Boydie

Agreed, I've never found any need to Loctite any bolts if a torque setting has been given for a particular bolt, UNLESS the threads are worn in which case Loctite is often required.

You got several things right, one being that I'm anally intentive and I enjoy building engines perfectly, it's a fad I guess, like going through a crate of pistons to find just four that were identical diameters and then using a toolmakets grinder to ensure all were exactly the same weight, that the con rods were identical in length and weight (static and dynamic) as well as the crank ballance etc. Sure there isnt anything refined about the 300TDi but I've had fun making sure its the very best that it can be and knowing that it will be still fine in around 400,000 kilometers just because of the additional effort and fun in the assembly But my point is still valid, you cannot dowel the camshaft without removing it -- unles you want to dry drilling it in situe, and good luck with that idea!

I've got a Series 1, 1998 Discovery with a 23L 300TDI coupled to a ZF4HP22 4 speed auto running on Cooper AAT 225/R75-16 tyres and I easily get 100 kilometers per 8 litres average - that includes city and country driving with a maximum speed of 130KPH (legal limit is 110 max) that equates in your speak to 35 miles per gallon. Acceleration is a tad below poor but once the puffer is rolling she's beaut! As my sticker on the rear window says, "You can go faster - I can go anywhere"

This should be of interest to you, it's an Australian design but yes the plate is fine http://www.thermoguard.com.au/instal.html

As I said Steve, my cylinder head was off anyway as it had to be replaced as it was warped beyond recovery. The other three considerations are that :- 1.) The cam followers and rollers need pressure to remain in contact with the cams, and my dial guages wont apply that sort of pressure so they are best removed and for me it was a case of "Oh well while the head's off...." 2.) As for measuring the cam at the rocker adjustment, yes, it would be possible if you first set the tappet gap to zero and then found a location to fix the dial guages, the magnetic base wouldnt be useful on the alloy head so a fixture mounted on one of the rocker shaft/rocker cover bolts would need to be fabricated. 3.) The third thing is if the camshaft is out of true as mine was (even though I assume within tollerance) and needs to be re-set to be exact and then doweled to the cam sprocket the camshaft has to be removed from the block and to do that all the cam followers and rollers need to be removed and to do that the head has to be removed.

Oh I am soooooo glad that in Oz we dont use salt to defrost roads in winter and that this degree of rust is but a distant memory my 1998 Disco has none, oh, and due to overseas transit the chassis is galvanised and powdercoated

Recently there have been some discussions on how to set the Fuel Injection Pump (FIP) to 10 degrees BDTC. Considereing my limited experiences I think anyone attempting this should first consider checking the position of their camshaft prior to setting the FIP at an increased injection angle. When I recently re-built the top and front end of my 300TDi after I boiled it enough to cause the head to warp beyond salvagable limits (unless I used a head saver shim plate) I found that the camshaft was about 3 degrees out of the design (blue-print) setting, not enough to prevent a diesel from running but it concerned me all the same, enough to reset it. In order to "dial" in the camshaft you will need:- Two Dial guages 0-1" IN .001" increments with extended screw-on probes of at least 100 mm long fitted to a magnetic base(s). A replacement cylinder head gasket. Use the new multi-plate style. Inlet/exhaust gasket. Rocker cover gasket. 8 off valve stem caps. Please dont try to save money by re-using these, they take a hell of a pounding so retire them at every opportunity, ie. every time you re-set your tappets. A replacement camshaft oil seal, Crankshaft oil seal, Crankshaft "O" ring. 4 off new injector "O" rings. Timing cover oil seal. A torque angle guage, A new set of head bolts. A 250mm long dial torque wrench. Okay, remove the head, injectors, glow plugs etc. and the front of the timing cover, rotate the engine until, using one of the dial guages on the crown of the piston the No.1 cylinder is at Top Dead Centre (TDC). Pin the FIP and the flywheel. (Number the injectors and replace them back into the same cylinder) Remove the timing belt, if its in the least bit worn buy a new one and consider replacing the sprockets as well, Bripart do a reasonable kit. Remove the cam followers and rollers -- remove them in order and later replace them in order, that is No.1 exhaust into No.1 exhaust, No.1 inlet into No.1 inlet. DO NOT MIX THEM UP. Locate the dial guages so each one is sensing the cam lobes on No.1 cylinder. Turn the cam shaft CLOCK-WISE until you can see the point where the inlet vave is fully closed and the exhaust is yet to open, There is a "flat spot" at this point, measure the rotational distance, you want to be at the mid-point. Set the dial guages to zero and rotate the camshaft several times to satisfy yourself that the camshaft is indeed at this dwell point. With a scribe and steel ruler incribe a mark on the camshaft and the sprocket (the new one if you're replacing it) and onto the inside face of the timing cover. Repeat this for the remaining three cylinders, -- remove rhe flywheel pin first - if the camshaft dwell points differ from No.1 cylinder the camshaft is either pooly machined or worn, in either case you should replace. Mine at 254,000 kilometers wasnt so I wouldnt expect yours to be either but it needs to be checked. Replace the flywheen pin on TDC for No.1 cylinder, again, check that the piston is at TDC, zero it --dont rely on cast-in timing marks Next, refit the timing belt and torque it to the correctly, this is where you need a 250mm long torque wrench with a dial indicator so you can see that the belt is set correctly to between 14 and 16Nm, a "clicker" isnt any good as you need to be able to look at the guage and see that you are applying the torque correctly to the timing belt, I got my wrench on Ebay. LOOK at the marks you scribed on the camshaft, camshaft sprocket and timing cover. If they are not fully aligned then the camshaft is not set correctly. If it isnt loosen the retaining bolts and while the sprocket is held in location by the timing belt move the camshaft to re-align the mark on the camshaft to the one on timing cover - use your steel ruler. If you cannot align them you will need to remove the timing belt and with a rat-tail file elongate the bolt holes so that the bolts will fit. Mine were out and the holes needed to be elongated by around 2.0mm. Re-fit the bolts, fit and torque the timing belt and remove the flywheel and FIP pins, rotate the engine at least two rotations and again check the marks at TDC on No.1 -LOOK at your piston dial guage if you hav'nt moved it it should be back at zero and the FIP pin should slip into place and the scribed mark on the camshaft should align with the scribed mark on the rear of the timing cover. If it doesnt investigate why and repeat the previous steps until it realigns. If it is happy days, remove the timing belt, remove the camshaft and have the camshaft doweled to the camshaft sprocket. You can do this in a home workshop or at your nearest machine shop. I drilled mine with a dual material (Steel and stone) carbide tip drill in a vertical bench drill, I used a 6mm drill and a 6mm dowel in the camshaft with a 6.5mm drill hole in the sprocket. Hint, DONT heat the camshaft with a flame to get the dowel into the hole, freeze the dowel for around 4 hours in the ice tray and then immerse the camshaft in boiling water for around 10 minutes, the dowel will slip in perfectly, incidentally a 6mm dowel will be a "knock-in" size diameter wise for a 6mm hole but the col/heat method is better than applying a hammer to the camshaft. Replace the camshaft oil seal and re-assemble the cylinder head starting with replacing the cam followers and rollers into the correct cam lobes, then the head gasket, torque the new bolts down using the torque wrench and torque angle dial guage. I believe its best to allow at least 10 mins between each torque angle step to allow the bolts to rest. Torque angle tensioning literally stretches the bolts so its best to allow a pause for this stretch to take effect. Incidentally this is why it's false economy to re-use the same bolts, even though the manuals say they can be reused in my experience all diesel engine head bolts are a one use item. Fit the manifolds (incidentally even with a brand new cylinder head it's a good idea to drill, tap and fit stainless steel HELICOILS in the alloy cylinder head as these are stronger than the original alloy manifold threads) Fit the new crankshaft oil seals, "O" ring, timing belt (re-torque), new sprockets and crankshaft oil seals, NOTE if you dont have a short torque wrench torque the belt BEFORE installing the head! If you dont the thermostat housing will get in the way. Refit the front timing cover and crank pulley, NOTE the position of the timing mark for future referance, it may be out, mine was perfect. Refil with coolant. Hint, to remove all the air from the head, first fill the system up to the top of the radiator and fit the radiator brass plug, fill the overflow tank to just a bit below full, have the brass plug hand tight and with the pressure cap off blow into the overflow tank, the water will push out all the air, when coolant is flowing from the brass cap, and with your mouth still over the reservoir, reach over and screw the thermostat plug down, if the system is air and water tight the level in the overflow tank will not change, if it rises you have a leak. Finish assembly, re-fit such ancillaries as injectors and start your engine.

do you ever look ahead out of the windscreen and observe where you are going ?

In Oz you would be hard pressed to find any manufacturer of heavy duty 4WD battery that do not use Silver Calcium technology in their batteries, so unless the UK is vastly different I'd guess the answer is .......... go for it.

And of course with the steering arm ball joint disconnected, -- to remove this hit the side of the ball joint housing arm with a SMALL hammer, the tapered stub will fall free DO NOT hit the end of the thread to knock it out or be prepared to replace it as the thread will be damaged, better still buy a ball joint breaker, an inexpensive but worthwhile investment, the universal scissor style are the best.

Enjoy ............ and take pleasure of knowing that you've learnt something about your puffer, and it's been done right and you have saved buckets of money that you would have thrown at your local LR service agent.

Yeppers, I've found one for sale by a local dealer, its unused and still in its original wrapping, the guy was happy to be relieved of it, 145 litres and as I thought reinforced PVC, it has a recess in it to accomodate the rear sway bar and is tapered to maintain the standard exit angle

Just a penneth worth, the first tread seems wider than the rim -- good one as the tread protects the side wall as well as the edge of the rim, the second tread pattern seems to be narrower exposing the sidewall to possible damage, tearing on rocks etc and foreign objects getting between the rim and sidewall/bead. On bitumin the second tread is the go, being narrower it will allow the tyre to stay cooler as there is less surface area therefore less friction and therefore less tyre wear, off the hard stuff and onto loose dirt though the first tread is the go.

Its a long time since I drove on snow but I believe that the correct method is the looser the surface the lower the tyre pressure, on snow the maximum pressure should be around 20 PSI and re-pressure once you are on a solid surface.

its really easy but after buying the overhaul kit for BOTH wheels go to your local fishing tackle shop and buy a small spring weighing scale in a 0-2 kilo range, the pre-load on the ball joint is between 1.16 and 1.46 kilos, that is the resistance to the joint turning with the steering arms disconnected, you simply pull the scale to try to cause the joint to move and it should resist any turning/moving with a force below 1.16 kilos and above 1.46 its too tight.

I'd guarantee that the timing is out, either that or the belt is loose

Okay you should be able to get some idea of the install. The supply cable is around 400mm in length, the earth shares the same earth post as the second / auxillary battery. all this unit does at present is supply power to the three cigar style power points in the car, the satellite phone, the CB radio and the winch. It will also supply power to recharge the trailer battery setup when its connected. The trailer also has a solar recharge unit to keep the traler battery charged and the fridge running -- warm beer being a horrible thing to contemplate.

Youre right, it is a 5HP electric motor and 12000 lbs, I'm so used to metric and the cable is 6mmin OD, and it was supplied with the winch so i guess its more than sufficient, at any rate it hauled the Puffer up a 45 degree plus slope we found just to try it out.

Thanks for that, I'll bid on it and heres hoping

Humm this could be another Australian only accessory. I've seen a couple on Australian Ebay for arround $1200 and they seem to be made from the same reinforced PVC as the standard tank and have a Land Rover Oval logo on them. The uprated capacity in all instances was claimed to be 145 litres and could be installed without removal of the rear sway bar. Incidentally why are/were the early Disco chassis powder coated, internally and externally ? Very odd when you consider that rust isnt a problem over here, I can only think it was to offer extra protection for the sea voyage out here.

I'll take some pics tomorrow of my unit and post them. I have a 5HP. 12000 kilo unit with 28 meters of 8mm steel cable connected via 6mm live and earth cables to the secondry battery. In my instance the relay is built-in and it has a remover cable and wireless remote.

I dont know about the diameter but the centre box is just so much surplus weight and one more thing to hit snags and rocks, I had the rally scrutineers take a sound reading of my Disco 300TDi at the start of the recent round of the WRC at Coffs Harbour, Northern NSW. At 1.0 meter above ground level and at 5 meters to the rear of the discharge pipe (which are the Australian ref. points) it was still well under the legal limit of 65Db on the weighted "A" scale producing only 58Db @ 2500RPM, oddly it dropped to 52Db as the revs increased to 4250. I had the readings taken out of curiosity as I'd taken off the centre muffler and replaced it with a straight section of exhaust pipe just proving that the turbo kills most of the offensive discharged sound waves.

The most "common" one I've come up with is a Land Rover Discovery publication Number LRL 0079. From the sales blurb this seems to cover the engine, transfer box, differentials and the ZF4HP22 Auto, do you (or anyone else) have this publication and if so is it complete, for example there is a specific back-lash on the ZF input shaft that is achieved by shimming, does it give this dimension and does it have exploded diagrams. In the new year I'll be pulling my box apart, I'll take snaps as I go and publish it on the site. After that I'll pull my spare 300TDi engine out of the back of the shed and re-build it to optimum tolerances. Oh, and then it will be a round Australia trip that should take the best part of 2 years.

The timing "light" was purchased from "Design Technologies Incorporated" a USA company and the unit is a TECH-TIME 3300-S. The imported cost in USD (Australian Dollars) was $795.00. It consists of three main components, 1.) The Transducer -- the size of this item you have to nominate as they are made to suit the OD of the fuel delivery lines as it is clamped onto No.1 cylinder fuel line, in my case with the Discovery 6mm OD 2.) the Zenon strobe light 3.) A Digital Tachometer that runs off the fuel impulse transducer. Their claim is it's accurate to 2 RMP @ 1000. As there is only the one mark on the LR Discovery crank pulley and timing cover case a protractor fixed to the face of the pulley is nessersary if you want to know the angle of injection timing, good quality magnetic ones are available, I got mine years ago from a generic autoshop. You're possibly right about the cost to the average DIY'er but it's a handy bit of gear and for me tax deductable.

Can you advise me of the PN and possible availability of the long range fuel tank for the Series 1 discovery MY1998. I believe it holds around 135 litres as against the 98 litre standard tank.