Snagger

I have found the source of the nasty noise that occurs under heavy braking of my Tdi powered, Defender axled 109. I had thought it was brake judder or even the tyres slipping n the rims, but no, it's the front UJ rubbing against the rhs engine mount bracket. The combination of nose dip and axle wrap causes the diff nose and front end of the prop shaft to move up, and given that the starting position is relatively high because of the axle swap and the Defender 200Tdi engine mount sits a lot lower on a Series vehicle than in a Defender, the combination is too small a clearance, even with my three-leaf parabolics and 1Ton chassis and shackles. So, part of the solution is to modify the bracket - luckily, I have a Discovery engine with Defender manifolds, so have plenty of space under the injection pump to move the span of the bracket upwards. The other part of the solution will be to look at controlling the amount of axle wrap. I am considering a very simple pair of arms that will connect from the axle bump stop pads to the rear spring eye bolts, forming a stable triangle. The straightening of the spring under compression will result in that side of the triangle lengthening, while the vertical and top sides of the triangle (the axle case and the anti wrap bars, respectively) will be constant, which will cause a small amount of axle rotation with the diff nose moving down under spring compression, but I think the effect should be small. Connecting similar rods to the front spring bolts would cause the diff nose to pivot up under spring compression, but would also foul the steering system's drag link. What I have in mind is a pair of scrap coiler trailing arms with the cylindrical bush fitted in a bracket welded to the axle and a new end fitted in place of the stud end that would attach to the spring bolt. Any opinions? Word of advice for those considering such mods - 12J/19J?Def200Tdi and coiler axles don't mix unless you come up with an engine mount that goes over the top of the injection pump. You can fit a Discovery 200Tdi or 300Tdi with coiler axles because of the higher injection pump. However, with parabolics greater wrap, and especially with standard mountings and two leafs, you're going to have to watch the separation of the diff nose and engine mount/injection pump under heavy articulation and braking.

Bad prop or bad diff.

I read it somewhere too, in an LR manual. It might have been their Worshop Manual. It's not in the Haynes manual, and no-one does it. Even my current gear box, which was bought new from LR as a replacement, wasn't sealed. I don't ever need to top up the gear box - the level only drops an imeasurable amount between the 10,000 mile service intervals (book suggests 12k) from sweating through the selector seals, no more than a soup spoon full. Anyway, I always advocate DIY rebuilds if you're competent to do it. Professional rebuilds never seem to work well or last - they put far to many worn, defective or poor pattern parts in.

Something missing from some manuals and just about every rebuild, even by LR themselves, is to use bearing seating compound on the rear bearing carrier when you refit it to the gear bx casing (not the visible one on the back of the transfer box but the one in the gear box secured with a huge circlip). This prevents the carrier spinning in the case but also stops the oil migration from gear box to transfer box which is so common as to be thought of as normal. Also make sure you use OEM parts wherever possible - a lot of the pattern parts are made of substandard materials or are dimensionally poor.

Well done.

Mine had no o-rings, so I used RTV sealant on the threads. It isn't elegant, but it works.

Yep, good stuff, that Forte additive.

What brand of springs did you use? My TIC (Heystee) springs are over 15 years old and have done well over 100,000 miles and still have their full camber, and the front springs were coping reasonably well with the added weight of the winch, spare wheel, front tanks and all that sound proofing, though the addition of a third leaf to compensate has helped.

I use a pressure bleeder. And my understanding of hydraulics is good enough - the amount of people I have helped with clutch problems, where they have been unable to properly bleed the system because they haven't elevated the nose of the vehicle to make sure the port end of the clutch slave is higher than the piston end because of trapped air testifies to that. Turbulent flow will clear some of that air, but not all of it. A big problem with 109 and late 88 brake bleeding is the PDWA valve on the chassis - that creates all sorts of havoc. Even with the disc system fitted to my 109, the bleeding still took a long time and over five bottles of fluid through the Ezibleed for each end. For those rebuilding an entire brake system, I'd recommend removing that valve (it doesn't seal off a leaking circuit, it merely activates a warning light) and using the reservoir cap from a Defender or Discovery with a float sensor, which will detect slow leaks as well as big leaks, unlike the PDWA, which only triggers on big leaks.

I agree with all that has been said above, but would add just one more question - is the vehicle standard? If it has raised suspension or oversize wheels/tyres, then handling problems will result. It's also worth inspecting all the suspension bushes.

Sounds like either low compression or a sticky injector in one cylinder. Try the fuel and oil additives first - they might unstick the fault without opening the engine up.

As Western says, check the feeds to the switches - they have their own feeds directly from the fuse box, unlike the indicator and normal dim/dip contacts. Check not only the security of the contacts but also their condition - look for dirt and corrosion; a dull grey surface on the terminals might not look too bad, but it can completely block the current, even though the voltage might read OK across the joints (resistance will not affect voltage until a demand is put on the system, at which point the resistance becomes effective and the voltage drops off - imagine the pressure at a tap with a very thin feed pipe; the presure at the tap will be at mains pressure until you open the tap, at which point the water flow is too restricted to keep up with demand and the pressure drops).

I remember a grey 90 with air suspension too, and the owner had it all adjustable from the cab to set each wheel independently, giving better side slope ability amongst other things. It was very impressive.

I have the Exmoor Trim type. They're bloody marvellous - the high setting (both elements on) gets uncomfortably hot after a few minutes, but it helps get the seat warm within 30 seconds, so you can then select the single element setting to stay comfy. they're much better than the heaters in my wife's '09 D90XS

If the timing is out, or the turbo has failed (causing a restriction in the intake and exhaust, dropping performance below that of a 12J), then you could have this bad performance, but I'd expect a fairly heavy plume of black smoke in either case (or whitish grey if the timing is retarded).

That's exactly what it is - the oilways are fairly complex and some can't be done from the bores or hose ports.

Don't shoot the messenger Simon. I like tinkering as much as the next man and hate most insurers' negativity, but as legal as the mod is, it's going to be a pain if he can't subsequently insure it at a viable price. I'm not saying don't do it, I'm just saying to check the financial ramifications first. Please get of your high horse now.

It's not the rings that go but the pistons themselves - they crack right across and through the crowns. The head also cracks between the valves in each cylinder. The 12J was a very robust engine, but it just wasn't up to a cheap lash-up of bolting on a turbo - the compression ratio was too high, which is part of the reason for the cracking. A tdi has 19:1 CR, but the 12 and 19Js have 23:1. The metalurgy wasn't right either. I know from personal experience - I've had two of these engines and have seen several others with the same failures.

Good result on the front callipers! Before you disconnect the rears, just unbolt them and move them to one side - I have heard of Britpart callipers having misaligned bolt holes.

Is yours an 88", Jon? It seems to affect 109s more than 88s. It went through several sets of UJs, each lasting 500 miles before they developped enough play that they sounded like the motorway rumble strip when I feathered the throttle at 60mph. Refitting the original shackles, even with worn UJs, cured the vibration immediately. I tried swapping back and forth several times to confirm it, and they were definitely the source of the problem. Once you move those prop flanges out of parallel, you start getting problems.

Don't fool yourself - the specialist like FLux and Sureterm will add a premium for it, but the run of the mill insurers won't permit it. Look at the faff I faced with fitting a snorkel to my wife's 90 - LR describe it as an accessory, but the insurers insist it's a mod and unacceptable.

Something is wrong there - the engine is governed to 4000 rpm like the Tdi, so you should achieve a similar speed on the flat given a longer run up. Witha 12J, I used to get 70mph out of my 109, eventually, with a roof rack! You could rebuild the engine, but it's less powerful, less robust and less economical than the Tdi. I'd say get a Tdi, overhaul that and retrofit it.

So it was. Bugger!

Good choice. Oversize tyres reduce performance on dry roads and reduce grip off road or on wet tarmac and make steering heavier and less precise. They are only of benefit on deep snow or sand. If by playing you mean laning, then BFG ATs would be ideal. If you mean pay and play sites in old quarries, MTs would be better off road, but your on-road driving will be compromised more than with ATs. Check with the vendors what offset any modulars or 8-spokes have - I had 6 8spokes, and two of them transpired to have 15mm different offset to the others, though they were otherwise identical. The more widely spaced versions would stick out beyond the wheel arches, but the narrower spaced versions fill the arches very neatly with only a little of the sidewall protruding.

'Fraid not. While I suffer no problems running extended hangers and shackles together, with just long shackles on the rear springs with a standard chassis, my UJs would only last 500 miles. The vibration would also have been harming the diff, half shafts and transfer box.