TSD

Just a 'beware', check the length of the replacement bolts. I bought some of those recently and a couple were a few millimeters too long. They were all black phosphate finish and looked like the correct bolts. It prevents the swivel seating properly until you figure out whats wrong. Easy fix, but it did cause some head scratching

I used the Mud-UK bar and the seat rails in my 90. Seems a little pricey at first glance, but it makes it a very quick and easy job to do, and a really neat finish too, so well worth it in my view.

Just to clarify, since I was asked this last night... Can you join and drive on the day? I ask because the club rules and regs published in December say that you can't.

Wood Auto (linked above) says £20 and in stock. Even with VAT and shipping you ought to have some change from 80 euros? I'm pretty sure the two solenoids in the picture were actually interchangeable, so there's every chance that either of the listed numbers will fit.

No experience of the blue box motors, but I have been through a few motors over the years. I had three Valeo motors in a row, the first two lasted 60k each, the third is still fitted to the Disco AFAIK (now with it's new owner). I fitted a Bosch motor, it lasted more than 100K, and when it failed it was a mechanical failure, probably caused by me cranking it about 50m on the starter motor, with a 3.5T trailer on the back . The Bosch aftermarket motor is not the same as a Bosch Gen. Parts motor. The aftermarket one has several cheaper parts inside, including having no dust cap around the solenoid plunger. The lower solenoid is from a gen parts Bosch motor, the upper one from an aftermarket Bosch motor. I rebuilt the aftermarket motor into a gen parts casing as a spare. Wood Auto lists the following part numbers for Bosch solenoids for the LR motor : 9330331002, 0331303165 if that helps you to source one. EDIT : This page lists some other cross-ref numbers. No way to know which ones are really valid.

The heaters are probably PTC devices - positive temperature coefficient. What that means is that the resistance rises rapidly with temperature, which is how the heating is controlled. They are manufactured to reach a stable temperature. If they get cooled below that, the resistance drops, current rises and they get hotter. Becasue of the low resistance, you may have to switch one at a time, let it reach a low current value, before switching in the next one. Can you borrow a suitable current meter and see if the current is dropping off? I've not ever played with vehicle ones, only small (50W) ones for electronics heating. Have you tried to find a WSM for a 307? ISTR the very late Freelanders used PTC heaters in the dashboard - try digging in the RAVE manual?

Oddly enough, if you turn that pic upside down, that's pretty much exactly how his current dashboard looks to tall people

I rebuilt one a few months back, that was an ex-discovery axle with the counterweights bolted on under the lower swivel pin. (These use countersunk bolts which are easily stripped) The replacement bolts I bought were about 5mm too long and they fouled the swivel, preventing it seating on the lower bearing.

As Fridge says, it's a generalisation thing - they don't know exactly what vehicle it's fitted to. They don't know if you have an in-tank pump or external, if it's high pressure or low pressure etc. Also, if you Tee into the main fuel feed, you increase the risk of adding a small air bleed and having fuel drain back overnight, causing starting problems. Also, if you use the main pickup, your heater could drink your last pint of diesel overnight and leave you stranded. If you have a usual LR setup, then you can Tee into the return line instead - on a tdi SWB there is a dip tube on it to avoid aerating the fuel. I think I remember fitting a longer dip to one truck - it wants to go near the bottom of the tank, but not all the way. I've seen dips of different lengths, but I don't know if they were original or had been modified. NRC9548 petrol or NRC9678 diesel, but I'm not sure what the differences are. Not sure what the options are for LWB. For td5, Webasto says there is a plastic stub on the sender unit, which is cut off and a dip tube fitted into it and secured with hose clips.

So what you're really saying Nige, is that you brought it home broken last time out, and you failed to notice?

I once had a weird problem on a Ford V6, with dried mud in the atmos. side of the dizzy advance bulb. It used to jam the timing at random positions, so if you stalled the engine the timing stuck at max advance and it wouldn't restart... Why am I saying this? Well, I wondered if you might have ice in the manifold side of the fuel pressure regulator? Most manifold ice problems cure themselves when you shut the engine off and drink a mug of tea. Restart and it's magically cured (heat soak) Water in the fuel tank blocking a filter seems more likely. If the pumps sound normal, swap out all (you do have more than one right?) fuel filters and try again.

err, the electrons flow the other way Fridge(*) Linky (*) Except if you have +ve earth, which I know you don't

If you've got a multimeter, check the resistance between F1 and F2. It should be close to zero. If not (no continuity) then the field coil is damaged (burnt out, bad connection etc) If it's ok, then the problem is in the armature or the brushes. Possibly as simple as a brush stuck in it's holder. Time to get the motor off, carefully open it up and see what state it's in inside.

I've seen one motor where the terminal at 1 wasn't A, but one of the Fs, so have a careful look at the motor body and see if the terminal IDs are stamped into the casing. You didn't forget to put the earth terminal on did you? (Not being funny, but I've seen it done) Did you get a spark at all when you connected the battery?

Very handy for rustproofing the inside of the dustbin I reckon.... if used wet.

It's a Thermotop C. (Forgot to mention it needs a solid 25A supply to get it lit, but that's only for a few seconds.)

Not enough current draw to really worry about. IIRC it's about 4A for the unit, including water pump. Even if the dash fan drew the same, that only adds up to 4Ah (8A for 0.5h). In practice it's less than that as the unit doesn't run at full power all the time, and the dash fan is normally set to half speed, and doesn't run all the time either. So less than 4Ah taken from a 50Ah ish battery, but then you have a warm engine that cranks and starts much easier in cold weather. When I've had battery problems, I worried about the extra load from running the heater, but I found it easier to start the engine in cold weather after the heater had run, than trying to crank a stone cold lump. Once the heater has run, my TGV sounds like it starts on the first compression, regardless of ambient temperature. Otherwise it needs a second or so of cranking.

That's what I meant - in my truck a 30 minute run is enough to get the engine up to temperature, regardless of the outside temperature. My Eberspacher runs from a half height jerrycan, with a dip tube I brazed into an old jerrycan spout. Ex BT ones may require a simple mod, as if memory serves BT tweaked them to stop people leaving them running all the time. The advantage is that a lot of them were never actually used at all. Fuel consumption is so low I probably wouldn't bother though (with a seperate tank I mean), something like 1/2 litre per hour. My 10L jerrycan got us from the UK to Bulgaria and most of the way back. It would have got us the whole way, but something fell over in the back and snapped the pipe off the jerrycan

Most Webasto units are water heaters, most Eberspachers are cabin air heaters, though I think both companies make the other type. I have a Webasto in the Ibex. Cost a shedload new, but it's possible to put together a unit from mostly scrapyard parts. Quite a few modern diesels have them fitted for additional heating, but you'll probably need to add a water pump and fuel pump. Mine is controlled with a remote or a timer. Remote has a range of well over 100m, and it's two way, so an LED comes on so you know the heater has started. As a morning pre-heater, it's excellent. Once the engine coolant is warm, it runs the interior heater fan and warms the cab, melting ice on the glass. A 30 minute run is enough, even at -25C, to defrost the glass and get the cab bearable. For extreme weather trips, I have an s/hand Eberspacher that I fit temporarily (in a replaceable floor panel). This can output air almost too hot to put your hand in front of. It takes only a few minutes to warm the cab nicely, and even at speed with the windows open, we didn't need it running at full power. (My Ibex is smaller, better insulated and less draughty than a Defender). It cost me less than 200 from the bay, but it can be luck of the draw. Mine has been totally trouble free, but others have not been so lucky. Service manuals for both are available on the web. Both need a diesel take-off from the return line, Webasto fits inline with the heater coolant loop. Both need a good high current power feed for ignition. If you're planning for extreme cold, I'd choose the Eberspacher for comfort and safety (Sat on side of road on a foul winter night, with blown HG, unable to run Webasto while waiting for recovery was no fun). But for mostly UK weather, I prefer to be able to preheat the engine, and I'd choose a Webasto, all other things being equal. (Forgot to say : don't bother thinking about 24V Eberspachers - it's really not worth the hassle, especially as 24V one are more likely to have worked hard for a living.)

In a hurry to MoT the hybrid, I used metallic type Tcut with a lambswool pad on a random orbit sander, to remove a fine patina of very tough overspray left on the glass from spraying grp moulds in the workshop. The glass seemed very clear and shiny afterwards...

If you want to try a local BMW specialist, speak to Dermot at Bartley BMW in Southampton. He might have some ideas. (Tell him the bloke with the yellow Ibex sent you ) http://www.bartleyuk.com/

It's a Webasto heater, a version of the Thermotop C IIRC. Webasto offered a timer upgrade kit for the Freelander in the early days. It's a long time since I fiddled with one, but the standard C can be switched on and off by grounding one wire. The standard timer also outputs a coded signal saying how long it's set to run for, but the C doesn't use/need it. If you just want to disable it, one owner I know just pulled the multiplug out of the unit.

Think the Inteks that Fridge had had the front mounted speaker, which is a good thing in a landy if you don't want to add an extension speaker. Otherwise the Maxon CM-10 can be got for about £50. Well built, good performance, no bling.

From these guys via eblag. Maybe not the cheapest on the bay, but the postage price was honest (extra items free). Relays were clean, unmarked and arrived next day. Going to upgrade my 90 at the weekend with the second one I bought

Just fitted a VW '99' relay to the Ibex (300tdi loom). Works a treat, best upgrade I've found for ages As a side benefit I found the number of wipes you get when washing depends on how long you hold the wash button down for. A brief squirt gets only one wipe, holding it down longer seems to give 2 3 or 4 wipes after you let go.