ThreePointFive

I've removed the flange on the prop to get the prop bolts out as they were damaged, requiring a new felt seal as well. I've fitted the new ones back in but they appear to be about 5mm shorter than the originals. I've used genuine parts so they should be alright, but this is what they look like with everything back together: Clearly they're a few mms from protruding out of the nut, is this enough to keep the prop on or should I be worried? I don't want to have to check how tight they are every day... I've done them up as tight as I can. But apart from this, everything is reassembled with the rollers correctly installed and the lever has some resistance again, but as I had to partly drain the transfer box to get the flange off without it draining out that way I can't test it. Any ideas how to refill a Tbox without a pump?

You're very, very kind for the offer Ralph but I'm not here this weekend, which is part of the problem of finding time in the next few weeks! I'm going to head down to Mr Milemarker's if I can't sort it myself. Tomorrow is the last day I'll have to work on it for a while so I'll have to see if I can get it done then, if not it's back on with the prop and a quick trip down to Devon.

Haha I like your thinking, but a missus isn't the problem - the lack of actual money to spend on the car really is! Hopefully I'll be able to resolve this without spending money on it, I am sure if I try adjusting the cable properly I can get back the proper tension and make the handbrake work, if not then I actually give up trying to guess and I'm going to go to an adult who knows what they're doing. It's just a case of finding time and getting it done now.

The 4x4 Adventures Daily Driver Challenge on the 29th of September, 2007 was my first proper off road event. Loads of encouragement, loads of help and advice, no one taking the mick out of a complete novice. I'd waited 2 years looking for something even slightly like that, thinking the offroading scene was dead in the Southwest, with a rather dull drive round a farm track on ATs being my only previous off road experience. Then I found it and since then it's been pretty much an off road event of one kind of another every 2 months, brilliant stuff.

I've set up the rollers facing the right way, the wrong way and nothing is making a big difference. The central part of the expander operated by the cable seems to lack full movement - how far should it be able to move? In released state it was flush with the front of the expander housing, now it's partly inside, and on full handbrake lever travel to the on position about 1/4 pokes out the rear of the backplate. The linkage to the rod that controls its movement is very loose, it can be moved quite freely even when the handbrake is on, I would have expected it to be under strain of some kind, should it be? Sorry for all the questions after the loads of help I've been given but nothing seems to be working so far. I've adjusted the shoes until they were binding, but there's still no resistance on the handbrake lever at all and wouldnt hold the car if it was put under load or release properly either.

Thanks for the explanations, I think that it is part of the problem and I've tried it the wrong way so far, need to try it the correct way, but it wouldn't explain why the shoes weren't moving much before I took it apart. I've bought a new cable so I can eliminate it from the possible causes, and again the Haynes is useless for showing how it's attached. It's arrived as a straight bar, when mine curves 180 degrees on itself and to the back of the handbrake, is it meant to be bent into shape as it doesnt feel like it is designed to bend! I don't want to start bending it if it isn't meant to either.

I was going to put in the initial post that I can't buy an X brake, I've just shelled out for a winch so my new toys budget is used up for the next six months at least. I do see the logic and I know it's got to be the best solution, but this problem isn't even related to the shoes themselves, which have plenty of 'tread' left. I think that replacing the cable would be the most inexpensive option to try even if it doesn't work, but any ideas as to why this would happen just after the frozen-on situation I found it in last month I'm all ears to.

Hi all, I'm having trouble with my handbrake in that it's not holding the vehicle since the problem of it being frozen last month and refusing to move. Since then, it's never held as strongly as before and the lever feels very slack and too easy to operate - like it's having little effect on the handbrake. I've taken off the prop and the drum and to my surprise there was very little mud inside. With someone operating the lever, I can see that the shoes are adjusting tiny amounts and only on one side mostly. I've taken them off, pulled out the pistons and out fell the rollers. I cleaned them up, put it back together the best way I could and still nothing. How can I tell if the cable itself is stretched or at fault? It appears to be adjusting but the piston inside the centre of the expander doesn't look like it has full travel, released or engaged even though now the lever itself can be pulled fully upwards, something that was a real struggle previously. It also doesn't feel as though the cable fully retracts when the lever is released, as it has some springy feeling as though the cable is still pulled out, if that makes sense. How far should the shoes move? Also, as they fell out before i was able to see how they were installed, how do the rollers fit on/around the pistons? There's a slot the same size of the length of the rollers which I thought they may fit into, but it's incredibly difficult to get them back into the expander like this. The haynes doesn't show the expander taken apart to this level. Any thoughts on which part is more likely to be to blame? New expanders are near £50 so I'd rather not buy new parts if they're not definitely the cause. Cheers

Nah i don't usually take the wheels off to clean the 90 but I needed to check the brake pads and shoes all round and it was the perfect time to get at the bits you can't with them on. I'm not sure I would have noticed the crack if I hadn't. The tarp is on it's 3rd go there, I've filled a 50 litre tub already with the contents so far. Thanks for all the advice, I'm going to check the oil in the diff and see if it too is emulsified, I'm hoping it isn't, then I'll just refit a new cap as you describe, thanks Ralph. Cheers for the replies, very helpful

Hi all, I damaged my hub cap that has been showing signs of cracks for ages. I must have cracked it off road in the last few days as now I can see right into it, with what looks like emulsified oil/grease inside it. As the chances of water and carp having gotten in there are pretty certain, what do I now need to do? I'm assuming it's a 'dont drive till sorted' issue? I'm not a mechanic but I'm willing to learn, so any advice appreciated on what steps to take now and what parts are affected. Cheers

Something like a piece of common, a playingfield, moorland etc. Usually not where crops are being grown for example. It's based on historical evidence of a piece of ground having been used by someone other than the land owner for a period of something like 35 years. If you fence them to the existing rights of way before a submission of an application for another right of way is put in, it effectively means no more can be created outside of the boundary as there is no "right of way" to go elsewhere and crossing a boundary such a fence onto private ground is trespass, as little as that actually means in the law. That's what I picked up from my RoW work anyway, it was some years ago now so may be inaccurate. If you can submit evidence that you've used a byway for the specified amount of time even in your vehicle, you could stop a BOAT (Byway Open To All Traffic) becoming a restricted byway (ie - no vehicular access) but I'm not sure it can reverse the restriction once it's changed status. The Trail Riders Federation put up a good fight even if apparently no one from the 4x4 community did around Somerset.

Have you removed the top clamp or made it point horizontally when the jack is stood up by any chance?

I can't see how you can open the door with the windows down, they are fastened on the outside and are one peice with the roof section so they can't swing out with the door... That should be fun to have flapping around at 60 on the motorway.

I should have waited a while and not been so hasty before trying to move the car - I put it in low 1st and gently applied drive, it gave a clunk then broke free. I'm thinking from the above advice that wasn't the best thing to have done....

Seems to be a bad day for hand brakes freezing up!! The power washer we used at the dealership I worked at was constantly breaking down, but surely they should have noticed something like the oil filter... begs the question though, exactly what did they 'fix' when it went in the first time?

After trying to move the 90 this morning after a good day's offroading yesterday, it's refusing to budge. It starts just fine, and I can select gears, I've tried diff lock etc, but when putting down the hand brake, it feels like it's still on as that's the type of movement the engine straining against it gets. I think I can feel through the lever handle that the cable isn't fully releasing. Could this be due to a build up of mud in the drum that's stopping the shoes from releasing as it's now frozen, or more likely to be the cable itself? I don't think UJs etc are the issue, though they will be getting a good load of grease. Is there anything I can try without taking the handbrake apart that could work first? I am not quite confident enough to start mucking around with that sort of thing. Oh how attractive X Brakes look right now! any thoughts welcome.

I opted for the bike inner tube and loctite instant gsaket (as that's what I had lying around). The rubber is a bit flexible but as the least resistance is obviously through the snorkel then I can't see it coming under much pressure. I do need to watch it when I test the system for leaks when it's put together though. In case anyone else is going to be doing it, here's mine:

Hi all, I'm trying to finally get my snorkel plumbed in properly so that if I do something stupid in water I at least won't be hydraulicing the engine, even if I get no further. As the engine doesn't stall when a bag is put over the intake, I'm going through the joins in the system to make sure it can't draw air in from elsewhere. I have just taken out the air filter box expecting to find a small bung underneath that could be the source of where the air is getting in, but what I've found is a lot larger than what was described to me by others, so if someone can identify what it is and how to seal it up I'd be grateful. I think the mystery of at least where part of the air is getting in is solved.

Cheers for the replies, the answer is yes, you can get a key cut if the original is snapped. On a related note, can you get a filler cap for LR that has the same barrel as the original from your vehicle? I have a crack in mine and don't want another key on the keyring for a new one...

Long story short, the key for the doors and fuel filler cap have snapped. As most Defenders can be opened using a good gust of wind, access to the vehicle is no problem, the lock on the fuel filler cap is somewhat better so I have no way to refuel, and being a V8 it always needs to refuel. Can a replacement key be cut from the two peices of the snapped key? Luckily it detatched in my hand and not the lock so I have both bits, but will that be any use to me? I'll have to wait until the local dealership reopens, does anyone know when they start trading again? Cheers

I have sliders on and fitted some folding side steps, there should be upside down u shaped channels running along the edge under the doors between the wheel arches, if you line the chassis leg of the step up with the lower bolt, if you have these channels in place still then the holes on the vertical faces of the legs will line up with holes in the channel. I put some M8 bolts through these which did the trick. On the drivers side (1988 90) the fuel tank was in the way as someone else has mentioned, so I too drilled some holes beside the driver's seat under the metal panel that screws into the seat box base, this allowed me to fit two bolts into the horizontal feet of the steps which had slightly better access. The metal plate then screws back down over the bolt heads and hides them. That was how I did it anyway, a tree stump removed the driver's side one so they're no longer fitted now and I can't take pictures to describe what I mean.

I thought there were quite a few down Honniton way, we used them last year for the LR Experience half day with the FL club.

Is this mostly to do with megasquirted engines? My completely standard 3.5 has been running on Bosch plugs for about 5,000 miles and they seem to work fine. Oddly enough Paddocks sell the Champion plugs as part of the recommended service items for 3.5s. I know Paddocks is a bit like going to PC world for IT advice but they must work? As an aside, how often should plugs be changed?

Should be up for either the Jan or Feb one, probably a few more after that as well. Don't think I've been to the Bampton site...

Here they are - looks pretty good in my opinion. They look at a slant because of the plastic trim above, they are near as I could get it in line with the dash line below.