Snagger

The dash vent flaps are a likely source of leaks - old seals go hard and prevent full closure. Other ingress points are the windscreen hinge bolt holes (the gasket is sometimes missing), windscreen wiper and washer jet holes and the bonnet rear buffers. Removing these items and refitting with some RTV sealant, or adding some liquid sealant (such as Captain Tolly's creeping sealant, available from boat chandlers) should help. Check the hose to the washer jet nozzle, too - if it is damaged or leaking at the connection (the hose hardens and loses its tightness with age), then washer fluid will leak and pool in voids in the back of the dash, leaking into the foot wells.

Discovery steel wheels and LR alloys have the same dimensions, so will make no difference to steering. However, parking a 110 shouldn't be a big deal, and steering lock with any of the LR manufactured wheels should allow sufficient lock.

Red oxide or zinc rich primer over coated in Hammerite Underbody Shield or Schutz.

I think Discovery steel wheels are 7x16".

As above, check the hoses between compressor casing and waste gate actuator carefully for splits and security, and move the actuator arm to check for free movement of the waste gate (the actuator has a stiff spring that acts against the boost pressure, so it shouldn't be easy to move, but it should move smoothly). However, any kind of leak should keep the waste gate closed, so my money is on a mechanical jam of the actuator or waste gate. You'll find out which by disconnecting the rod from the gate's arm and moving each independently.

The VE pump will pull the fuel without a lift pump as long as the VE pump and fuel lines are primed, but get air in the system and the VE pump will cavitate, causing not only fuel starvation but pump damage too. A lift pump, whether engine driven or electrical, is essential. A standard lift pump works a lot like one side of a heart - it has an oscillating diaphragm which changes the volume of the chamber, with non-return valves on the entrance and exit to make sure that the fuel is sucked in from the tank side and forced out to the engine side. A failure of the diaphragm will cause air to be sucked in and diesel lost, but failure of the non return valves causes all directional flow to be lost with fuel being sucked away from the engine and pushed towards the tank. It fights the suction of the injection pump, so is worse than having a plain tube.

Did you report the theft to the police or Trading Standards. or to you bank/credit card provider? I'm sure all of them would be interested.

Like I said, if no wheels lock, it has to be a part common to all four, and that is just the master cylinder and the servo system. If the master has needed rebuild, it stands out as a suspect, but the new servo is not above suspicion either. I'd also check the vacuum pump - it might be producing a pressure drop, but it might not be low enough.

Tal, a comment about the police not being reliable in response to calls regarding teens committing a public nuisance or burglary is not any kind of accusation. They are unreliable in these cases, it's a common issue and not a reflection on individual officers who are often overstretched and already dealing with another issue. I think you're being a little oversensitive there - the point of that post was that judgement over the reported event should be withheld until all the facts are known, especially given the reliability of the media.

That suggests to me that the cam operating arm on the pump may have broken or that it isn't engaging on the cam lobe (some pumps have longer arms that need a spacer between engine and pump, and if a shorter arm pump is fitted with the spacer in place, the arm might not reach the cam shaft). I can'r remember a bleed screw on the VE pumps. Are you sure you haven't removed an adjustment screw and refitted it way out of adjustment?

With respect to what he did with the teenagers, maybe he was just defending his premises and business from persistent vandals or thieves. The police frequently fail to respond to calls of such problems, and the press love to portray a desperate victim as a villain where teenagers are involved - remember the 80+year old farmer Tony Martin and the two persistent burglars he shot in self defence - he was portrayed as the villain in that one. It may not be what happened here, but without any information on the circumstances, I'm withholding judgement. Context is important. Maybe the teens were perfectly innocent in this case, but cars full of teens are often up to no good. However, my experience of LRSeries was abysmal every time I tried to use them - they never answered the phone and never responded to emails, so with that attitude, they deserve to go to the wall.

What brand were the parts? Anything Britpart is highly suspect. If none of the wheels can lock, it suggests a lack of hydraulic pressure, meaning the master cylinder, servo or bad bleeding.

I would think so.

I wish I could say I was surprised, Dave, but I'm just disappointed. Companies like Britpart undercut and then kill off the competition, leaving us with no choice but their rubbish, just like this case where they seem to be the only SS piston supplier now that Zeus stopped. I really wish people would spend that little bit more, get decent quality stuff and support the manufacturers and suppliers who enable us to obtain decent parts, but at this rate, Britpart will be the only parts supplier for older LRs and we'll all be screwed.

The logical explanation is that bigger torque converters need bigger oil pumps to drive them, and going too large on the TC results in the oil flow inside being too slow for the TC to do its job efficiently. So, LR may have found that the vehicle performed better or had better fuel efficiency with the medium sized TC instead of the large.

If it only happens at idle after braking, and only once hot, then as I said, it is something with a very specific frequency. Cold idle is a little slower, which is why I said that slightl throttle application may replicate it. Otherwise, you need to look at something that is expanding with heat and allowing movement, which is most likely to be to be the exhaust or heater matrix.

It's electronic.

Check the back of the existing shells for size, just in case they're non standard, but with that condition, you won't need a crank regrind. The shells are good enough to go back in, but as the others said, if you don't mind spending on a new set, then new would be better still. I'd say the big end shells are in better condition than the main bearing you removed, so if you only do one set, do the mains.

No, Neil, the point was that many Lightweights will be registered as SII or SIII SWB, 88 or some other identifier, but not as a Land Rover 1/2 Ton and not as "Lightweight", which is an enthusiast term and was never an official or even technically appropriate name, so that site will drastically underestimate the number of them still around.

I'm looking at the state that original pistons end up in on Land Rovers after just a couple of years of road use - my wife's 90 needed new pistons at 4 years and 35,000 miles never having gone off tarmac.

Genuine pistons are chromed, but that doesn't stop them rusting within three years in this hemisphere.

I have a late RRC rear view mirror (with map lights and auto-dimming) in my 109 and it gives a wider field of view, wider than the three windows in the back end (I can keep an eye on the kids easily with it).

I would say the cover plate depends on the clutch. Using a SIII clutch system and bell housing allows the Tdi cover plate with a SIII friction plate. But the different clutch system of a SII or IIA could require the older cover plate, and that in turn limits the friction plate choice. If that is true, then use the HD friction plate, which I think is 9" for the SII.

Cutting the sills will cause more work than it saves. The body cross member between the door pillars tends to rust badly, so removing the floors is going to be beneficial in exposing that cross member and allowing it to be repaired or replaced. The Defender sills are identical to 109 sills, and I'm pretty sure the cross member is too. The cross member can be bought from YRM if you need one. They might do the sills too.

It seems likely that it'll take a lot of flushes to remove the old oil from the cooling system - there are lots of nooks and crannies that the hot oil will rise into that aren't subject to full coolant flow, sheltering these oil pockets. It'll come out with enough flushes if you use an additive which will also act as a detergent. I'm not sure what you could use, though.