Spearos

Update! There may be a diagnosis of sorts! Coming home from work on Friday the light came on and stayed on. It was on when I switched off, so I thought I'd grab my multimeter straightaway and test whilst the light was present. Only it wouldn't start! So definitely the alternator as fault and not the warning light! Took alternator off and it's very oily/dirty. Seems the culprit is the front camshaft cover, so will be replacing this before I go any further. Brushes were well and truly gunked up (see photo - was worse than that but a lot of crud fell inout upon removal). Now, I'm thinking there is a very good chance that the dirty brushes could have been sticking or just not making contact, which would explain the intermittent fault? How likely does this sound? I've cleaned them up, but am I wasting my time refitting them and the alternator?

I had chance to have a little poke around at the weekend - battery water level was fine, no immediately obvious signs of dirty, bad connections (from what I could see without removing stuff). The alternator on the TD5 is a pig to get to, I imagine removing brushes in situ would be very difficult, if at all possible. There was however evidence of a slight coolant leak near the belt idler (previously I bodged a small length of pipe to replace the bend of that small bore plastic pipe that always breaks where it joins the rad, which no doubt was the culprit). My thinking was could coolant be making its way onto the belt causing it to slip? It made sense as the light had only come on once engine had been at operating temp (cooling system under pressure), however if belt was slipping wouldnt I feel heavy steering from PAS pump not turning? I ran engine up to temp in the hope that I could observe leak and it's projection, except there was no leak. I went for a quick drive, no battery light, still no leak. belt slip idea absndoned. I decided to use car for work today. Light came on briefly on the way to work, and on the way home. Both times whilst doing ~70mph on a dual carriageway. Is there a clue in that I wonder?

I replaced the belt and tensioner less than 6 months ago, so they should be fine. There's certainly no obvious signs that the belt is slipping. Will check the battery water - thanks. Other thing I did notice is there is quite a build up of corrosion on the positive terminal and I do believe I've read that this can be a sign of over charging too? Edit: thanks for the links

Hello! Monday evening coming home from work, the battery light came on in the TD5. Thing is, it would go out when I let off the gas and also, sometimes whilst idling stationary. Once home, I left it for ~24 hours before utilising my extremely limited electrical experience! Rested battery 13v idling no load 14.6v idling w/load 14.5v Dodgy regulator, and overcharging? I'm clueless with electrics!

Yes, of course! Out of interest, where's the guide going to be?

So after many trouble free months, out of the blue the whole thing went crazy - all needles frantically bounced all over the place, the speaker was bonging rapidly and all warning lights were blinking/flashing! After 5 seconds or so it settled down only to leave me without the odometer display, and the green M and S light illuminated. Everything else appears ok - speedo and tacho work, as does the partial odometer. The M and S lights are now out too and haven't come back on. It hasn't rained for weeks here so that rules out water ingress, I guess. Anyone have any ideas?

So, I may have got to the bottom of this. Possibly... Other than the single temp gauge malfunction, the IP has been behaving and I have a theory - When the head lining was fitted and it rained, the top left hand corner would get very wet (it didn't before the windscreen was fitted and of course I didn't have this issue before the windscreen was fitted). Also when I removed head lining it was stuck to the excess windscreen sealant along the top of the screen. When I removed the headlining and checked for leaks, it was leaking in the middle of the screen. Now, what I'm thinking is that the water was coming in at the top of the screen and with the lining being stuck to the windsreen sealant it was diverting most of the water to the top of the nearside A post. Here the water was running down the A post and into the side of the footwell (inside of the lower wing). There are connectors here (behind the plastic trim) that I understand are connected to the SLABS/BCU. I removed said plastic trim today and although it is dry behind it, there is evidence of water being there such as scale on the earth point that behind the connectors. Is my theory feasable? Could water interfering with these connections cause the IP to act up? - Since the headlining was removed the water is no longer being diverted down the A post to these connections hence no recent occurrences of the speedo going on one?

Thanks for the info - saved me from time spent on google! The interior fuse box isnt something that I've looked at (other than checking fuse). Will be taking a good look at it once I get chance. Thanks. Just to add to the strangeness, the IP did something different today - the speedo, rev, LCD were fine however the temp gauge warning light came on and the temp needle very slowly went all the way to the max before dropping back to min and moving back to max again (probably 5 seconds from min to max). It did this many, many times before suddenly behaving again!

Thank you sierrafery. Incidentally I've read a lot of stuff written by you, and not just on here - certainly know your stuff. It just seems funny that the fault is more persistent after or during rain I'm sure I have read somewhere that changing the instrument pack isn't straight forward, especially if you get a second hand unit with a lower mileage on it. Looks like I have some searching/reading to do...

Hoping someone can help, give me some pointers/checks to carry out? Pretty please Since July the speedo on my 2003 Disco TD5 has started to play up. At first I noticed the speedo needle would occasionally 'shake', then it would temporally stick. The last week or so the odometer has started to blank out as well, along with the fuel/temp gauges not registering. Initially these faults would last for 10-30 seconds at a time, however recently it will play up for anything between 10 seconds and 15 minutes. I did notice today though that a hard bump in the road 'brought it back to life'. I did have the windscreen replaced and it does leak slightly - recently I noticed a water mark on the inside of the screen. The head lining has always got slightly wet since I got the car so this weekend I took out the head lining out to see if it was sunroof, windscreen or both. I suspect the old windscreen leaked as well as the new one as the sunroof is fine. The issue does appear to be more common when it has been raining or is raining. So I'm thinking the issue could be down to water and electrics mixing? I have checked the SLABs ECU connections and the connections to the binnicle and they all appear dry and ok. Mark

A couple of months ago I had my windscreen replaced (big crack) on my Disco 2 for it's MOT. The guy who did it was a complete numpty mainly because he managed to break the scuttle panel, but the company did provide me with a brand new item... eventually. However today I removed the binnicle surround (for reasons I'm not going into... yet) and it came to my attention that the two mounting points (at the bottom) are broken, looks like it was removed with brute force! Now, I had this part off a while back to change a bulb and I remember these two screws - to get to them the steering column trim halves need removing, so I know it was not broken back then. My question is this though - can anyone think of a reason why the binnicle surround might have been removed during windscreen replacement? Before I go nuts (again) at the company I just want to be fairlyconfident it was said numpty!

Touché!

What a waste of masking tape - just write on the box! That never works for me - I still get nasty black bogeys, despite not aiming at my nose!!

Also means everything in them will be covered in all that dust from the grinder etc etc! But.. if it works for you, that's what matters. I hate any storage that is open, especially those little boxes which clip on a back board. I like to keep the contents of any storage free from the dreaded angle grinder dust - it gets everywhere and I'm always surprised by the sheer quantity of it!

Exactly that! The plan is to have racking down one side and a worktop with storage underneath along the other - I will just have to try and keep two sections (opposite one another) clear for increased width. As you say you can still have high level shelves/storage in these sections. Crates (not necessarily from Tesco!) are great. i've got a load of those plastic moving boxes with the flapped lids, which all being the same size and stackable is great for making the most of any space designated for storage. I was meant to say in my last post that Les nailed it when he said working indoors beats working outside. I dont mind the cold, it's rolling about in a puddle that gets me! The other big advantage for me is privacy - I dont like people seeing what tools/goodies I have!

Thanks guys, good to hear all the different opinions. I will be restricted to a building with an internal width of 4.2m because of where it's going (long story), so as long as I keep the walls clear (ish) it should give me decent space either side.

Thanks Fridge, thanks for your input....And thanks for making me now worry about the width! I've had a look at your garage Is that really a meter either side? A meter seems enough (in theory anyway), in our old house there was a fence on one side of our drive and I often worked on my 90 with around a meter between it and the fence and I didn't find it difficult. Hmmmmm

Does this cause you much frustration though Fridge? Thank you Arjan! The more think about it the more I think 2.5m should be fine. The times I will need to lift a vehicle more than 40cm are surely going to be limited, so when they do occur I can just work on my car outside, or make other plans.

I'm back! So here we are almost a year later and still no workshop! I severely underestimated the time it would take to do some stuff to the new house, mainly down to the the arrival of a second little mite! Anyhow his will be the year! I've been busy beavering away, making plans and I'm pretty much ready to start my planning permission application. Just one issue - I really cannot decide what the minimum height to have internally? I'm thinking vehicle height plus 40cm (typical range of a 2/3t trolley jack) for raising the vehicle? Please dont anyone say make it 'as high as you can' - the site is elevated so I want to keep the eaves height of any building to an absolute minimum otherwise the workshop will look huuggggggeeeee at the back of my garden! Your thoughts please, on how much headroom I need to raise a landie sufficiently?

Good evening ladies and gentlemen! Recently I replaced the front dampers, springs and turrets on my Discovery TD5. Before I did this I scoured the interweb for all the information and made notes. I thought rather then throwing the notes away I would post them on here - hopefully will be of use to somebody... Part Numbers Spring N/S TD5 & V8 --- REB101340 Spring O/S TD5 --- REB101341 Spring O/S V8 --- REB101330 Spring Seat N/S --- REG000030 Spring Seat O/S --- REG000020 Isolator (turret ring) --- RBC100111 Turret nuts (M8 flange head nyloc) Dampers (coil front suspension, air rear, non ACE) --- RNB103533 Dampers (coil front, coil rear, with ACE) --- RNB103683 Dampers (coil front suspension, air rear, with ACE --- RNB103694 Lower damper bolts (M10x30 flange head bolt) Turrets --- KVU101051 Silly money from LR and aftermarket not much cheaper. I went for heavy duty versions - thicker, stronger, will last longer and the open design is easier to clean the cr*p out. I got mine from here http://www.shirefabrications.com/ they don't actually advertise them (maybe because they supply the likes of Paddocks etc - they look identical) but give them a ring, great service & nice people and cheaper Bump stops --- RNV100060 Anti roll bar links --- RBM100223 Anti roll bar nuts (M12 flange head nyloc) --- RYH100590 Torques Damper lower bolts --- 45nm/33ft lb(from Land Rover workshop manual - I have seen 55nm/40ft lb quoted) Damper top bolt --- 125nm/92ft lb Isolator/turret nuts --- 23nm/17 ft lb Anti roll bar link nuts --- 100nm/74ft lb Easy enough to do, plenty of guides/info if you search. Unless you're using a ramp I suggest using coil spring compressors (can be done without). All info given in good faith however I cannot guarantee the accuracy. Enjoy!

Udderly.... I love you!! I've just found the application for 'demolition of a garage and erection of one in it's place', just around the corner from me. It's a recent application too, so hopefully most info will be current. Should give me a very accurate idea of what I need to do. Massive, massive help. Thank you once again!

Great idea! I've just had a snoop around South Oxfordshire District Council's site and there are loads of examples - lots to be learnt there I think!! Many thanks for this info/idea, much appreciated!

Fridge... You're an absolute star!! That's very, very helpful - gives me an idea of what to expect and of course the benefit of your experience (all the 'ask me how I knows')! Appears it's a little more involved than I thought. I was expecting to have to provide drawings/dimensions, however the requirement to go into materials surprises me. Strikes me of more of a regs thing but I guess it's all about appearance. I was kind of hoping to make a few details up as I go - for example the personnel door I thought about sourcing a decent second hand one etc. The next few weeks (months) I need to swot up on all the requirements for an application and get it as clear as I can in my head. However you've given me a great start - I think I need to investigate the 'call in clinic' thing in this area, as I think that'll give me the 'most juice per squeeze'. Oh, and of course I need to finalise a design

Nothing's easy is it?! I remember when we were looking at houses, naively I just thought if it's got a big enough garden for a big shed/garage it'll be fine... Then once we bought the house I started to read about permitted development, building regs etc and realised it's not quite so easy to comply, utilise space and get exactly what you want!

I spoke to one of Premier Steel's agents. apparently the uprights sometimes need to have fireboard protection to retain integrity should they get very hot or something along those lines... Some info on the planning side of things would be great - going over 2.5m high is a no brainer, so that takes me out of permitted development. I would be interested in your drawings if you'll be kind enough to share. Did you have to submit a location plan and a site/block plan? I think I'm sold on a roller shutter door to be honest (if I can fit one in). I like that they aren't in the way, don't restrict anything when open.