Pastycrimper

Thanks again. The individual slats are 39cm by 5cm. Of the website's I have looked at they all appear to have much bigger roller doors....i.e near the size of the whole side whereas this is literally just big enough for a small gas bottle. Pics: Does anyone know a commercial vehical body specialist in Cornwall who may do this type of stuff? I thought I knew a place near Penzance but they have gone (whether they've moved or shut I've yet to find out).

It is LRSV.........I'll note the SV plate details so in theory they should know exactly what fleet and fittings it had. I'll ring LR tomorow afternoon and update you all with the cost.

Cheers guys..........but kind of the news I was anticipating but not wanting to hear. Sitting down may not be enough - I'll need some of kind of automatic self-gagging device that activates just prior to me turning into a raving rum drunk pirate after hearing the price. Maybe I should start a gentlemans sweeopstake on what the price I'll get quoted from LR will be? Any thoughts on a non-LR alternative botch I could muster up. Maybe just weld in a sqaure box with a conventional side opening door to the chassis plus fabricated mount and just make some nice flashing to go between the tub and the box......

I've got a small (~40cm wide) side roller shutter on my vehicle behind which is stored my gas bottle. The vehicle (1997) has had a camper conversion ten years ago but was previously an electricity board utility vehicle so I assume that the roller shutter was fitted at manufacture but it could well have been added when the previous owner did the initial camper conversion. Either way the sutter's rusted too far and I need to get this replaced. It suddenly struck me that it may be quite a "custom" thing if it was originally fitted by Land Rover as the side runners and mounting frame go up so as to curve around the natural curve running down the length of a defender . The upper frame ends about an inch short of the upper tub. I'll take a photo of it in the morrow when the light is back. It looks like the mounting frame/side runners are just riveted to the body of the landrover and the actual box inside is a separate entity welded in. Anyway I need to know where to get one of these or if anyone knows of some generic roller shuttering that can easily be fitted to incorporate the curved portion of a defender side. Cheers n gone

I have had no trouble finding 3 bolt alternators - Denso and ATX make 120A versions but Red90 is correct that its worth checking the mounting/bolt arrangement. I've seen a lot that say "fits defender" which is a little pointless as its the engine not model that it needs to fit and indeed I think the 4 bolt ones were fitted to the V8s. Either way just check and make sure its the 3 bolt version before purchasing. Whatever you do keep your pulley as you'll almost certainly need tp swap it over especially if its for the V belt on a 200tdi. Most of the new alternators that fot 300s and 200s have the small pulley for the serpentine belt supplied with it. You may also find that the newer alternators have the fan on the inside of the alternator whereas the original lucas alternators had the fan on the outside just next to the pulley. Avoid Britpart alternators at ALL costs which should go without saying.

Thanks for all the replies. Been hiding from the grusome weather. What's the difference between white smoke and vapous - surely they look the same!? I always assume white smoke was in fact steam from water in the engine. Anyway when I start the vehicle from cold apart from a puff of balck smoke on ignition she doesn't smoke at all. I literally drove her 100m out the farm yard and into a field and left her idling. I reckon but not 100% certian that it starts after about 15mins of idling......either way the engine is warmed up but obviously not being revved or worked. I haven't checked the water trap on the fuel filter. I change the fuel filter every 5 thousand miles anyway and each time I do I always check the old filter and I've never yet found water there but a quick and easy check. So can white smoke also mean badly burning fuel? As said I always thought white smoke was water related and that black smoke was a sign of unburnt diesel?

I've just noticed something that I've never noticed before but in theory it could have been happening all the while. 110 300tdi 1997 and engine wise she's always been fine - starts to perfectin always and drives great. With my foot right down I get black smoke but am convinced this is just overfuelluing as it only happens with the foot right to the floor and the vehicle has had the pump tweaked when a full size allisport intercooler was fitted by the previous owner, so I suspect the black smokeis just an overtweaked pump at full throttle - I very rarely drive with my foot to the floor anyway so I don't see this much unless I am overtaken a slow vehicle in third going up a hil.. However aside from this she never smokes (Or at least that's what I thought). The other day I was helping the ol' man on the farm pull out blackthorn using my winch which is a hydraulic Milemarker driven by a spearate ZF hydraulic pump. So I basically had the vehicle idling for a few hours whiule we worked away in the hedges pulling in and out the winch. After about an hour I noticed that quite a lot of white smoke was coming out of the exhaust which is something I have never noticed. She carried on doing this while I winched away but the engine was never throttled, just idling. After working I went for a drive and the smoke disappeared and when I parked up at home I let her idle for a minute, there was no smoke directly after driving. Yesterday we went and did some more winching and I noticed again probably after idling for about 20minutes the white smoke came back. So this issue only arises (it seems) if I leave her to idle for long periods (>15mins). Given this isn't something I do frequently it may have had this issue since I've had her - I've no idea but I only have noticed this issue the other day. Any ideas as to what this is? What is causing it? And is it serious?

What's so special about the Disco drop arm? I reckon I'll need to change my drop arm ball joint by next years MOT. I've heard a lot of mentions on here of replacing the whole arm if the drop arm is old and worn (and that the ball joint can be a right ass to get out). If I do replace the arm why would I get a Disco one?

hmmmm I had a feeling good intentions would be much more graft than planned

Great comments as always. Dishwasher just aint quite big enough! Esssentially then get the old waxoyl off first. Will pressure washing even get it off. What about of I dunked it in a bath of hot water first all will that make things messier? I guess the old paint scraper and elbow grease is first then. Can you burn the stuff off?

I'm about to embark on some maintenance and servicing now I've got some time off work. I've just got the track rod off to replac the TREs and I thought (along with many other parts) that while it's off I'd like to clean the track rod up and re-paint it. Easy task I thought but then my track rod is layered with mud/dirt on the outside and multi-year layers of waxoyl. Without a sandblaster I wondered whats the easiest and best way to get all this off as well as any surface rusk that may exist underneath the waxoyl such that I have a well primed surface fpr repainting and then re-applying fresh waxoyl? I was thinking one of those heavy guage wire rotating brushes that fit into a drill may be an efficient and effective method?

By how much spare, do you mean how much available current is available when driving the truck. I have a split charge system with marine battery monitors on each battery. When I am driving the engine doesn't need barely anything. At night in the cold and rain with my heater, headlights, windscreen wipers and radio on these "vehicle" systems draw about 30A max (normally between 20-25A) in total so my 120A alternator can still give plenty of current to my second battery. Obviously the alternator doesn't kick out 120A unless its turnng fast but even then it supplies plenty of current. I fitted a German ATX 120A alternator which came with a graph showing how much current is available at different alternator rpms. Nonetheless with my engine running and me running my leisure circuit (lights, 1kW inverter, fridge, second stereo) my leisure battery is still receiving enough current from the alternator even when idling to power my stuff and keep battery topped up. Hope this helps

Is that true? Are you saying that say a 75% charge battery will only accept an 8A current. Or are you sayin that a fully charged battery will only accept 8A. Certainly when I charge my battery if its not full with my 20A charger it takes 20A happily.

I had this and it was something completely different! It was one of my rear sidelight/brake bulbs - The ones with two filaments in....I had a strand of the brakelight filament that fell onto the sidelight such that whenever the brake pedal was pressed my sidelights (and dim/dip headlights) would flash on and off. This freaked the hell out of people in front of me when approaching roundabouts/junctions as they'd see a Landy in their rear view mirroe with his lights flashing them! Almost certain it will be this! I checked all earths, went crazy for ages and it turned out to be a strange bulb. Hope this solves your issue

They are yes in that they're solid if you hit them with impact but viscous under vibration (just like quicksand as someone mentioned - these are thixotropic fluids or as Paddy mentioned non-Newtonian fluids. Si mentioned "Thixotropic Grease" which doesn't seem to me to be directly thixotropic but a grease which when there is no vibrations/movement is stiff but like thixotropic fluids becomes more viscous with vibration. Either way one-shot has to be non-Newtonian by it's very nature. Maybe its grease mixed with Cornflour! Anyone fancy trying that as amn experiment an updating us with their findings................

I have some offshore mates who live in Norway with Landys or other 4x4s. They all clearly make a distinction between snow and ice. That is in the snow - AT or as mentioned above softer compound winter tyres. However a chap on board here has a similar problem to you - lives at the top of a steep hill. No trouble in snow but the moment its ice he HAS to use studded tyres. In Norway this is common for people in rural/mountainous areas where studs are vital (you have to pay a surcharge tax for using studded tyres). No idea what the regs are in the UK

Mixing cornflour with water is a great way of making and demonstrating thixotropy ( ).........fascinates school kids (well at least some anyway). I never realised Ketchup was thixotropic!

Thats's true. The BT site does state clearly the price of the these numers (pn2 tarriff). Certainly 09 premium numbers are OFCOM regulated. My infromation came from money saving expert forum including this quote: "070x numbers are known as personal numbers and therefore would not be barred like 09x numbers would be. Be very aware that calls to this number cost 47.5p per minute from a BT landline with calls from other landline providers and mobiles may (and normally do) cost more. A lot of scam artists have started using high-priced 070x numbers so they can receive a revenue although they are not meant to just that clueless Ofcom haven't closed a loop-hole. These people/companies using 070x numbers so they can earn a revenue without all the hassle and safeguards that using an 09x (premium rate) number would have simply due to the fact that 09x numbers are regulated by ICSTIS whereas 070 personal numbers are not regulated whatsoever. Basically, 070x personal numbers can be used as stealth premium rate numbers due to their high cost and the fact that they are so easily confused as being a mobile number." These two pages cover the 070 issues a lot of people have had http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=253431 & http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=253484

To those interested in this thread I did some more research on these "online brokers" for breakers. IMHO I would stay well clear of them. You only have to do a few websearches to find a list of horrors. One of the comanies i tried was 247spares who essentially take your request and automatically ping it on to hundreds of breakers many of whom sound seriously dodgy. You then receive no-obligation quotes but to find out more you have to ring these 0704 numbers which are 50p/min form a BT land line and LOADS more from a mobile. BEWARE most people think that all 07 numbers are mobiles but 0704 are NOT. These are often used as scam numbers where somone rings you up and pretends not to hear you so you ring back. These numbers are not monitored by authorites. Here the spares company makes you try to ring these numbers. Fair enough maybe but a little deceptive. Unlike various comparetthis and that websites these guys make money from your calls rather than advertisng on your site or re-seller deals. They don't mention anything about call charges. You only have to type 247spares into google to find the complaints (e.g. http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=435026)

Cheers!!!! I hadn't heard of GSF but they do do them for £50 each which as you say isn't going to be far off a scrapyard.....b*st**d vandals! So glad I didn't drive and leave my Land Rover there!!!

Thanks for a great explanation Si. My previous alternator (and battery) was fried for exactly the reason you give - the split charge relay was connected via the charge-light and thus the alternator kicked out 19.8V. Glad I noticed this not long after I bought the vehicle and cured the issue. I personally believe that a lot of less knowedgable auto electricians connect the relay via the charge light for the later alternators which is why a lot of people end up having problems with there electrics....after all a 12V electyronics aren't supposed to be running at 20V! I actually take power from the radio feed like you say, but have an in-line illuminated dash switch so that I have to manually operate when the split charge is on and off....I'm anal like that but I like to have full control over whether its on or off. I guess for folks with high winching applications they want the split charge always running when the engines going.....

Cheers depending on where we do the crew change I may well be flying in via Aberdeen so could be highly useful...I've sent them an email. Cheers again....looks like they have Xsara's on their now breaking list. I'm gonna try and call them when I get reception. Damn interesting and a useful site....sadly didn't work for the numbers in question but I've bookmarked for future usage.

Moderators...I really didn't know what forum this should go in so please migrate to the correct place or remove if you deem to far O/T. OK this doesn't really apply to Land Rovers but it could as my question and concern relates to internet based 2nd hand parts and "breaker" sites. I'm working offshore and need to re-MOT my Citroen which is parked 300miles from home (where the beloved Landy is resting). The Citroen is fine other than while its been parked on the road at a friends house some idiots have smashed off both wing mirror units (Grrrrrrr!!). I only use this citroen as a cheap "run- around" vehicle for crossing the country to get to airports etc. So I figured I'd try and source 2 second hand wing mirror units of any colour and order them from offshore either via internet or using the ship's satellite phone such that they are delivered to the address where my car is parked so that I can fix it as soon as I arrive back to the UK, then do the MOT and drive back home to Cornwall asap for some much deserved cider and Land Rover maintenance I have planned. So I looked up second hand parts on the internet (e.g. googled Citroen parts) and there are just loads of sites claiming to be specialist "Spares Networks" - you tell them the make and model of your car and they then email you back quotes from "various" unknown breakers - I had 7 different quotes back (some of them very good). However all of these unknown sources are linked by Premium Rate numbers and the email states "Call the supplier now on 0704471**** to find out more and order your part". All of the numbers begin with 0704471 which according to BT is a Premium Rate tarriff. By my calculations if I had rang these suppliers and checked on the details (some were misleading as to whether it was the mirror only, or just the housing) then I would have clocked up A LOT of money in call charges (more than the price of the wing mirror!) I'm not saying this is a pure scam as I guess they are offering a service but I think it's very deceptive especially as they don't tell you the call costs. Or what's to say each of the quotes isn't actually from the same person trying to make you make as many calls as possible. If you type 0703 into google you will see that it is littered with phone scam issues. I have resorted to using the yellow pages and actually finding landline numbers and email address of specific breakers and contact them directly but in this day and age they seem hard to find - I've only found 2 claiming to be French part specialists. Ebay seems like the most useful resource for 2nd hand parts these days. Anyone else know of 2nd hand part suppliers that don't try and charge you huge amounts by calling them up!?? Or indeed where to get two Xsara electric wing mirror units from? Again apolgies for a somewhat off topic post but didn't want anyone else to fall foul of these scams. Had I called them from my mobilephone from this ship in Norway I would have racked up £100s!!!!

If you've got the cash you could get an alternator to battery charger or battery to battery charger.....very effective but expensive - e.g. http://www.sterling-power.com/products-altbatt.htm I'm not recomending this product in particular but the description/picture explains the concept well. Almost all marine applications I work with use these now instead of split charge relays or VSR method. I *think* the battery to battery charger option is cheaper as the starter battery stays exactly as normal but I believe the alternator to battery charger is the best as all batteries are charged and conditioned correctly - certainly all the small work boats I am on use these.

Slight hijack.....I in the poly camp but just getting the feeling here that everyone recommend Superpro. Are these better than Polybush? Anyone tried both manufacturers and found one better than the other?