winds judging by the see and the fact that it was almost impossible to stand up in the full fury. Unfortunately the winds came from almost nowhere so by the time it was realised there was a problem it was too dangerous for those not operating radio to do much but watch. First I knew was when I failed to complete my contact on 40m!!

Thanks for the link western One just ordered. Now to get all the other bits and pieces!!!