Snagger

Half of each front calliper is hydrostatic, not ABS/power brake, so if the vacuum pump on the engine block is not working, that would make the pedal very stiff as you will not have vacuum assistance. An accumulator issue could also cause problems. The accumulator should be charge with air initially, and only fluid filled once the system has pressurised. If the accumulator has been bled such that it is completely filled with fluid, with no head of air, then it will not function correctly - the ABS pump will run just for moments on start up, rather than for about 40 seconds, as the fluid is incompressible and thus pressurises instantly. This also means that there is no stored pressure, so the pump will cut in and out often, while the pedal remains firm because there is no system pressure for the power brakes.

No. It must be something specific to that side, from the switch to the lights.

I think there is a break between the switch and the lights - the power comes through the flasher unit into the switch, and is then diverted left or right. If the wiring to the lights fails or is unplugged, the switch will earth through the dash waning bulb but will not draw enough amps to heat the flasher unit's strip, so it won't flash.

The 90 master creates higher pressure in the front circuit as it's designed to operate disc brakes. The rear circuit should operate normally. It firs the SIII servo without modification, but the trade off for higher pressures is less volume displacement. This will mean that less fluid is forced down into the slave cylinders, so you would have to be very careful about the accuracy and frequency of your brake adjustment or the front brakes will not move fare enough to apply real braking effort.

AT2 is a good tyre, and there's not a lot between it and the BFG AT KO. I'd recommend either.

Red is permanent, blue is for items that need service replacement, like calliper bolts, water pump bolts and so on.

I know how you feel, dog - I have the same sort of evil luck/curse!

Airlocker's comments about the effects being relative, subject to the condition of the tyres you already have, are very good. As he points out, though, he suffers less grip loss from his MTs because of their soft compound. Unfortunately, the trade off will be increased wear. As a point of note, most remoulds have fairly soft compounds. For what it's worth, I have had a wide selection of tyres over the years: Avon Ranger, Pirelli FS40, Pirelli Dakar, Goodyear HiMiler Xtra Grip, Hankook AT and BFGoodrich AT KOs. By far the best on and off road have been the BFGs. The FS40s ans Xtra Grips are very poor on wet roads, bordering on dangerous, and the MoD's G90s are reputedly the same. On a trip I did around the Alps, no-one had any grip troubles at all on the roads, dirt tracks, shale slopes or wooden bridges ad off road course obstacles on the BFG ATs; it was only the BFG MT shod vehicle that occasionally struggled. As I said, the MTs are good in mud and on wet grass, but on other loose surfaces, they're too aggressive and perform less well than ATs.

I have seen the light dove grey and dark bluey-grey applied to wheels and roof tops on station wagons and truck cabs in addition to the bronze and Atlantic greens. I have only seen Marine blue on truck cab roofs, but not wheels or station wagon roofs. Brown, red, yellow, bright blue and turquoise were late colours (the bright ones limited to V8s), so never had coloured roof tops or wheels.

Handling and braking will be significantly affected, especially in the wet or on ice. I don't think it's unrealistic to expect up to a 50% increase in wet braking distance with some MTs. This will also correlate to a reduced amount of grip on high speed bends, like large roundabouts, especially under braking or hard acceleration. It's simply due to having less rubber in contact with the tarmac or ice. For the same reason, expect a significantly increased wear rate unless you get a much harder compound, which would make the wet/ice grip even worse. You can expect increased fuel consumption of about 10% because the knobbly tread deforms more while rolling, sapping energy from the transmission and creating internal friction within the tyre structure. This generates heat, which is the other reason that MTs have lower speed ratings than ATs, not just the grip available. You may also find that while most ATs are CE (EU) winter rated and certified (look for a snowflake in a mountain symbol), many MTs won't be. That's because MTs don't perform well on slippery roads, and while this has only practical and safety impact in the UK, most of continental Europe requires snow rated tyres for the winter months, even on foreign vehicles, so any foreign use would need to comply with their legislation. In a nutshell, use MTs if you really need that muddy or wet grass off road performance, but otherwise use ATs, which are better on all road and most off road conditions in every respect.

As the others, I would first suspect a prop shaft issue at that road speed - 50-60mph is the classic prop shaft resonance range. If you have raised or HD suspension, then I would put (a small amount of) money on it being prop UJs ; any increase in ride height messes about with UJ deflection angles and increases vibration and wear.

They're only tightened to 60'lb, which isn't a huge amount for a bolt that size, and the thread lock should protect the threads from rusting, so they should be in good enough condition for re-use. I consider myself mildly paranoid, but I re-use my calliper bolts with a fresh drop of thread lock.

I think it was the earlier SII Station Wagons and Truck Cabs, with their body coloured roofs, that had body coloured wheels. As far as I know, SIIAs, like the earlier rag tops and hard tops, had Limestone wheels because they got Limestone roof tops, like the later SIIIs.

Just a suggestion - one of you post a photo or send the other a photo by text (having exchanged phone numbers by PM) to double check the part is the same, just in case I gave you a bum steer! I wouldn't want it on my conscience that someone parted with cash for a part that was useless to them because I got it wrong.

Someone is breaking a P38 on the RR section, and I think thy share the same cassette. He's just asked how to get the steering wheel off, so it looks like the cassette should be available immediately.

In that case, try to have the steering straight and when you remove the cassette, tape it up well - it's the weakest part in the SRS system and is common to the 300Tdi DI, the DII, soft dash RRC and the P38. There was someone on the Discovery section with an SRS wiring fault that I suggested is likely to be this part, and he was asking where he could get one; might be worth you taking a look and getting in touch!

If you mean you want to remove the SRS airbag, then officially it's a professional garage job, but unofficially, disconnect the battery (stops any chance of accidentally triggering the explosives in the airbag), undo the two bolts in the back face of the steering wheel (six-point star drive or maybe just allen key - I can't remember) and then ease the airbag out, disconnecting the wiring as it comes. Then once the airbag is clear and ideally with the steering wheel in the straight ahead position or marked for alignment on reassembly, undo the centre nut and carefully guide the horn, SRS and any stereo/cruise control wiring through the slots as the wheel comes back. make absolutely sure you don't rotate the SCS wiring cassette (the annular plastic unit immediately behind the steering wheel) as doing so will probably damage the extremely delicate internal wiring - if you have to remove the cassette for any reason, then tape the two halves together as soon as you can (ideally before removal) to prevent accidental turning. Do not reconnect the battery until the airbag is refitted as it will trigger a fault in the SRS ECU, bringing on the dash light, which can only be cleared with diagostics tools.

It's usually due to the red lever's rubber boot. Dirt inside the cover plate with the tubular fingers can cause trouble just like Jeremy said. The other causes are a misaligned selector shaft, set such that the detent groove is not pointing straight up so the ball won't engage properly in it, a weak detent spring (under the brass plug on the low side of the top of the case) or a very worn high range gear on the output shaft that is failing to grip the splines in its hub.

I can well understand insurer's needs to balance risks and load premiums for mods - when we consider engine swaps, suspension lifts, performance tweaks, adding seats and so on, it makes sense. When you expand it wider to factor in chavs with Saxos lowered by chopping the springs, with illegal lighting, cherry bomb exhausts, silly spoilers and the like, then you almost pity their insurers. But having double standards over mere accessories, based on whether they were fitted (in identical fashion) before or after first registration is not logical. People who fit mild accessories tend to have an interest in their cars, and so will look after them better, reducing both accident and theft risk. With modifications, risk probably is increased as the mods tend to be used for things like racing, off roading or sportier driving, or used for things like carrying more passengers and heavier or unusual loads. What is irritating is the insurers' inability to see the difference between a mod and an accessory.

I understand the logic behind specification differences affecting policies. What is peeing me off is that they say that if the snorkel was factory fitted off the options list, it would be fine, but fitting the same equipment to the same spec vehicle after it has left the factory is not permissable. They are saying that two identical cars can have two different verdicts, regardless of the driver, use and circumstances. It is totally inconsistent and unreasonable, and shows their intransigence and stupidity.

Bad dampers can cause the trouble you have, but as I already said the bushes are shot, with clear signs or perishing, splits, wear and distortion. They are not just "up for renewal", they are in a bad way. Replacing all the bushes on the radius arms, trailing arms and panhard rod will sort the fault out, and replacing the damper bushes should be done along with the dampers themselves.

I'll try the Salisbury branch next week then, but the woman at the Woking branch did refer it to another specialist branch (Staines, I think), so I'm not hopeful. It's odd - 9 years ncd, 7000 mile limit, two drivers only, both over 40, kept on the drive in a good neighbourhood, no convictions or points, no medical issues and just one small knock over three years ago...

Lancaster wanted about £600, A-plan £530 and Academy £540, so Flux are still the best of those who will cover it. I'm going to email the ombudsman and ask for clarification on whether a piece of factory fitted optional extras constitutes a mod or an accessory, and if it is an accessory as I believe, the Tesco can lump it. I find it hard to believe a policy would be voided by fitting such an accessory.

I use a kettle of very warm (just a bit hotter than comfortable to leave your fingers in) to pour over the strip for removal, and then imerse the strip for a couple of minutes in the water before assembly - it makes it very malleable. You wouldn't want to pour such warm water on a freezing day onto the mirror for disassembly - you'd need to do a tepid pour first to reduce the thermal shock on the glass.

Ah, good. I'll give Academy and A-Plan a call tomorrow. I won't hold my breath, but it's only a few pence to make the call.