Snagger

That looks very tidy. The seat base corrosion should be treated soon to avoid serious weakening of the structure - removing the bolts and washers, a scrape with a blade to remove loose surface deposits, a rust converter (aluminium treatment would be better, but rust converters work well enough) and a quick lick of paint, and then a liberal spray of wax on the back of the flange before refitting the bolts would look after it well. The second photo shows dark spots all over the chassis side. Are they surface marks, or are they from rust pitting? If the latter, that suggests advanced corrosion and a thin waxoil coat by the vendor, but it's impossible to tell from the photo.

I would recommend Turbo Technics in Northampton for an exchange unit - far cheaper than outright purchase, and they are very high quality. Like any other mechanical item, there are more companies that bodge the job and rip you off than good companies who do reliable work. Turbo Technics do over the counter exchanges for private, trade and manufacturer service, including JLR themselves.

The push rods are sacrificial, made thin and soft to bend before breaking anything else. They're not expensive, either. If they have even a small bend, that will quickly worsen in use, so replace any that are not dead straight. It would be unusual to damage anything else turning shafts by hand.

Try a jump lead from any bare metal part of the engine to the negative post on the battery and then crank it. That would test the bad earth theory, which as Bog says, is the most common cause.

Cif cream is a scourer - it is far more abrasive than T-cut. It must leave very flat paint, either satin or outright matt.

Don't force either sprocket wheel against resistance. Some resistance will be air compression, but turning the sprocket and shaft far from correct timing will force valves and pistons together, probably just bending push rods but potentially damaging rockers, bending the rocker shaft or damaging valves. Take the rocker shaft off if you can't realign the sprockets with small adjustments, and be sure to check each push rod before refitting for any bending, even slight.

Misread the number of zeros, so yes, that figure is pretty good indeed for reliability!

Not when they keep fixing the same individual vehicles.

That sounds about right. That is the difference between the proper jobs and the poorly cleaned, poorly applied cheap wax job you'll get from a regular garage. Don't expect any wire brushing - they don't remove the rust, they just cover it and allow the wax additives to prevent further corrosion. If the pressure washer doesn't remove flakey rust, then they'll do that, but no more. But they will have the proper nozzles and probes to get thorough internal misting of the cavities.

Bear in mind conditions in Geneva are not remotely similar to conditions in Calgary.

That list is not compatible with the term reliable, especially at that mileage.

What about those of us who are mechanics or have close friends who are mechanics with never ending tales of woe? It's not the first time you have been so insulting to those with a different opinion from your own, Garry. Evidently, there are some cars which prove reliable, and others which are lemons. LR have never been renowned for reliability, but these models have an exceptional reputation. So, it seems that you have to buy with care - find one that is not only free of faults but also has always been so and you might be OK, but get one that has had repairs or replacements and you're probably getting a lemon.

As Bowie says, it sounds like a lock isn't opening correctly. It could just need cleaning and lubricating, but the small lock springs become brittle and break, causing similar problems. Look for a door lock plunger that needs to be held up by hand for the latch to be opened. If you find such a lock, then its spring is almost certainly broken and it needs removing for the spring to be replaced. LR don't sell the springs separately, but they will supply a new lock for £90 or more. Ebay is your friend here - look for RRC/Discovery door lock springs (or just get a second hand lock from an all too common broken Discovery). I have a guide on fixing the lock in the FAQ section of my blog; click my signature below to see it.

I wouldn't delay the chassis protection until summer - the winter is the worst for the chassis with all the water and road salt. A proper wax specialist will have heated workshops to steam clean, dry and then coat the chassis with heated waxes. Ordinary sales and service garages won't have the proper kit and will just pressure wash the underside outdoors (missing much) and then use basic kit to apply the wax cold.

There is no problem replacing the tyres on tubeless rims - they're steel, so don't damage easily, and rust on the sealing surface of the bead is rare, especially at the age of HD (Wolf) rims. I think BFG ATs are very good for winter roads - I had to work hard at making them slip on compact snow or ice compared to other tyres.

The old style bushes have a small nose that fits inside the larger stud hole to keep them located. The later bushes are void bushes, their hollow cone shape giving a more progressive input into the damper and also allowing greater flex in damper orientation, but that shape needs the cup for location. It is a much better design, the only real issue being that water can be trapped between the cup and bracket as they are only spot welded together, ultimately allowing rust. A spray of penetrating wax solves that issue.

Never use a pressure washer on the rad or any heat exchanger! You'll bend the fins and block the airflow through the unit. They're safe to use on paint, as long as you keep a distance of 12" or so from the nozzle to the panel, but they don't get everything off anyway, so are of little more benefit than a standard hose with decent mains pressure.

There are minor detail differences, such as how the cross pin is secured - TDCIs use a roll pin at one end through a drilling in the carrier and cross pin, while older diffs used far superior circlips at each end. All you need to worry about is making sure it is not a modified diff with altered ratios and making sure it is 24 spline. Apart from that, buy the best condition and don't worry about the age or donor vehicle spec.

That's really tidy work John, as is the rest of what I saw while having a poke around.

I think that rubber cup is more of a dirt shield than a waterproofing attempt, Mike. I use them on both my vehicles, neither of which has waded deep anyway, but I wouldn't expect those rubbers to keep any water out of the headlights. Like I said, I'd make a gasket out of neoprene and bond it to the head light bowl, covering all the holes and with as small an internal diameter as possible. 2mm neoprene should work well. The lights will likely fog up eventually, but you could just remove the bulbs on a warm, dry day and let them breathe for a few hours before refitting.

The Defender blower is switched on the earth side, not the feed, so that's why you had that issue. Connect the new blower's earth to the high speed earth wire (I can't remember which one it was) and it'll behave correctly and will only activate when the old blower is on high.

Most of us have halogen lights, and the bulb doesn't seal in the back of the reflector bowl. You could make up thin neoprene gaskets that would compress enough for the bulb retaining spring to still fit. I'd not use any sealant as it'd make bulb replacement a bit of a pig, especially by the roadside.

Ralph is right - Muddy's advice assumes you have a 90, in which case any 24 spline long nose Rover diff will fit (any 300Tdi and later Discovery, RRC or 90 diff, or any 24 spline 110 front diff). If you have a 110, you need either the Salisbury diff if you have an early Td5 or the short nose 4-pin Rover diff if you have a late one. Any Tdi or earlier 110 rear diff will do for the Salisbury, and I think the 4.2 P38 shared the same rear diff as the later Td5s and TDCI 110s.

Ralph's comment about using warm water is key - it works wonders over cold water. Don't use washing up liquid - it has lots of salt that degrades the paint and can accelerate corrosion where it pools in cavities. Use a car shampoo. I don't use hot water, but I spray the car with the hose first and let it soak before hosing again to rinse away loose dirt before using the soft brush or sponge with soapy water. Very dirty areas get a second soapy scrub after rinsing. Before fitting the roof rack, I used to use a soft broom for the roof, which made the job far easier. Being white, the roof didn't show the drying marks like the coloured panels, so I never bothered with the chamois up there.

They are available in 7" with different offsets - I assumed they were all the same, and while all six of mine were manufactured by Mangel, the later two that were bought for use as spares had the front face of the nave (spoked section) roughly flush with the inner step of the rim, while the older wheels had the nave stepped back roughly 30mm from that step. That will not only affect steering lock, but a mismatched pair could cause steering stability issues when braking or hitting speed humps at moderate speeds.