Snagger

Rogers of Bedford let me borrow their generic diagnostic tool from time to time. It's a big blue plastic tablet with touch screen, possibly Autologic. There are other types about too, as well as LR's own system. You'd need to phone around your local garages to find someone with a compatible system - it's not just the hardware but also the software on the device being LR compatible. Any LR franchise and most non-franchised specialists should have a system they could plug in. It takes five minuted to do a diagnostic, so they might be willing to do it for a token gesture rather than full workshop hour charge, like if you offer them a nice bottle of something...

The diagnostic plug is attached to the ECU under the seat.

I notice they only do Tdi and TD5 versions. Do you think they're worried about moisture problems in a V8 model?

Windscreen sealant is probably too strong an adhesive - you'd never get the frame off without damage to it or the roof panel should you need to take it out in the future for any reason. I'd only bond in anything that had no mechanical fixings, but this hatch frame does, so I'd recommend something that can be removed if and when required.

It works out at about a 10% or so gearing increase to step from 6.00s up to 7.50s. As for BSF's comments, I couldn't agree more. A "DI" retrofit is easier and cheaper than doingt he whole Tdi fit and will put less strain on the transmission (though I am one of the many who have had few problems caused by the increased engine torque, the one gearbox failure being more due to my use of OD and 3.54 gears together in third gear). But, for those who don't want the extra performance, why bother with all the hassle of bigger exhausts, intercooler plumbing and the rad change to include an oil cooler. Much simpler to fit a DI and keep the existing rad and plumbing... Horses for courses and all that!

I'd use either Dumdum, if you can find some, or black RTV silicone sealant, which is better at dealing with heat, chemicals and vibration than domestic silicone. But at a push, guttering mastik should work - if it seals plastic guttering, with all the UV, frost, ice and heat expansion they suffer, then it should work on the hatch frame.

Thanks fellas. One less worry...

Check the oil level first - if it's low, the oil will be circulating more frequently around the engine, getting hotter, and will also lose the heat sink capacity of a large body of oil, thinning it down. If the level is OK, then replacing the filter will ensure that you are not getting restricted flow at idle. If still an issue, then replacing the switch as planned will eliminate the possibility of a fault there, but it seems unlikley. Using a thicker oil like Halfords 10W50 should stave of an engine rebuild for some time. If it does come to that, crank shaft bearings are pretty cheap and can be done without removing the engine or the head, just the sump, and while the sump is off you can remove the oil pump for stripping and inspection - it could be worn rotors, or a weakened pressure regulator valve spring, even a dirt-seized pressure valve or scoring in its bore.

The driver's side tube screws into the back of the windscreen vent with the hose port pointing to the centre of the vehicle, while the passenger's port points straight down towards the hole in the top of the fascia duct (lower fascia). The reason the driver's side port is horizontal is that the duct doesn't reach under the demister centre, stopping short to clear the wiring loom through the bulkhead and the steering column.

Hi folks, I'm after a little advice from TDCI drivers, here. I have just had to replace a complete indicator lamp unit because a small chip in the top of the lens allowed water to enter, eventually filling the unit and corroding the contacts on the bulb holder (apparently, these newer lamps seal much better than the older type with separate lenses!). When testing the indicators after this work, I noticed the trailer warning light at the bottom of the dash flashes momentarily on the first flash of the indicators in either direction. I hadn't noticed this before; is it normal?

A standard Series transfer box has a high ratio of 1.15:1 - it's early 90s and 110s that had 1.6:1 because of their taller diffs, Defenders stepping up to 1.4:1 when they got more powerful engines.. I think the question about tyres was more to learn their diameter, not their width; if you're on 6.00s or 205/70s, then you'll not be going very fast, but will be 10% faster on 7.50s or 235/85s. They won't affect speedo readings, just the actual speed, and you need the correct speedo for the tyre size (all 109s had speedos calibrated for the bigger tyres, most 88s for the smaller).

Pulling away in second and running out of performance at 45mph suggests you have on-standard gearing, like lower ratio diffs or a 1-ton transfer box. Performance with a good 12J should not be that dissimilar to a 2.25 petrol. You do have the correct engine mounts? You can use the SIII diesel mounts to good effect, or the Defender mounts, but SIII petrol mounts are too small and will allow the engine to shake all over the place.

It's not "really light", but is manageable by one healthy man when split. The seal in question can be replaced in situ without removing, splitting or even draining the boxes (unless the transfer box is over-filled, which is common when oil migrates). You need to remove the top inspection panel and the rear bearing carrier, followed by the transfer input gear and oil thrower from the gear box main shaft. With those clear, you can hook out the old seal and fit a new one. Genuine seals have a steel rim and rubber inner lip, only pattern seals are completely rubber coated. The genuine seals are very difficult to fit in the hole as the steel outer rim is quite delicate and picks up on the rim of its seat. To get around that problem, first file the edge of the steel rim to a bevel to help it enter the aperture, and give a thin smear of RTV silicone sealant to lubricate it as it is pressed in. Be very careful to get the whole nose in before tapping gently home, as if it skews, it'll bend and be wrecked. I'd buy two seals before tackling the job just in case. As said already, though, this may not cure the migration - the problem is that the carrier unit in which the rear main bearing and this seal are housed should be installed in the casing with bearing seating compound (similar to thread lock), but almost all reconditioners and even LR themselves fitted it dry, so oil migrates through that joint, bypassing the seal.

Did you ever get to the bottom of it, Badger? I didn't see this thread before, but it seems to me that the problem was fluid flow from reservoir to pump, with the pump initially producing pressure but unable to continue doing so, and the only plausible cause for that is a lack of fluid supply.

I have used BFG ATKOs for years. They are superb on dry, wet and icy roads, and only slipped on the ice and snow when I tried to make them do so. They were also superb on the dirt, loose stone and shale and boulder strewn tracks around the Alps. I get about 70,000 miles or so out of a set on the 109 with its part time 4wd system and about 40,000 miles out of a set on my late RRC with the viscous coupling, which does cause much more scrub than an unlocked centre diff. Older BFG ATs are marked "M+S" as in mud and snow rated, but unless they are now marked with a snowflake symbol, you might not be allowed to use them on the continent in winter months. Shame if that's the case, as they are way better on the snow and ice than the Hankook ATs that replaced the worn out BFGs, and they do have the snowflake symbol.

Having had a go at a couple of Salisburys, they're not hard to work on, just heavy. You do need an axle spreader, but no other special tools.

The number of splines doesn't initially make much difference to strength as regardless of the number, you still have 50% of the shaft circumference as splines, and thus the same amount of material. What does change is that the more splines you have, the more contact area there is, and so wear is reduced. The problem with that occurs once the splines become so thin that any wear results in them shearing off. So, if you have 10 spline components in good order, there is no reason to change them to 24 splines. Issues over CV strength and preference, resulting in dictat over which splines you need to correspond with that CV choice have more rationale. I'd echo the advice of leaving everything as is unless you want to upgrade fully to locking diffs as there just isn't enough benefit for the cost in going 24 spline standard. As for fitting the late TD5/TDCI or Salisbury axles, the components (not necessarily the casing) are stronger, but you will have to mess about with brakes and replace the prop shafts as the diff noses on the Salisbury and P38 type diffs are different from the older Rover diffs.

Yep, always suspect the area worked on if it was good before the work. New lift pumps can be faulty, but disturbing the fuel lines to and from the pump could have caused them to split if old and hardened, or you may have worn olives like I had, requiring a new pipe (I carry a spare in the car, such a recurring problem has it been).

Air molecules are smaller than fuel molecules, so leaks may allow air in but not fuel out. I would start by closely inspecting the injector pipes for cracks and make sure their nuts are tight. Then replace the copper washers on the banjo unions. Check the pipes into the lift pump are tight - I have had recurring problems on a 200Tdi of the pipe from the filter wearing its olive and becoming loose. Also make sure that the fuel leak-off pipes (the small braided hoses between the injectors) aren't leaking - they perish and split every few years, but you can but the hose cheaply on rolls from autofactors rather than paying LR a fortune for an un-necessary full system.

Pattern relays have a reputation for shearing. For such a critical part, buy genuine only.

If you have tightened the steering box adjustment, loosen it off again before you cause damage - the inner adjustment stud should only be done up finger tight or you'll damage a lot of internal components. This should be set with the steering in the straight-ahead position, as the mechanism become slacker the nearer to full lock you get, and adjusting there would result in it being too tight in the straight position. Slop occurs in the box, the relay, loose steering arms (from loose pinch bolts or worn splines), worn rod ends, worn swivel pins/bearings and worn studs securing the bottom pin/steering arm assembly to the swivel housings (allowing the arm to move in relation to the swivel housing).

Ah, misread as 1988.

I'm assuming that you got the correct generation of RR wheels, ie. RR Classic. However, they won't fit the hubs anyway because the the hub protrudes too far - it wasn't util the introduction of the 300Tdi that Defender axles were fitted with slimmer hubs and flanges that permitted the use of LR alloys. You need to have the inside of the wheels machined out on a lathe to remove a bit of the taper of the void which fouls the bevel on the hubs between the drive flange bolt lugs - if you clean up the wheels and hubs properly and then put some copper grease on the hubs close to the flange gasket and then try fitting the wheel, the grease will be transfered to the wheel where it is in contact. Alternatively, 1/4" spacers work, but don't go thicker than that or the nuts won't have enough thread to engage safely. Even then, I'd be wary - I used such spacer on my 109's rear axle (using front hubs from an early 110" for disc brake conversion), but I replaced the studs with the 1/2" longer Wolf studs (which then required the threads in the nuts to be cut further into the blind end of the nuts' insides as the thread ran out before the nuts closed up on the wheels). You will be left with the plastic hub cones protruding through the wheel centres unless you get creative (my shafts had slightly worn outer splines, so I had the flanges welded on, allowing the cone to be discarded as the weld sealed the oil in the hubs).

Yep, it is under the passenger seat. The symptoms sound like a sensor issue, either a faulty sensor, mis-set gap or something throwing the exciter ring out (like bad wheel bearings or a cracked cv joint , which form the front exciter rings),

The actuators seem weak, but the problems usually stem from the small springs in the lock mechanisms. You can get them on ebay, as LR don't sell them separately and will only sell you a complete lock.