Snagger

As long as the oil leak is new, so the level hasn't dropped much and no water or muck has got in, then the bearing will probably be fine. Try shoving the prop shaft around with the wheels chocked and the hand brake off to see if there is any radial movement. You just need a Rover diff pinion seal. Buy genuine - pattern parts tend to fail quickly if they ever seal at all. The brake pipes can have Imperial (UNF, I think) or metric fittings, depending on age and what previous owners have done, so you'll need to determine which you have, If older than 1980, they're likely to be Imperial.

My wife is selling her Tdci as we're emigrating. It has an amazing heater, while the TD5 is the coldest defender of them all. The suspension, chassis, axles and majority of the body are the same on both, but the rear seats on the Tdci are forward facing, meaning you only get two but they are comfortable and safe. We have had no trouble at all with the engine or gear box, and TD5s are not blemishless in their reputation (plastic head dowels shearing, oil pump failures, manifold warping, heads failing... Tdcis are certainly no worse and probably better). The noise levels inside the Tdci are very low due to effective soundproofing. My only complaints about the Tdci are the appearance of the bonnet and lack of bulkhead vent flaps (not needed in the Tdci, but they should have fitted dummy flaps), and I find the newer front seats less comfortable than the old Defender seats as they now have less lumbar support, but that could be rectified by adding a small foam pad under the seat covering..

One of the benefits of being a cynic is that it makes you a little less vulnerable, but never invulnerable.

I'm only guessing at the possibility of a different spring centre on 1-ton springs, Pat - I doubt it's the case, but I'm trying to come up with a reason for the bolt hole being so far out; it can't be within production tolerances, so may have just slipped through quality control. 1-tons will have special springs, but that'd just be for the weight rating, probably nothing dimensional.

You did well to spot it!

Have you checked the other spring? It could be that 1-ton springs have the bolt slightly back to increase the space between the front of the larger tyre and the wing or bumper. If it's offset aft by 4mm, and you have one spring one way and the other spring reversed, you'd have an 8mm difference. I suspect it's well within tolerances. My Marsland chassis dumbiron spring bolt holes were about 12mm out from left to right, prodcucing a lean and a pull to the left (rectified by welding up and redrilling the holes), and the mini-outriggers for the rear spring shackles are 5mm different from side to side (has no effect on geometry as measured on 4-wheel laser alignment).

Well, I'm glad I went elsewhere, even though Stratstone of Nottingham were less than frank with us and sent the vehicle out with a couple of electrical faults that made it unroadworthy. The 90XS we bought is now up for sale, since we're moving abroad. My wife has enjoyed it a lot after the initial problems with Stratstones.

Over torquing the bolts wouldn't have caused that crack. It looks like the housing has been walloped.

It is legal to drive with no valid MoT to a test appointment as long as the insurance policy is valid. So, as the others said, just get the policy without telling them about the MoT - you'll have that soon enough anyway. Insurance is always valid for third party damage, which is why they pay out for third party damage or injury even when the driver is unlicenced or DUI. The worst that can happen is that they play up on the comprehensive element if you have a knock on the way to the test.

I just got back from having the MoT test (it was expired). Driving it is so easy now - it has a little less wander and i can turn the steering lock to lock with one finger while parked. It seems a lot like the Tdci Defender steering but a little lighter. I'm pleased with the results. Now to sell the 90...

I have finished my PAS installation on my 109. It uses P38 box, pump and lower column and Defender upper column, switches and steering wheel. For those interested in how it was done and what it looks like, you can see the work here: http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/category/steering/ (the posts go over two index pages in reverse chronological order, so use the next/previous tags to see all the posts). The axles were previously transplanted, so the front axle is a Discovery unit converted for leaf springs, and the engine is a Discovery 200Tdi with Defender manifolds and turbo. There is a Kelowe Hotstart sitting above the timing case (aircon pump mounts), which is behind the PAS pump and is the reason for the slightly unconventional pump bracket.

I couldn't zoom in to be certain, but the middle vehicle looks like the front wheel arch spat has been ripped off. The real wing mirrors are standard, it's just a crappy render.

Excess to Spare, Excess-Spare... some other word play on the fact that excess implies spare.

They haven't just missed the diffs, but the entire axles, radius arms and steering! Looks good, though.

Those wheels came out well, and the tyres should give a nice, manageable gearing increase as well as ground clearance. It's as well that you already have PAS!

10A is plenty. The inside of the fuse box on my wife's Tdci and the label inside the older Def fuse box on my 109 say 20, though. I used 10 until I added wing mirror heaters to the circuit, and now use 15.

If you do have to relocate them, how about to the other side of the instrument pod? You could use simple small pieces of angle to screw tot he side of the pod, securing the top and bottom of the quadrants (the screws you see at the ends of the slot). If you need to cover it up, then you may be able to use the plastic dash end that originally mounted the quadrants or use a sheet of plastic or metal painted with wrinkle paint or Halfords truck bed liner aerosol, which gives a nice texture and is robust.

20A, but the draw is much less than that.

Genuine ones for the SIII are about £90, so that's why I was keen to effect a repair!

A drip is too small to worry about, but it may have been weeping a while, so a quick check of the level would be wise. You could add seal conditioner tot he oil as a temporary measure - it softens and swells oil seals and o-rings, so should help. But the vehicle will be fine on a long trip.

A manifold gasket does not leak oil. Leaking spill pipes on the injectors will lose a lot of fuel which could end up looking like an oil leak if the engine is dirty, so see how you get on with those first. 300 Tdis do tend to blow head gaskets at around 80k, though. It's not too bad a job, as long as you haven't suffered gas erosion of the head. You can do the job in a single day, but you will need a torque wrench and an angle wrench (if memory serves, the head bolts are tightened to a fairly low torque and then angle tightened twice by 60 degrees, but that is one flat of the bolt head, so if you mark the position of the breaker bar on your socket and then rotate the socket back one flat and pull the bar to the mark, it'll be accurate enough).

Replacing it would have been simple except that it's in a SIII and the wiring needed splicing with the plug from the old stalk to connect tot he vehicle loom. The spare Defender type I have is older and has deteriorated a little - slightly sticky in each axis and the flash didn't work. It's locating lug is also missing, but the clamp is fine. I have swapped everything across and got the flash working, which then started to stick on (got that sorted too) - I just need to test the horn during the day time tomorrow (too anti social to be done now). I'd like to fix the newer one with the broken clamp, though - it's generally in perfect condition, just the one fault, but seeing that new switches can be bought for under £15, maybe I'm wasting my time.

Hi folks. The plastic retaining ring on my Defender indicator stalk has snapped where it meets the main body of the switch unit (it's an open sided semi-circle with a screw through the open end to clamp on to the steering column). I have tried Tiger Seal and then JB Weld with a steel strip around the outer circumference, but neither seems to stick well tot he plastic (degreased before glueing). I was thinking of trying the same again, but with a small screw through each end of the strip into the plastic... Any other ideas? The joint is under tension when the screw is tightened.

Sorry for hijacking the thread, but it's related. The plastic retaining ring on my Defender indicator stalk has snapped where it meets the main body of the switch unit (it's an open sided semi-circle with a screw through the open end to clamp on to the steering column). I have tried Tiger Seal and then JB Weld with a steel strip around the outer circumference, but neither seems to stick well tot he plastic (degreased before glueing). I was thinking of trying the same again, but with a small screw through each end of the strip into the plastic... Any other ideas? The joint is under tension when the screw is tightened.

Yes, the rear diff is the same as all 24 spline diffs on RRC, 90s, Discovery Is and the front of 110s. There is one detail difference that changed - retention of the cross pin used to be by a circlip at each end, but is now by a single roll pin.