61a

Good news, it flew through the mot emissions test today minus its egr. It just goes to show that what everyone says about these things is true!!!!!!!!! Jules

We usually have a bit of dust in the south east by this time of year, but we are getting that much rain I'm begining to think a snorkel maybe called for soon !!!!!!!!!!!! Jules

I've just removed the egr, should have done it last year when I first got my 300 TDI. One other thing I found help initially was a K&N air filter. You could hear the air going in which was astounding considering the state of the inlet pipe from the egr!!! Jules

Thanks Chris. I suppose as the egr removal only cost 1 1/2 pints I guess if it needs a little more cash its not too bad. I did wonder when I saw the muck inside what state the cat might be in . Jules

I took the Egr off today and I can't really believe the engine was still running as well as it was !! The inlet pipe was reduced by at least 33% of its internal diameter with thick black gunge. I made a blanking plate up from an off cut of 6mm steel using the old gasket as a template. About 5 minutes with an angle grinder produced a very acceptable modification. A helpfull neighbour brazed up the pipe from the valve so I didn't even have to buy a new pipe. I did buy a new gasket for £3 from a friendly local supplier. To make getting the old allen screws out a bit easier I had been spraying them daily with WD40 and with the aide of a 5mm allen key in the end of a 1/4 " rachet they came out as easily as anything. Reading numerous articles on the web this seems to be one of the biggest headaches. With everthing cleaned up and reassembled I went for a drive to clear the old girl out. Once warmed up I created a minor environmental disaster as I held my foot down in third. Round the roundabout and back down the dual carriageway I repeated the same exercise and could still see the road behind !!! I now have much better mid range acceleration and will be interested to see what happens to the economy. Hopefully the MOT testers machine will give a more favourable result this week. Thanks for the advice Jules

Thanks Chris Another friend has suggested filling it with BP Ultimate as he recons it worked wonders on his 200 TDI. Mind you some of the repairs the previous owner made have been a bit iffy so he probably fitted injectors from a Massey Fergusson !!!!!!!!!!!! Jules

A few problems with the MOT on my 300TDI today. The most worrying one is excess emitions. The tester said initially it was off the scale but then settled back to about 6.50. It had new injectors just before I brought it last summer , is running on a K&N air filter and generally returns about 33 mpg,and has only covered 50,000 miles since it had a replacement engine. Anyone got ideas? Would the EGR valve cause such a fluctuation ? Other annoying failure was the number plate lights , which worked yesterday and worked when I picked it up ! The joy of an 11 year old Disco. Oh and not forgeting the front swivel bearing !!!! Jules

Just checking everthing over ready for tomorrows MOT and would you believe it the rear wiper didn't work. I took it off and stripped it down and found that the gearbox was full of water and where the motor worm had tried to turn the large plastic gear it had worn away a few teeth. Pretty terminal really. Anyway I thought no problem I will take it off for the test and get a new one as and when. A quick check on Ebay revealed a guy selling 10 new ones for £30 plus p & p. Just checked now and there are still 8 left Item number: 220129628742 . Always nice to see whats behind in the summer monsoon !!!!!!!! Jules

Well its all back together now. I set the centres of the track rod ends at 1230 mm as per the manual and the tracking was spot on !!! Had to remove the steering wheel and move it anti clockwise one tooth but nothing is perfect. It is amazing how much more accurate the steering fells now. I obviously got used to the free play in the old joints. Just the prop shaft doughnut to replace and its off to the friendly MOT man !!! Jules

I think your right. For the sake of a few pounds its better to be safe than sorry. Jules

With help from a neighbour, a bit of heat and two large pairs of stilsons it is now out. The end of the thread looks damaged as if someone hit it with a hammer before putting it in !!! Thankfully it doesn't appear to have damged the thread in the tube. Having suceeded with the replacement one I decided to replace the original one at the other end as there was some perishing on the rubber and it will save me a job in the future . A few minutes warming the joint with a blow torch and it came out as easily as anything. Does this say something about non-genuine parts or just the previous owners attempts at home mechanics ? Hopefully he hasn't had a go at too much else. Thanks for all the help.

Its still soaking in WD40 as I haven't had time to attack it yet. Interesting idea about engine oil. A friend at work who used to work on London buses has suggested copper grease to make future replacement easier. Has anyone tried this ?

Thanks . I shall beat seven bells out of it tomorrow !!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone got any good ideas for removing stubborn track rod ends. I have two to replace for the up coming MOT. One, which looks original came out fairly easily . The other one which is definately a replacemet model is being a complete sod to get out. I have left it in the vice and sprayed it liberally with WD40, ready to attack it again tomoorow. Any ideas ?

I think that a week walking in the lake District must have toned my muscles, or perhaps it was the Bluebird bitter taken in generous quantities. Got home from work today put the same spanner on the plug and out it came easy as anything !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jules

Has anyone got a simple way to remove the main gearbox drain plug ? I think mine must have been put in by Tarzan ! Despite using a long 32 mm ring spanner it just refuses to budge. The splined filler plug comes out as easily as anything , so at least I can refill it if can get the old oil out. Jules

Has anyone else noticed how when you remove the sump drain plug the oil hits the anti-roll bar and goes everywhere ? Well as we have a new drive I decided to try a mess saving idea. Cut one of the bottom corners out of a 4 pint plastic milk container, about three inches is fine. Loosen the plug until its hand tight and then hold the upside down milk container close to the sump and unscrew the plug. Don't forget to remove the lid ||| I let it drop down the the shute into the oil catcher. The result was perfect. No mess and no cost. Jules

I finally got round to replacing the cv today. It all came apart without a hitch. However, isn't there always one, the replacement joint had a slightly raised shoulder and would not allow the outer seal to fully bed in therefore pushing the shaft too far into the diff. A few phone calls and a local supplier came up with the correct item. It cost more but it was worth it to get one that fitted. About 20 minutes later I had the hub back on, all there was left to do was re-fit the brake caliper. Easy. No such luck. One of the bolts holding the brake pipe bracket on would not bite the thread. I removed it ,cleaned the threads and tried again. No luck. I removed the bracket and caliper and the bolt went straight in ! Bracket back on and the bolt again refused to screw in. About an hour later when I was begining to question my sanity the bolt suddenly went in. No idea why and no way I'm taking it off to look. Another little thing for anyone else doing this job is to turn the wheels to maximum lock when squirting in the new grease. Otherwise it won't go in. I know I tried !!!!!!!!! Jules

One of my CV joints on my 1996 300 TDI is begining to click when turning on maximum lock at low speed. Replacing them according to the Haynes manual looks relatively simple. Is this the case or are they missing something out ? Also the replacements seem to vary quite a bit in price can anyone recommend a supplier ? 61A

Check the supply pipes.I thought my windscreen was leaking but after several weeks of no rain the floor was still damp !!!!!!! Turned out to be a leaking screen was supply pipe.