Eightpot

The brakes on my 300 disco have gone awol , seems very much as though there is no servo assistance as the peddal is hard with little movement, and a big shove is needed to get anything to happen. Tried the normal checks of starting engine up with pedal depressed - no movement. First thoughts are the vacuum pump, so I pulled the hose from the front of the servo and started the engine. Am I right to expect there to be some suction if I put my thumb over the end of the pipe??

You need to take the wing off then, and put a new side panel on - http://www.mm-4x4.com/defender-90110-outer...rside-555-p.asp (these guys will deliver it to you if you don't have anywhere local to source a panel from)

The Steve Parker one is the same diameter as the turbo outlet, so I think 2.5"? The second stage section of it though is smaller diameter and looks a bit restrictive - it's only a 90 degree bend, so I got rid of this, bought a standard tdi defender downpipe, cut the ends off. It's a good half inch wider inside diameter, and a downpipe's only about 18 quid. In fact, without looking I might have just cut the engine side of the downpipe leaving the other end with the flange intact to meet the centre box - I tried a few permutations over time...

silly thing worth checking, only mentioning it as its just happened to me - the fluid cooler pipes going from the box to the rad are prone to cracking and letting the oil leak out quite quickly and you'll lose drive. Ye shall know of this fate by the copious splattering of oil undernath the car.

I'll recommend Onelife Adventure very highly - did Libya with them earlier in the year. I'll probably do the next big trip solo, but there is something to be said for having someone sort out all the paperwork, find the best routes, places to stay and getting some local support. If it's your one big holiday of the year and you've spent thousands preparing, it would be a shame to have a rubbish time. Onelife did a cracking job and were worth every penny - they do Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Europe, and a few other places - and most importantly are much better than someone who rhymes with cince vobley. And no, they aint me dad. (dont bother with a K&N by the way, drive round the block with your filter removed and see what difference you notice - also they wont last 5 mins in mud sand and water)

A good MT or AT tyre will do, 7.50x16 or 235 85 16 or 265 85 16 will keep the diff up. I wouldn't rush out to put a 2" lift on if you're in to laning - it doesn't lift the diffs up, and just makes you more vulnerable to low tree branches and foliage. The first things I'd spend some money on would be rock sliders - not totaly necessary but can be a comfort at times, and can help with recovery - and a raised air intake for those puddles that aren't puddles.

I did one recently, and instead of totally removing the box, just slid it back a few inches - just enough to remove the old clutch. Then put the new one in, pinch the bolts up just a teeny bit so the clutch can be moved inside the outer plate, and get someone to slowly rotate the crank nut with a ratchet spanner while making sure the edge of the clutch plate is exactly equidistant with the edge of the outer. Bolt it up tight, slide the gearbox back and bob's yer uncle. You do need to remove the floor panels and also the covers on top of the gearbox that retain the transfer lever or they foul the seatbox. Use a good trolley jack or two under the gearbox - it's quite ungainly when removed and will also tend to rotate with the weight of the transfer box - a bottle jack can help here, and unless you have a real smooth floor perhaps put some ply down to help it slide a bit.

Just a quickie on the lighting - it's worth buying a couple of Halfords Brilliance bulbs for the headlamps, about 15 quid a pair and makes a very noticeable difference in standard lamps.

Don't worry about the fan - I haven't had a working one fitted for the last two years and the only times I've got to the stage of overheating has been when I reached the top of the Alps in the summer, and hoofing up sand dunes in the sahara. It's not warm enough here yet for it to make an impact unless you're doing heavy towing etc - the rad is good enough to cope on its own. Do the usual checks - is the thermostat opening and letting coolant circulate through the rad? is the rad blocked inside with gunk or outside with mud in the vanes? Airlock? Also check the wire coming off the temp sensor in the thermostat housing - I've seen the same symptoms you describe being caused by a slightly chaffed wire earthing out on the engine block. You can check if the viscous coupling is knackered by getting the engine hot then poking a rolled up newspaper in it. If it turns to hamster bedding, the fan works, if the fan stops, change it!

If that section of exhaust going over the crossmember can be seperated from the centre silencer, then you should be ok. You might find you need to get a short linking section from a later model to link the downpipe and silencer together.

Was going to say check the tyre side walls inside and out incase you've got a bulge forming, but don't think that was make it pull to the left as well.

Don't bother mounting it anywhere - mines tucked out of the way pointing any vented gas and oil to the chassis.

as said, speedo's are wildly inacurate. I have a 200tdi converted from a n/a, and with 235/85 tyres and a converted transfer box with 1.22 gearing I get a gps verified speed of over 80mph - haven't tried it on a good motorway run since I got the gps so it will probably climb a bit higher. Mine is a soft top ex mod and devoid of creature comforts but cant imagine that accounts for much. If gps shows you not reaching 75mph plus then somethings wrong. Is it a good conversion? a poor downpipe conversion mated to a standard narrow bore exhaust will throttle performance - also there are two types of speedo, one which is made to run on 205 tyres, another which should run with 7.50x16's - try and check against gps and see if you're reading under.

They're easy enough to remove and replace - you'll usually get one on ebay, or worth waiting for the summer shows/sodbury etc. only a few nuts and screws holding it on and a bit of a fiddle with the loom and heater cables, dash top , instrument panel etc but nothing taxing. Good opportunity to check the bulkhead and give it a coat of hammerite while you're in there.

Just had a quick look - the steering box can be adjusted by slackening the big lock nut on top of the box, and screwing down the big grub screw with an allen key. Do it turn by turn and check the play in the wheel till it's just acceptable, don't over do it. Check this is the likely suspect first though before you do it - you might just be able to reach the wheel through the window while you're looking under the bonnet, waggle it and see how much movement is converted to movement of the steering arm - if the arm starts moving with little input from the wheel then it's down to ball joints and bushes. Hope that helps!

There are a few things you can do to improve the steering - first of all you need to get down on the floor at the front end and watch while someone steers from side to side (while stationary ) If you see any play in any of the rubber bushes or ball joints (there are quite a few), get them replaced, and you will find this makes a big improvement. Also check there isn't any play in the hubs around the big chrome balls. You can also adjust the steering box to remove some of the play - there's a big nut on the top - I think there are directions in the workshop manual, but a search of the forum should come up with the goods if not. It's not rack and pinion steering, so there will always be a bit of play in the wheel before anything happens, but you should be able to reduce this down to an inch or two.

Hi chris, could you give us a couple of grid refs for this lane? sounds good...

I've had a bullet shaped see through plastic inflatable made, it covers the whole front of my 90 from grill to the top of the screen, and when fully inflated gives me a tear drop shaped front end. I can do 165mph now, and it's reallyhelped with river cossings as well.

I wouldn't go anywhere NEAR a main dealer for anything - they're not enthusiasts, don't tend to know much about what they're selling and are driven by sales targets. Not dealt with a LR dealer, but had exteeeeeensive dealings with Merc and Saab dealers, total muppets, liars and incompetants. I would always buy private, especially a defender - you'll get it cheaper in the first place, and even if there is a problem somewhere it's not like they're difficult or expensive to put right. If you see anything you're interested in at the Defender Centre though, I can take a quick squizzz for you as I live a couple of miles from there.

Brake fluid.

It can sometimes be a bit of everything - mine didn't go away until I'd: Balanced the wheels Replaced panhard rod bushes (primary culprit) replaced slightly worn track rod ends adjusted swivel preload (secondary culprit) Saying that, bushes and swivels tend to bring the vibration on at a lower speed- 45mph, and wheel balancing at higher speeds, so try that first.

....and DONT EAT THE KEBABS....

It's worth considering Tunisia as well - if you're after sandy desert there's only a small patch of builders sand right down in the south of Morocco, but a short drive into Tunisia gets you into the good stuff, proper Saharan sand. The Atlas in Morocco are stunning though and well worth the visit, as are the salt flats in the south. Doable in two weeks but only just, with a lot of driving.

There are three big sound problems to consider - Engine- most of the noise comes from here and comes straight through the tea tray that passes for a bulkhead, and up through the thin ally bonnet and through the windscreen. Make sure there are no open grommet holes in the bulkhead, your floor panels are well screwed down, the rubber rocker cover on TDi's makes a small difference, you will notice a big improvement if you get a thick piece of rubber sheeting (I use 3mm rubber floor matting from Machine Mart) and cut it to shape so it covers the top of the engine and tucks right down the back to the bellhousing, and as wide as you can. Ran it like this on Motorways and in the Sahara, no probs with heat or melting rubber. I also line the inside of the transmission cover with it - really cuts the whine down - might even stretch to a proper gearbox blanket one of these days. Tyres - Mud tyres are generally loud. But what you gonna do. I also put thick rubber floor matting down covering the footwells and as far up the bulkhead as poss, and in the load area - cuts out a fair bit of the tyre noise. Any extra bits of carpet etc are going to be a bonus. External noise - there isn't much padding in doors, side panels or the roof and a lot of traffic noise comes in from outside, especially on the motorway. Haven't bothered to do anything about this as I've got a soft top, so onto a loser really. Tighten up any rattly bits of metal, make sure exhaust hanger bushes are ok and not passing too much vibration through, and close any external air gaps in panels etc (make sure the cats escaped first) Most of the panels making up a 90 or 110 are large and flat and vibrate very well, like flat panel speakers. Anything dense and absorbant will help - machine mart rubber matting is dirt cheap and does a decent job - easy to cut and can be hosed down easily as well. Acoustic foam would probably be a bit better but more expensive and cant see it drying out very quickly. Thise Wright off-road mats look like the dogs danglies as well, read a few good accounts of them.

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