Snagger

When the engine is not under load, it can rev freely, so takes little fuel to achieve high rpm. This means the EGT is low, too low to provide energy to spin the turbo up significantly and thus too low to provide any measurable boost. Boost diaphragms can split, but that is not common, and the mechanism can seize. The spring in the diaphragm chamber is quite stiff, so the force required to open t by hand is high. As long as you can do so, and it returns by itself to the closed position, then the system is almost certainly serviceable. The main concern is over whether the boost pressure setting has been tampered with, which is done by altering the length of the rod that joins the diaphragm pot to the gate lever. That's why I mentioned looking for the yellow anti-tamper paint marks. Hearing the turbo when cold idling may just be a harmonics issue - the cold oil in the floating bearings and the minimal exhaust flow and EGT will be turning the turbo at the lowest speed it ever achieves with the engine running, and it might just happen to be an rpm that has a harmonic noise frequency. If there is no excess bearing play and no visible damage to the blades, I wouldn't worry about it.

When the engine is not under load, it can rev freely, so takes little fuel to achieve high rpm. This means the EGT is low, too low to provide energy to spin the turbo up significantly and thus too low to provide any measurable boost. Boost diaphragms can split, but that is not common, and the mechanism can seize. The spring in the diaphragm chamber is quite stiff, so the force required to open t by hand is high. As long as you can do so, and it returns by itself to the closed position, then the system is almost certainly serviceable. The main concern is over whether the boost pressure setting has been tampered with, which is done by alteringt he length of the rod that joind the diaphragm pot tot he gate lever. That's why I mentioned looking for the yellow anti-tamper paint marks.

I'd still be wary. By orienting the panhard rod and drag link slightly high at the chassis end, LR have set up a system that will give minimal axle lateral movement for very large spring compression, the rods moving either side of horizontal (and the trigonometry resulting in tiny effective length increases). If you set them level at rest, big compressions of the springs will result in the rods being well off the horizontal, and that will give a strong lateral tug on the axle. The static inclination is quite deliberate to account for suspension movement; LR could easily have set it statically level as you are trying to. I think it's a bad idea. I'd recommend you fit a better condition drop arm and ball joint of standard nature, be it Def or Disco spec, and use the standard panhard mount and see if the fixed ball joint cures the handling problem. I really can't see how the standard rod inclination is responsible.

You need a new MoT inspector - this one will get you and your family killed. Evidence of a brake hose being marked by rubbing on anything is a failure item in most cases. Certainly your hose being crushed is. That hose needs replacing urgently. Braided hoses do give a sharper pedal, and they are more resilient, but they are not necessary. One down side to them is that they shouldn't be clamped, whereas normal rubber hoses can be clamped when working on a calliper.

As long as the panhard rod and drag link are parallel, you'll avoid bump steer. A small incline should have no effect on wandering. I'd be inclined to fit stiff poly bushes, anti-sway bars and firmer dampers and see if that tighten everything up for you. Unless you have an incredibly high suspension lift, I really can't see how all this work can have any significant benefit.

I would guess that the condition of the part, other than the seizure, is good - clean and rust free, indicating that it was only fitted briefly. One of the parts of the Sales of Goods Act is that the part has to be "fit for purpose". Even if the part had been installed in February and failed yesterday, it wouldn't qualify as fit for purpose.

In that case, just make sure the raised rod can't foul the engine or chassis on full spring compression. I suspect it'll be very tight.

I had BFG ATKOs (235/70) on my RRC and thought they were fantastic, especially in winter. I have never tried the Grabbers, though.

Red is right. It matters not what the path is; if the ends of the drag link are at different heights, you're still going to have bump steer with the panhard rod out of parallel. You need to either lower the ball joint at the steering box end by having a swan-necked drop arm or lowering the box down, or raise the opposite ball joint up so that the rod is horizontal with some sort of adaptor/extender block on the swivel housing arm, which would be very difficult to make robust. I think the best you'll get is to use a P38 steering box, which is much taller, with new bolt holes drilled in the chassis and a new lower bracket welded to the chassis, possibly in conjunction with a modified drop arm to crank the arm lower. Frankly, I think you'll find very little benefit for all the work and would be best returning everything to standard. Are you sure it's not new panhard bushes rather than geometry which reduced wandering?

He buggered the rear joint angle on your down pipe too, then? He did that on both my 12J and Tdi pipes. His workmanships is nowhere near as bad as the company's service, though. Expect to be shouted and sworn at and called a liar if you call them with a complaint.

If it's a UK business, then under the Sale of Goods Act he has to replace the part or refund your purchase (and perhaps shipping costs, but not sure about the latter).

http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/easy-breathing/ The first photo in this post was while I still had the 12J, the second after the Tdi was installed, but the filter system has stayed unchanged. You see the adaptor pipe between the corrugated hose (from the Defender side intake) to the 19J filter housing intake, and it has a union on the top of the adaptor. In this case, I'd blanked the union with a rubber cap so that the 12J's breather fed directly into the manifold to keep the filter clean, but on the Tdi installation, I routed the breather to that union as, firstly, you cant plumb it into the pressurised manifold, and secondly, I wanted the oil caught before it contaminated the ducts, turbo and intercooler. By using a K&N, I don't have to worry about the filter getting soggy and collapsing - K7Ns need to be moist, and the dirtier they are, the better they filter the air.

As said, make sure the waste gate actuator is free to move, as they can seize. Seized shut, this will result in an overboost. As far as adjustment goes, if the yellow factory paint is on the lock nut, leave well alone. If not, a local tuning specialist should have calibration equipment and it's simple to set. Apart from connecting the boost pipe from turbo to pump and readjusting the fuelling, there is nothing to be done on those parts. I think the screw is wound in to increase fuelling, so just try 45degrees at a time until you get light smoke under full acceleration. If you call Bob at Dieselbob Tuning, he'll advise better on how to do it - he did my pumps and was generous with advice. The L-bracket and U-clamp for the exhaust use a single bolt into the side of the block roughly half way along and a couple of inches above the joint with the ladder frame. If I remember correctly, the U-bolt ends were forwards, but you won't be able to fit it the wrong way around. The U-bolt is fitted horizontally.. I'll look for photos. Edit: look at the second last photo in this link http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/not-a-lazy-sunday/ and look for the bolt hole between the starter motor and engine mount in the reinforcing webs, and the second photo of this http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/engine-oil-leak-remedy/ in the shadows behind the engine mount, showing the bracket and U-bolt nuts.

I was concerned that the 4.71 diffs on my 109 would be too low for the retrofit of a ZF and BW transfer box to work well, but this is an element that make me think it will be rather good, even though it'll be similarly geared to a Series transmission with overdrive. Anyone know if 4.1:1 diff gears have become cheaper of late, though? Last time I looked, they were horrifically expensive.

You'll be astonished by the transformation. Just be sympathetic to the gearbox - feed the throttle in rather than just booting it; only fourth can take a clumsy right foot in the long term. As long as you ease the clutch and throttle in easily, though, the other gears will cope fine. But Series transmission with the low diffs make a Series pull extremely well with a Tdi, far better than a Defender. You just run out of gears, even with an overdrive.

A really good refurb costs more than the saleable value, so just do anything that is relatively cheap or is essential tot he use of the vehicle. Firstly, that reduces your risk and expenditure of time as well as money, secondly it gives you a much bigger market by not being in the top price band.

I think they're a great tool in general, though I have no experience of this specific type. Checking internal sections of chassis, bulkheads and doors seems the most common application, but you can check all sorts of ducts for trapped moisture, mould, oil, foreign objects (like dropped screws rattling around).

I would use a 110 or 240V mains fed one. For the amount of use that yours will get, and the torque involved, you will forever be waiting on batteries to recharge, and batteries on modern tools don't seem to last many cycles (my Bosch drill batteries stopped taking much of a charge after two years). The flex is a bit of a nuisance, but not as much as a dead battery, and the gun will be much more powerful while no noisier than the battery operated one.

Try Dunsfold Land Rover. I always found them very quick and very well priced with a stock of odd and eclectic as well as the usual genuine Series parts.

The genuine rubbers have weaves of fibre in them, similar to canvass but must be waterproof. Pattern rubbers are plain and tend to stretch and tear far more easily. Make sure you have the brass eyelets for the bolt holes, too, as they prevent crushing and tearing of the rubber.

The centre and rear sections are standard V8 or 2.6, I can't remember which. The routing is different behind the rear axle, and I had to make up a bracket to fit to the chassis with rivnuts. It makes fitting mudguards harder, too.

My Defender heater has air too hot to keep your fingers over the vents. It has markedly better airflow than the SIII heater, but it's still weak compared to a modern car or the Defender TDCI heater. A RRC/Discovery heater would eb great if you can find a neat way of fitting it.

I suspect that the outer face is rusted through and will need a new sheet of steel welding in after cutting the existing panel along its corner and just above the hinge, drilling the spot welds out. The good news is that the front face looks alright - they usually go there too, so your repair will be significantly easier than usual. If you're lucky, the inner panel above the door hinge will clean up with the wire cups, but that may need a new sheet replacement welded to the aft side of the door pillar. It doesn't look too bad, but is almost certainly a cutting and welding job.

You man when finishing up, or when fitting the input pinion in the bell housing? If the former, then any hang up is likely to be the lay shaft rear bearing sitting outside of its race. It's very fiddly to ensure the bearing is seated properly, but you should get smooth rotation when it is. Do this job with the gear box vertical. Rotate the lay shaft until you are certain the bearing is in. Then assemble the front end parts - bell housing and pinion, lay shaft drive gear and spacer, with one finger through the layshaft bearing hooking the spacer and gear in place, and lower onto the gear box shafts. A second pair of hands helps a lot with alignment and guidance.

I would guess the only reason it could whistle on throttle reduction is turbo lag causing higher boost in the induction system as the pistons and valves slow down, allowing less of the compressed air in, in exactly the opposite way of turbo lag on acceleration. That would suggest an air leak between the compressor casing and the head, though where is anyone's guess. I would be suspicious of the o-ring between the turbo's compressor housing and core sections, which will be exposed if you remove the compressor housing. Other likely candidates are the manifold gasket and a holed intercooler.