61a

I use a company in Kent called Ashford Power Transmissions Ltd for odd sized belts for my woodworking machinery. Always a fast service and excellent prices plus an enormous range of sizes for just about ever machine you have ever come across. Well worth a look on their website or giving a call. Another good thing is they don't sting you for delivery .

After looking at what you had to deal with it makes the thought of dealing with my sills a really simple operation, of course unless I find more holes once I start cutting . Good idea using box section rather than the usual repair sections.

Its been recycled . £300 for a secondhand gearbox/transfer box with 70,000 miles on it . A few hours help from a friend and its off again. In fact the gear change is better than its ever been in the five years I've owned it. Now I just need to weld up the sills for the MOT !!! :) :) :)

Gearbox off yesterday hoping I might find a problem with the clutch. No such luck definitely the gearbox the output shaft has loads of excess movement both side to side and can be pulled forward about 10mm . Still think its worth fixing despite age and a bit of rot on the nearside sill.

The transfer box seems to work ok with the warning light coming on as usual and going straight off when disengaged.

I think that maybe an option. Off to see a friendly local garage tomorrow ,have known the owner for years, so hopefully will get some idea of what is the likely problem. Hopefully something simple and cheap !!!!!! Always been an optimist.

Following the difficulty I recently had changing gear I changed the gearbox oil and bled the clutch hoping for some improvement. However, the gear changes are still a bit hit and miss and more worryingly now when reversing it feels like the gears are locking up !!! Beginning to wonder whether the repair is going to cost more than the old girl is worth . Bit of a shame because after 5 years its never let me down and with only 167,000 miles on the clock the engine has loads of miles left in it. Jules

Meant to add its a 96 300TDI with 167,000 on the clock.

After a recent 1000 mile round trip to the Lake District I am having an increasing amount of difficulty changing gear. Second gear has become noticeably noisy , sounds a bit like a bearing to me , and third can be problematic to engage but not consistently so. The other strange thing is that going home last night when I came up to a stop at a T junction it almost felt for a second as if the clutch had not disengaged and the vehicle was still trying to pull forward. The clutch is only about 40,000 miles old but I cannot find whether the fork was replaced or not. I drained the oil this morning and found quite a bit of swarf on the magnet but generally it was in reasonable condition only having been changed about 18,000 miles ago. What is really odd is that the problem is not consistent , most of the time with the exception of the slight whine in second it drives perfectly. Any thoughts ? Jules

Had an very enjoyable day on some local lanes today and actually went down one which has recently reopened after being closed for best part of two years. When I last attempted the lane near Chalvington before the closure, I managed to get totally stuck on my bike taking over 20 minutes for three of us to get it out !!! Now the lane has been totally rebuilt and has some lovely deep ditches to the sides so should hopefully prevent the idiots who seem to love trying to ruin our enjoyment by going off piste . Full marks to East Sussex Highways for their efforts. Jules

I do everything through Sure-term now. You actually deal with people who genuinely seem to know what they are talking about and care about customer service. They were even cheaper on the wife's convertible . Highly recommended. I don't even mind paying a bit more if you don't have to deal with the dreaded call centres !!!! Jules

Will do. I shall be having a go at it in a couple of weeks, just hope I don't find too much rot when I start cutting out the bits I can see. Jules

I agree having had a really good look this morning. The worst of the rust is in the bottom section for about the last 15 inches, thankfully not one large hole. My main concern over the cover type sills was that they were purely cosmetic and whilst they would probably get it nicely through its mot I would have a nagging doubt that all I would have done is paper over the cracks and be storing up more expensive trouble for the future. Thankfully the B pillars are sound so hopefully it should be a simple plating job. Jules

I think you are probably right Les, they do look like they just cover the old sill up rather than deal with the actual holes themselves. Better get myself some steel and patch them up as there does still seem to be some sound metal to weld onto. Thanks for your thoughts Jules

The large hole is in the flat pice at the bottom so would be relatively easy to plate. However, having a bit of a poke about the outside underneath the plastic cover appears to have a few smaller areas of rust especially where the holes were drilled to take the plastic rivets !!! The inside on both sills is remarkably solid so I am wondering when its repaired whether to bother with the covers. Jules

Laying underneath my Disco yesterday replacing the leaky output shaft on the transfer box I found a big hole in the nearside sill. I knew they were getting a bit thin in places but now have a hole about 4 inches long !!! Having owned it for nearly 5 years I am keen to try and get another 5 years use at least so am looking to either weld it up myself or have a local garage do the work . Looking on ebay I have come across some "Easy On" sills. Has anyone any experience of these as on the face of it they seem an easier option than cutting out the rot and trying to find some solid metal to weld too. Having watched the link on you tube they appear to be a good option as I now that one I start poking about I will find some more holes. Thankfully the floor is in really good nick ( probably as a result of the leaky seal ! ) so the old girl is definitely worth saving. Thanks Jules

Thanks for the help, I thought I would be lucky to get away with a few seals. Jules

After 156,000 miles the sterring box on my 300tdi is leaking from the bottom where the drag link attaches. Is it worth rebuilding it as I have seen a set of seals for about £15 but wondered whether its worth the effort or am I better off fitting a replacement unit ? Thanks Jules

Sounds like a similar problem I had on my drivers door last year. In the end I found that the actuator had moved on its mountings and was effectively too far away from the lock to make it work properly. Once repositioned its been working perfectly. Jules

Sounds very similar to a problem I had with my 300tdi. Loads of charge in the battery but often slow to turn over especially in the cold weather. I read somewhere on this forum about poor earths so for a few pounds I added an extra earth lead to the engine block from the battery and hey presto , it spins over a treat even in the recent cold snap. No idea whether TD5's have the same problem but might be worth a try. Jules

Does it judder when you pull away on low'ish revs? If it does check the bell housing is properly secure. I had a problem when I first got my 300 tdi and it turned out the previous owner had changed the clutch but not done the top bolts up enough, which then worked loose and cracked the bell housing !!! OUCH Been brilliant since I got it mended . Jules

I have had my Cooper ATR's fitted to my 96 300tdi for 2 years, about 15,000 miles and couldn't recommend them enough. Excellent on road manners, quiet on the motorway and loads of grip for green laning. Even after 2 years they have masses of tread left . Jules

Removed my egr when it failed the mot on emisions a couple of years ago. The pipework was clogged up with a thick black gunge. Cleaned it up and not only did it pull much better but it flew through the mot. Did the same a month or so ago. Jules

Its definately on the outside . If I put the windows up I can't hear it at all . Jules