Snagger

I used to get the same off AA patrolmen. I had a Chavalier while I rebuilt the 109, and it let me down a couple of times - broken clutch cable, massively blown head gasket. It'd always be on the same trip to East Mids airport, too. They'd never accept my diagnosis over the phone and would spend time at the road side buggering about and then eventually giving the diagnosis I'd given them twenty minutes prior, and of course they couldn't fix it. I had to play he stroppy card with their customer service lot and told them I'd leave the AA if they didn't put a note on file to tell the operators that I knew what I was talking about and to take my word and ensure the patrolman had the parts I said or send a recovery vehicle on my say so rather than having to waste the time of me and a patrolman before sending one. In fairness, they did that. They do have to deal with some clots, though, so you can understand why they develop their normal procedures. A friend once refilled his mini's oil through the dipstick tube, and filled it to the top. He is a pilot, so you'd like to think he had some basic technical ability, but no... And just look at some of the work that goes on within the LR fraternity - we have all seen utter wrecks that the owner thinks is in top form, claiming that woolly steering and bad brakes are normal. They have to deal with these people daily.

You see! You don't remember what you put in last time! It was red, but it wasn't ATF; it was the blood of the shop assistant who last put you through this rigmarall. That's what stroppiness causes...

I think he means the piston is still in the slave rather than the vehicle, but may be wrong. To satisfy my curiosity, when you have time, please remove the piston and tell us what you find inside - swarf, porous casting or rough machining are all Britpart favourite games on hydraulic cylinders.

Correct, which is why the fuel solenoid wire on a Tdi is white, but that is for the "driving" position on the ign switch, position II (III being start). The green wires (which power gauges and stereos amongst other things) are on the I position.

I thought a 2004 vehicle would be certain to have steel dowels - I though LR realised the stupidity of their ways after just a year or two.

The crank shafts are the same, so the pulley will fit, and you may need to swap over to get the alignment with the 19J water pump pulley. You may also need to swap the alternator mountings over if they differ dimensionally to get the alternator pulley in line with the water pump pulley. Don't forget the thread lock on the crank pulley bolt.

In fairness, guys, this new forum software is doing some odd things - I just found a post I made in my Tdi oil consumption thread had also popped up in Troll Hunter's starter motor thread, and mu "post comment" box often fills up with a previous comment, needing deletion before typing in the new post, so it might not be his fault!

That makes sense, Koos. It really was intended as a temporary fix to get him out of trouble until a replacement was sourced. I wouldn't trust such a bodge fix to last.

I don't think Defender TD5 heads fail often if the engine is standard, but if it has been tuned, then it is more common. Still, the usual problem is manifold studs being ripped out. It's probably just a head gasket if it's internal. I understand that the fuel heat exchanger can have problems, though, and that uses engine coolant. A tiny leak in that could be contaminating the return line fuel with coolant. I'd drain the tank or the sedimenter into a glass jar to check for water.

They will.

It sounds like you have an electrical issue, either a bad connection on the sender or gauge hiding high temperatures due to the poor electrical connection, or more likely, an intermittent short that you're seeing on the gauge which is making the ECU think there is an overheat.

I don't have any photos and the car is about 3500 miles from me, so I can't rush out to it, but ill try to explain more clearly. I fit the 200Tdi in a Series 109. The majority of studs lines up with the bell housing, two holes in the Disco flywheel housing needed drilling and tapping for the studs. The four bolts that would go through the Disco LT77 bell housing, the flywheel housing and ladder frame had no corresponding holes in the Series bell housing, so I countersunk the flywheel housing holes to take four cap head bolts that would fit under the bell housing flange. All neat and strong (most people just omit those four bolts), and I understand much the same effect as the Defender arrangement, but this presented the same problem - the box and engine would need to be separated a long way to get the bolts out for ladder removal. So I drilled holes matching the cap bolt heads diameter through the flange of the bell housing in line with each bolt so the cap head bolt can pass through the flange without removing the box. It may be possible to do the same for the Defender LT77 bell housing.

I missed the Britpart comment. Britpart hydraulics are notoriously bad, and I think they're lethal. They supply a handful of reliably good parts, but the list is short. I agree with the CV joints, having had some. I would be too afraid to try their calipers, having seen their other hydraulic components.

You can drill and tap a filler hole in a newer diff.

The black in the fluid is rubber particles from the seals. The flexible hose also breaks down over time. Tdis have very weak clutch forks, so it's possible the pivot ball has punched through the fork's pivot point and the slave has overextended, popping the piston out of the bore. That is the worst case scenario. You'll be able to tell as soon as you remove the slave cylinder. If the piston is still inside the cylinder, then it's just likely to be the seal and possibly a scored bore.

Ah, OK. So not so much an RRC one as a pre 1980 one.

As you start to tighten down the pedestals, you will find that one or two valves start to open. The rockers are going to be pressing the valves down against their springs, so the pedestals will have to be tightened down that last bit by the bolts. If you're worried about the pedestal and shaft fit, do a test by removing the two push rods that are up, fitting the shaft and checking that all the pedestals are seated properly. Remove the pedestals and shaft again, refit the two rods and refit the shaft. Tighten the bolts progressively, not torquing any until the pedestals are all down.

I drilled clearance holes to allow the four countersunk caphead bolts I used in the ladder frame to be removed without pulling the bell housing away from the engine. Saves a lot of work if I need to get at the crank shaft or oil pump!.

They're exactly the same - you just need the 10-spline version.

That is pretty typical rocker pad wear when the caps are not used on the valve stemns. If I remember rightly, there are hollow dowels to locate the pedestals before bolting down. I suspect you have a dowel with a damaged edge or a pedestal with some dirt or a bit of damage to the hole preventing the dowel from entering the bolt hole. Tightening any of the bolts with a pedestal not seated will bend the shaft - I hope you have onky finger-tightened them and that none of the pedestals have been force down if one is hung up. As for waking times, we're three hours ahead of the UK in summer, four in winter... Les is right - that timing case is filthy. But 19Js invariably crack pistons and heads, pressurising badly, pushing oil out of every gasket and seal. That's the result!

There are a few things being quoted from engineering toolbox that are wrong. Firstly, antifreeze not only prevents freezing and the damage it does in sub zero conditions (the concentration giving various amounts of temperature range protection below zero), secondly, the boiling point of water at 1bar pressure is 100oC, not 120. Pressure affects boiling temperature - the lower the pressure, the lower the boiling temperature. This is why engine cooling systems are pressurised on all but vintage engines. Antifreeze should always be used, a minimum of 25% mix with water but ideally 50%. It lubricates the water pump bearings and seal and prevents rust and scale deposits in the engine and radiator. It also increases the coolant's ability to absorb and shed heat. You also have not set your fan up correctly. It should automatically activate at around 90oC. Kenlowe fans come with a horrible adjustable controller that uses a leak-inducing capillary sensor. Using the X-Eng X-Switch is more reliable and doesn't take any calibrating. Just use the lower temperature set terminal for the primary fan; the second terminal is for a booster fan.

If you didn't replace the oil before driving home, check the crank journals and bearings, and probably the cam shaft, it's bearings and the followers - they may be damaged by mud particles making their way around. You also need to strip down the turbo to clean out the innards. You'll need a large "inside" circlip plier to remove the compressor housing. Four bolts hold the retaining clamps for the turbine housing. I'd use a tub of diesel and suspend one end of the turbo core vertically in it to release the dirt and let is settle downwards tot he bottom, being careful not to agitate it, leaving it to soak and clean out for 24 hours. Any dirt than doesn't come off I'd use an aerosol of WD40 to gently "hose" off, using a tooth brush if required. Keep the unit vertical until cleaned and dry to keep the dirt away from the shaft and seal - if it gets into the bearings, the turbo will be ruined. Repeat for the other end.

The 15J has a completely different timing case with different pump position, so the timing indices could be anywhere. Definitely use the spot, not the F for a 12J or 19J. Les is right about the rocker wear. Valve stemns are harder than rocker pads and tend to eat into them. LR made stemn caps, which are like hollowed out mushroom heads with a flat spot, which sit on top of the stems and spread the load over more of the pad, reducing wear. They are also softer than the pad, made to be sacrificial. Last time I bought some, they cost 82p each. You need 8, they're identical for inlet and exhaust valves, and any LR supplier will be able to get them in if they don't already stock them. As for the rockers themselves, since the 19J rockers are in good order, soak the shaft in diesel and clean it with a brush, working the rockers to get dirt out, check the tappets (swap with the 15J's in the unlikely event that they're better) and fit that to the engine - the shaft assemblies are identical.

Read the whole of the first sentence, not just the last half.