Lorrick

I used to use one made out of an old coat hanger ?

if it was warped discs, you can usually feel the break pedal pushing your foot back and moving whilst breaking as mine are doing at the moment after 1 month from replacing tall 4 ?

All batteries leak voltage through the case to a more or lesser degree in Milli Volts, if you put your volt meter between the neg terminal and touch it on the case anywhere it will give you a small reading. If you charge a battery on a concrete floor if the case has condensation or the floor is damp you will be charging the floor, it is just a wast of electricity, and also storing batteries is best off the floor as they will dissipate through the ground.

I assume Badger you mean a 2000 w fan, not a 2000kw fan as I would think you would need your own mini Nuclear reactor as it would melt the cab I have a 240 blue socket on the outside of my TD5 Panel Wagon and plug it in so that the 1.5 kw fan is on a timer and comes on an hour before I start work, usually 4 am ish so it is warm and I have a clear screen, although when engine is hot the normal heater is to hot most of the time. so I would think as everyone has aid there is something up with your heater set up. All the best Richard

(Rule of 9 ) When tappet 8 is down fully adjust tappet 1 = 9, when 3 is down adjust 6 = 9 , when 4 is down do 5 = 9. You just have to adjust the tappet that makes the number up to 9. so 2 down adjust 7 etc. Try doing a V16 works for nearly any engine, just add 1 to the number of tappets you have. I also found that changing the oil in my TD5 Shut it up a lot.

Running on 235/85/16's and I assume standard gearing for a 2002 TD5 110 Utility model ?

That change in the law was kept quite, is that why K2t's are getting hard to get hold of ?

A merry Christmas to you all you merry Defendants ! A question ? when I load up the TD5, it accelerates and generally performs a lot better than when I have less weight in it. Yesterday I had an extra 5, 25ltr containers (full) on top of my normal tools and spares and it and it seemed to go a lot better, I could feel the Turbo working and the brakes stopping it better. Does it have a weight brake compensator on it, and does this mean the turbo is out of adjustment or knackered? Thanks Richard

Don't forget there Bobsleigh team won the winter Olympics a few years ago

Hi Dan I think you will find it is a "6.3mm blade multi connector"

Yes People kept putting holes in them

I would re check the valve clearances if it started just after you adjusted them ?

Just make sure he does not fail it on missing handbrake cables Richard

Great Idea Tanuki I had totally forgotten about the Solar Charge Mats.

Hi Steve You can get a battery hydrometer any where on the web or as I say Halfords or somwhere like that, they range from £1 upwards and they just check the specific gravity of the Electrolyte in the battery. 5 to 15 mins travel will not charge up the battery enough if you are not using it reglarly. if you want a trip up to suffolk it would charge the battery and if it is a dud I have a new one you could have foc. As for the optimiser I see your point. you could always transmit a powerfull rf signal from the end of your garden and tranform it in the Landy to charge your battery, but I would not like the electricity bill, when i woz a kid in watford, there was a chap who lived in a camper van and travelled around, when near us he had a special Lamp Post that he had adapted the base panel so that when the cover was taken off he had his own 3 pin socket in it so he always parked in the same place and had a free source of electric as long as he was there, of course totally illigal and no one would ever do it but just thought i would regale you of something from my past. if you needa hand pm me. Cheers Richard ps. As you live in H W I would think you had enough hills to bumb start it, unless you live at the bottom of one of :-)course

Hi Steve, Also just to point out that each cell in the battery will charge at a rate of 2.37 volts before it gasses (Fizzes this is normal as you are creating Hydrogen gas when charging) when it is in a good state and will giving you a voltage of 14.22 volts. The cells themselves are capable of holding 2.14 volts each so 12.84 volts max, so your initial voltage drop down to 13.7 is normal as it is dropping from the gassing capacity to the physical capacity. But a few things you can check. firstly is the Specific gravity (you can buy the testers for a couple of quid Halfords or a car accessory shop) the acid/Water mix which should be fully charged 1.265 at 75 deg C. but at 7 deg it will only be 1.24, so don't think you have a dud battery until you look up the gravity against the temperature, you can find a chart on the web, many a good expensive battery has been thrown away due to over enthusiastic judgements. Secondly It will also lose 35% of it cranking capacity at 5 deg or below, and if the battery is in a state of discharge it can freeze and crack the casing also when you charge look and see if one cell starts fizzing straight away as this will show that you have a broken/damaged cell, so the current will not flow properly on cranking or charging, the easy option if it does not get used all the time especially over winter is put a battery optimizer on it so that you have it plugged into the mains and the optimizer keeps it at 100% without damaging the battery, I have one on my bike and the other 4x4. But as this has only just started and the days are getting colder I would suggest that the battery may be coming to the end of its life, it also may be sulphating up, but that's curable but another story it all depends on how often you use it and how long a run you are taking it on as it will have warmed up the engine and put some charge in the battery so the engine would be easier to turn over and the battery would have more life in it. Regards Richard

Thanks to you all, and Boydie we are probably miles behind you :-) Well I think I will stay with the old type, life's confusing enough as it is

What does it look like as I have ripped two jumpers and a pair of jeans in the last month But yes I will re lube with spray white grease

Hi All Have just resolved my non latching door I sprayed it with clutch and brake degreaser, and now it works every time, I know I will have to re lubricate it but it showed to me that in my case all the old oil and grease must have gone hard when it gets cold, so by cleaning it away it now moves freely and latches every time

Has anyone fitted a Silver Calcium battery to there Defender, I have a 2002 TD5 and will have to change the battery soon, have been looking at the Silver Calcium type as I have one in another vehicle. Just wondering if anyone has any input on to do or not as the case may be ? Richard

Same here, my 2005 TD5 Hardtop started a couple of weeks ago, I find that if you use a screwdriver to latch the lock back then push the button to open it again, then my one locks first time for some reason, and from memory I had this on my old 2002 TD5 when new ? Richard

Hi Adrian I can get the spiders but I need the Yolks as two of them are broken. I have tried GKN and Hardy Spicer (all one firm now) and they stopped making the original ones, but someone I know can get the blank casting. But with all the machining to do I thought there might be an easier way. I have ordered a couple of Range Rover steering uj's but thought there might be a standard fix to turn it electric. Thanks Richard

Hi All As you might know by the occasional posting on here I have been having a wot-zit of a job getting a couple of uj's for a Superwinch PTO drive, ( not wishing to pay £200 each from Superwinch) and I suddenly thought, is it possible to convert a mechanical driven winch to an electric on or has anyone done it. Just an idea, and thoughts welcome Cheers Richard

Hi Pat I have done some work on them in the past and one thing I found out is when being used as a air con pump, there is oil put into the in the gas that is compressed to evaporate to cool the air, the oil in the system is used to lubricate the compressor, so i don't know how it would get on just compressing air without any lubrication ? Regards Richard

I had my 2002 TD5 110 ex utilities Defender MOT’d the day after I bought it a couple of months ago, a couple of minor things were dealt with there and then, a light bulb or two, I was told that the front pads and discs would need attention in the near future, but where OK for now. Long story very short, the prop UJ went bang so as I am using the vehicle as a mobile workshop I pulled over and took the front prop off in a lay-by (as you do) and went RWD to the local independent Land Rover garage (Ex-Army chap), Asked if he could do the UJ and have a look at a leak and squeak from behind the engine and gearbox area that was pointed out to me recently (new customer,Rainy day new tarmac car park ). So I then used the wife’s car to carry on working for the week and the end result was. 4 UJ's, 1 Drop Arm Ball Joint as u/s, 1 Fuel Block and gasket as leaking, Rocker box Gasket and all the Grommets, 1 Ball joint on the Anti-Roll Bar, all the bushes in the Shock Absorbers as rotten & falling out, Rear Pads, New front Discs and Pads as down to the metal, 1 Wheel bearing Hub complete with bearings as shot and damaged, 1 Drive Member, The transfer box was missing a bolt to the gearbox and all the others where loose, so that was another oil leak as the gearbox and transfer box were moving independently of each other and damaged the oil seal. All within a month of it being MOT’d? I was a bit peed off to say the least, and a bit more barasic after as well. But one of my friends who always looks on the bright side of life said “look at it this way, if it was any other vehicle it would have packed up ages ago” what can you say . I must say the old gal is totally different now and handles a lot more like I seem to remember my original 2002 TD5 did in 2002. So what is the point of an MOT if all these faults can get through.