Snagger

If the pistons are moving without restriction or leaks, there is no reason to replace them. Look for thick rust scale build up in the calliper body at the each end of the void where the ends of the pads slide - as I said, the pads may be binding on that scale and having their movement restricted. You can chip that rust off with a hammer and small stone chisel, and then wire brush the calliper before painting with calliper paint or Hammerite (I have used the latter on 8 callipers with good results). http://www.nickslandrover.co.uk/defender-discovery-i-and-range-rover-classic-brake-calliper-overhaul/

Yep, that's all that's needed. Make sure you give the surface a good wipe after keying to get the dust and any grease off, just like preparing any other surface, and use a primer before painting. Nothing unusual.

You need new discs and pads at the very least, and quite probably a calliper rebuild or replacement. I'd go for rebuilding the callipers with Zeus Engineering stainless pistons. The wear and rust pattern on the disc suggest that the pad has much of its material broken off, though it may be that the callipers are so rusted that the outer part of the pad is seized and the inner is pivoting against the disc, rather than the whole pad floating evenly. The callipers certainly appear to need a good clean up, even inf the pistons and seals are good. Fitting new pads alone will result in them being eaten away on their outer portion where the rust is rough, and being back where you are now. I wouldn't drive the car in that condition as the insurance would probably be invalid if you had a knock.

You wouldn't need much movement in a rod end to get wobble, and in the drag link it'd affect both wheels, so that drop arm tre may be at fault. It certainly shouldn't make any knocking or clicking noises, which points to play.

Do you have a suspension lift? Low castor angles would give similar results. I also had severe wandering, rather than wobble, on my RRC which turned out to be tracking adjustment. Laser alignment fixed it.

It's what I have read on several technical sites. For what it's worth, EGTs on turbine engines run at upto 950oC, even though kerosene burns at over 1400o and the turbine materials are only rated to 700ish. It has a lot to do with cooling air and the gas flow, not just combustion temperatures, but temperatures often excees the alloys' limits.

It'll be much, much hotter than that, with EGT of in excess of 1000oC when working hard, from what I have read. So, allowing for the heat sink of the surrounding metal and the external airflow, I think the manifold joint will probably reach about 300oC on a long hard burn.

I doubt it's the glow plugs. They're probably broken, but make little difference anyway. AN intermittent fault like this is probably the "spider", which is part of the harness from the alarm/immobiliser unit and is mounted on the heater matrix housing inside the dash. I don't have one on my 94 RRC - they appeared shortly after that - so I don't know much about them other than that they're temperamental.

The main plug with two wires on the motor unit is connected via the park switch, so the motors will only work when jumped to the battery when the spindle is "-in-sweep", not at the parked position. You need to trigger the motor by the other plug wires, two of which are bridged only when the motor is parked. The 2pin plug is the motor feed, so connecting those two pins in that plug directly to a battery should give motor movement. The 3pin plug is in the control circuit and is the "Park switch". It has one permanent live (green wire) from the fuse box. Another pin runs to earth (black wire), but the third runs back to the dash switch (should be a brown and green wire). When the motor is parked, this terminal will be dead, but will be live when out of park. The red and green wire to the 2pin plug comes from the dash switch, and is connected to a terminal that is live with the switch off but the park switch on, or with the dash switch on but the park switch off. The idea is that the motor will only ever have one live source, but it doesn't matter if you parallel it if you use non-standard switches or wiring; you can have a simple on-off switch controlling a wire to the 2pin plug if you don't care about self park, and have a permanent live to the park switch and a spliced line to the motor feed from the park switch's output, since both switches are running at 12V and on the same polarity.

Did you bleed the fuel filter too? That needs full bleeding, followed by the injection pump. If that doesn't sort it out, then suspect a lift pump failure from running dry - the diaphragm may have split or one of its non-return valves jammed.

It's so common on the 300Tdi as to be almost normal. I have had it from the water pump, the squeak disappearing at normal running temperatures but returning as it cools. There are sprays for serpentine belts that help with grip. I bought a can from my local branch of Cromwell Tools. I think it may have been made by Ambersil. I have yet to try it, but may gibe it a go on my 200's v-belt, which also chirps and squeaks at idle when cold (sounds like a bad bearing but clears as soon as I spray WD40 on the belt).

So, having paid for a Turner Engineering rebuild of my RRC's engine last year (giving me a photo-shopped home made voucher on the day), this year my wife has bought me an Ashcroft overhaul kit for its R380. I'm not sure whether she's an incredibly understanding wife supportive of her husband's hobby, or whether she just doesn't like me coming back into the house...

Well done, Ed. Not so scary after all, eh? It sounds like you could do with a little more shimming on the left side of the diff carrier - the diff should have a tiny amount of resistance and the spreader should be working to get the thing in. If the mesh is out, you may have to transfer a shim from the right side to the left, too. Since you've gone to so much trouble already and done such a good job, I think you should make that one last effort to make sure it's spot on, for peace of mind if nothing else.

You need to get the vehicle classification on the V5 changed from "commercial" or "PLG" to "historic vehicle". I did this over the phone, but you may be able to do it in the post office. Give the DVLA a call - they are usually fairly helpful

I can't answer the question, but would suggest calling Turbo Technics in Northampton; I'm sure they'l be able to send some by post since they rebuild turbos for JLR and build their own VNT units.

Sorry, Neil, the above was aimed at Mudmagnet. I'm not that familiar with TD5s, but know my way around Tdis.

That'll all work well, and I think the extended breathers are a good idea as they stop a lot of dirt and water ingress. I don't think there is an inherent problem with the size of the standard breathers - while the amount of air moving in or out of the unit may be more than some expect, the create at which it happens is small because of the time taken for the oil to warm or cool and subsequently change in volume, even in cases where a warmed unit is suddenly exposed to cold water like wading - even though the casing is highly conductive, there is 1.5l of oil, a large proportion of which is suspended as a mist, still being warmed by the mechanical forces that heated it in the first place, so oil temperature drop will be progressive, not rapid. Big breathers won't hurt, though. As for the oil getting past the selector rods, then "they all do that sir" is correct and there seems to be little that can be done to stop it short of fabricating some sort of housing to enclose the ends of the selectors and catch the weeping oil, making the mechanism internal like on the LT77s and R380s. But the weeping, though it makes a small mess, is inconsequentially small and will not register on the levels over the 6000 mile service schedule. It's just a shame it wrecks a smart drive way...

No idea! I have a 300Tdi RRC, but it has an R380, so has no engine electronics. My wife's TDCI Defender makes three cyclic noises on shut down, a "chucka-chucka-chucka" noise, which is the EGR valve self-cleaning. Maybe your engine has a similar function?

I would take a close look at the fuel pipes - it sounds like the fuel is leaking back to the tank because of air entering the top end of the system, needing the injection system to self-purge before the engine fires. I'd look particularly closely at the braided leak-off hoses between the injectors, which tend to perish and split underneath the braiding.

Yes - the axle is fundamentally the same. There may be differences in the hub flange and outer shaft - early Discoverys have a solid hub dome and sub shaft to the CV joint, while Defenders and 300Tdi Discoverys have a floating stub shaft with splined drive flanges. The brakes may be slightly different if you have a 110, but not so different as to make any difference for manuals useage.

If the splines have gone on the drive flange, while swapping the flange is a quick job, you need to degrease, clean out and regrease the hub - it'll be contaminated by the swarf and shards of the splines from the flange. If it's a half shaft, then it's also a quick job unless the stub of the shaft is stuck in the diff, but again you must drain, flush, refil and again drain, flush and refil the axle to get rid of all the fragments that will otherwise wreck the diff and its bearings.

The perforated boost diaphragm idea is an interesting one, and a plausible failure. However,you'd need multiple internal pump failures for this to occur - compressor outlet pressure is on one side of the diaphragm, but it is atmospheric air on the other side, not fuel. For pressurised fuel to be under the diaphragm, I think you'd be looking at such severe internal failures that the pump would not function. Furthermore, while it would indeed cause smoke by adding fuel tot he turbine, this would not cause engine run-on, as the turbine does not drive the engine in any way, just the compressor.

That really does sound like air in the fuel injection system to me - the irregular revving and run-on are both typical of pump cavitation. When the fuel solenoid closes, it normally creates an instant shut down because the fuel is incompressible and so also doesn't like to be drawn out to lower density; continued fuel injection would create a vacuum inside the pump which overcomes the injection pressures. Introduce air and that principle breaks down - air, being compressible, can also be drawn out to lower density (like at altitude), so the engine can run on while the air expands to fill the void left by the depleting fuel reservoir in the pump. I'mm 99% certain you have a fuel system air leak, not a catastrophic mechanical failure (the latter usually manifests itself with external oil leaks, rapidly dropping oil and water levels and plumes of blue smoke).

If the engine is in good order, you should get an instant start without the glow plugs, just like a good Tdi. Unfortunately, 19Js have a tendency to crack heads and pistons, which will drop compression, so in bad cases starting will be more difficult. The cracks would have to be severe to affect starting, though. Most issues starting diesels are due to fuel. The injectors may be dirty, which would cause poor atomisation of the fuel as it is injected, making it harder to burn. This would clear to some degree as the engine temperature increases - the cylinders would be warmer, aiding combustion, but a warm injection system would heat the fuel before injection, reducing viscosity and allowing a better spray pattern. The most likely cause for delayed starting is fuel drain-down when off. Leaking spill lines are a frequent culprit and often overlooked (people assume that since they're on the return system, not the supply, that they won't affect operation, but the do). But any small leak that lets air into the system will cause trouble. Misfiring can be a sign of pump cavitation caused by air in the fuel. Be sure to check the condition of the fuel filter O-rings - I had a bad case of air leaks that turned out to be from having two O-rings in the top filter housing rather than one.

That's the sort of language used by self-important, two-faced witless managers all over the world. They think it makes them sound clever, but it actually demonstrates their flawed character.