jimconline

I've removed both seals. Will attach the new seal to the bottom of the door. Just need to confirm: Is the sill missing anything: looks like there should be something more there?

I'll place a one-way valve at the low point.

Thank you. It's a 300tdi so the one on the sill is going. Good thing because I bought ALR6250 for the door. I've now determined ONE reason why I have to slam the door.

Does anyone see anything wrong with the attached photo? I purchased two ALR6250 sill seals for the front doors of my 1996 Defender 110. Should there be two seals on one door as in the photo: one on the bottom of the door and the other on the body? Seems to me there should only be one, either on the bottom of the door (which I purchased) OR on the body. In an earlier post western wrote: Mine is a 300tdi so I'm thinking someone got mixed up and put on an older seal. Or maybe it's me that's mixed up? ...jim

Actually I think the problem is that I have owned the Tortoise for 13 years and many miles and my ears have become so atuned to cutting through the usual diesel noise that I can hear it fart. Usually, though not always, I do catch problems early on but sometimes I think I should just turn up the music louder while driving. I recorded the engine idling, out of gear, clutch up. The distant helicopter sound, that perhaps only I hear (or think I hear), happens under all conditions: I can hear it while driving in all gears; low, high, or locked. I just went looking for the source this morning and narrowed it down to either the transfer box or the gear box. I posted this one a bit early it seems. Best to just leave it for now as I'm going to replace the transfer box due to the grinding noise (no doubt about this one). If I still hear the opening tune to M*A*S*H once replaced, I'll know it wasn't the transfer box.

I have a 1996 Defender 110 300tdi with approximately 210,000kms. I am getting a rattling noise from what I believe is the transfer box. Started just before my last trip (after 6000 kms the noise has increased somewhat) and is most noticable when accelerating in all gears. Am in the process of ordering a rebuilt one from Ashcroft. My question is for another noise coming from the same area but I can't tell whether it's from the transfer of gear box. Sounds a bit like a distant helicopter. I went underneath and recorded a short snippet. Attached. Thanks...jim Defender_Audio.mp3

Good point, Mo. Shall give it more mileage and see.

Having just worked on the timing belt in my 300tdi, any fluff would make me suspicious. You might want to check out http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=93239

I may have made a mistake going after oil leaks. I have resealed the oil sump and replaced front crank seals. Now there is not a drip. In over 12 years the Tortoise has never been so clean. What have I done? Well, almost not a drip. I have discovered a very slow one at the bottom of the bell housing. From photo, any thoughts about the source?

Got everything back together and the Tortoise fired right up. Seems to run quieter and smoother—wishful thinking?. Took it for a half hour run. Was a joy to have back on the road. When I returned there was no oil visible through the drain hole. Given the poor workmanship I found, it's definitely time I did a complete service. I am off in a couple of weeks for a few thousand kilometre journey. When I get back I shall get started. Thanks for all the help. Sure appreciated.

Got it. Seems it required more fiddling than wrestling. Wrapped the belt around the crank gear and stuffed a rag between the outside of the belt and the housing to make sure the belt was snug against the teeth and gave me as much of the belt as possible. Centered the pump sprocket and jiggled the belt in. Now to tension it, check timing, close things up, remember to remove the flywheel timing pin, and turn the key.

Yes, I've used that well-written piece, along with an excellent video from Land Rover Toolbox Videos about changing the timing belt for a 300tdi, the Land Rover Workshop Manual for the year of my vehicle (1996), and the astute advice I have received in this thread. The belt is very close to fitting; just can't seem to stretch it enough to get it settled into the last couple of teeth. Will put on some coffee, invite my neighbour over, and see if we can wrestle it on.

The belt is a genuine Land Rover ERR1092. Should be the right size.

On the home stretch, I think. The front inner crank seal arrived yesterday and it went in smoothly today (tapped it in using a 2" PVC drain pipe T connector). New crankshaft gear, idler and tension pulley installed. Am having trouble stretching the new timing belt on. Am soooooooooooooo close but just can't seem to get enough to slide over the last few teeth on the FIP gear (have loosened the three bolts; timing pin in place). Stoically held off prying it. Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Any chance the belt may be seizing or slipping under load? As I found out on my 300tdi, it takes no time at all for the temp to shoot up once the water pump stops or output dives.

Got both front crankshaft seals out. Am waiting for a replacement for the inner one (ERR4575) to arrive. Does the outside or inside edge of the outer seal (ERR7143) sit flush with the timing cover?

Came to a bit of a halt today trying to wrestle out the old crankshaft oil seal. That sucker has been in there a long time. Tried prying with screwdriver, without a hint of movement. Tried a screw but couldn’t penetrate the hardened rubber (even thin, sharp-pointed screws). Drilled one hole, got a screw part way in before the rubber started to crack. I did yank on this and got a bit of movement before the screw popped out. Given up for the day.


I may be wrong about the parts not being genuine Land Rover as, you're right, there does not seem to be an LR designation. I can say that the parts I took out have nowhere near the quality feel of the parts, taken from LR packaging that was ordered from a reputable supplier, that I have in my hands to put back in. Could be LR has changed OEM suppliers. I put the timing pin into the slot of the flywheel and inserted the pin into the injection pump (slight friction). I think I may be okay leaving the injection pump alone. I was able to remove the crankshaft gear fairly easily. I gave it a good spray with WD40, let it sit overnight, and built a simple tool (see photo) anticipating it would slide off without great difficulty. For once, I was right. I shall replace it with a new one. I now have no doubts where the oil was coming from (see photo). Can't see the o-ring that's supposed to be in there. Will look closer once I have some food in me.

No spacer under the pulley but the photo showing the build up of belt debris is pretty confirming that the problem lay here or close by. The other photo leaves little doubt to me that the oil is coming in through the crankshaft seal. Onward now to make a puller to get the pulley off as suggested. Neither the idler nor tensioner I took off were Land Rover parts as I had requested and been billed. Sigh.

After reading these posts, I'm glad friends dropped over yesterday so I didn't get at the Tortoise. Will happily leave the FIP alone and follow advice. Thank you. Of the six bolts that were missing, I'd replaced two that I could see and thought that was it. The other four were the 35mm length bolts to the very right closest to the pulley, so your theory about the cover not fitting quite right makes sense. These bolts are not readily visible which is how I missed them. On the topic of the oil leak, I'll be replacing the crankshaft oil seal (ERR7143) and the o-ring (ERR4710) when I change the pulley (LHH100660). Not knowing where the oil was coming from, I also ordered a camshaft oil seal (ERR3356). It does not look to me like there is oil coming from the camshaft so I am tempted to leave it alone. Thoughts?

Have decided to march through the Repair, Fuel Injection Pump section of the workshop manual which will hopefully correct any issues with alignment. Thankful now that I did order the timing toolkit.

With parts and timing toolkit finally in hand, I went to work today and got the timing cover off. The photo shows what looks like rubber sawdust mixed with oil. Lots of it. 30,000km ago the timing belt was changed. 18,000km before that it was also changed. I did neither of them. What concerns me is the rubber bits. The workshop manual calls this debris and notes, "If excessive belt debris is evident in the front cover, this is probably due to the misalignment of the timing cover caused by incorrect assembly of the fuel injection pump bracket." The last garage replaced the fuel pump at the same time. The manual refers you to FUEL SYSTEM, Repair, Fuel Injection pump, but, even after referring to this section, I'm not sure how to correctly assemble the fuel injection pump bracket. Any thoughts would be welcomed. One further note, perhaps off base. The workshop manual states that the excessive debris is probably due to the misalignment of the timing cover. The timing cover was missing six (yes 6) of the 15 bolts. Might this be the cause of the misalignment?

The timing belt has been changed twice in the past six years: once by Landrover (the only option at that point) and the other time by an independent garage. Both in Botswana where friends looked after the Tortoise between my travels. It appears neither did an acceptable job. The last one was done just before I shipped the Defender over a couple of years ago. Granted I put a lot of miles on her but still... Will certainly heed advice and "do anything in range". Have a couple of long road trips ahead this year.

Everything cleaned up and reassembled. Still dripping oil. It wasn't the seal around the sump. With everything cleaned, however, it was easier to see what appears (stress "what appears") to be the culprit. There is oil dripping from the hole for the wading plug in the timing cover (see photo - ignore yellow circle). A bit more work ahead.

Success, thanks to the clever suggestions of wedges and filler knife. Sliced through as much of the gasket (yes, someone had used a gasket) as I could using a filler knife and small hammer. Got as much as I could reach but it still wouldn't budge. So I drove in about ten 1 1/2" wide wedges widely spaced around the pan and, with a pry bar at the front end I gently separated the pan from the block. I swear I heard music. Quite a job ahead to clean off the gasket; tenacious sucker. Thanks for the help! Most appreciated.