Comical Engineer

Star! Will give it a try in the morning! Thanks.

Mini CE No.2 has managed to jam my back door lock on the Disco (300tdi) by grabbing the handle at the exact time I was unlocking it with the fob. Can't open the door either from inside or out and the outside handle is jammed in the up position. Any help gratefully received as I need to take a pile of stuff to the tip at the weekend!

Yes, think I'd be tempted to go back to standard spring set up all round as a starting point. Mixing and matching springs can cause all sorts of problems because the front and back of the car can get out of sync with each other. Having a rear lift certainly won't help cornering. Check also your tyre pressures.

Worth buttons without an MOT. Had similar problems with mine in Sept at MOT. local indie garage did: New front wheel bearing New swivel sphere & bearings New rear damper bushes Welding to both rear arches Small patch to inner wing Came to less than £450 including all parts If the rest of the beast is in reasonable condition, go see a good local indie and get it done. At 120k it has plenty of life in it!

It'll affect performance even less if you blank off the EGR valve!

Rear bulbs on a new Audi A4 - about 2 hours and half the boot lining out!

For the last couple of years I've been providing some safety consultancy to a company who make compact elecrolysers. (Turning distilled water into Hydrogen & Oxygen) They have (among other things) a Ford Focus which runs on pure Hydrogen (petrol engine) and can do 50+ miles on a fill. However, one of their chemists runs a series and we got talking. He said that they have developed and tested an electrolyser which fits into a car and feeds hydrogen direct into the diesel engine. The mix of a relatively small quantity of hydrogen with the diesel improves the efficiency of the engine significantly. Obviously they are doing it under controlled conditions and their electrolyser has quite a large surface area but ----- they have been working with Land Rover and testing the system on a Range Rover diesel. The electrolyser is driven off the 12V car system. I don't known the full details so please don't ask and I'm bound by a secrecy agreement anyway. Whilst I'm not over impressed by the lash-ups pictured above or the lack of fully scientific testing, the principle is valid! The small amount hydrogen improves the combustion efficiency of diesel fuel disproportionately to the energy used to generate it. Hydrogen in quantity is a very dangerous gas being extremely easy to ignite with a spark and exploding violently if in a confined space. (my work involves flammability and explosion hazards). C[hem]omical Engineer BSc, MPhil, CEng, FIChemE

Had this problem with mine. The problem is due to one of the small copper wipers inside the motor having broken. The solution is as follows: Remove the wiper arms Remove the plastic trim section under the wiper arms which runs across the front of the car Unscrew the wiper motor from the bulkhead (includes the pantograph arms) Disconnect the wiring plug Put the motor on a bench and drill out the 5 rivets round the circular section NB only need to drill the tops off and they're very soft metal Remove the cover carefully You will see two small copper wipers together and a third at 90° to these. One of the two together will be broken Get a length of 1.5mm dia copper wire about an inch (25mm) long (single core, as used in domestic house wiring) Solder the copper wire to the broken wiper overlapping by about 10-15mm onto the wiper (or half to 3/4 inch if you prefer) Cut the end of the copper wire to length and curve the end slightly Best do the other one too as it will only break .... Preferably also clean out the old grease and re-grease with a light grease. Not too much! Reassemble the motor using 5 small self tappers in the spare holes round the casing to secure Refit the electrical plug and test making sure that you don't trap fingers or catch anything in the actuating arms! Refitting is the reverse of removal as they say. Hope this helps. I did take some photos of mine but they were too blurred to be any good.

Just ordered one for delivery next week. But thanks for the replies.

Already tried Halfrauds -- not in stock. Local car shop can order one for next week... Was hoping to do it at the weekend

I want to remove the viscous fan in the next week or so but haven't got anything in my spanner box that will do the job. Could some kind soul please provide me with a part number / supplier / tell me the one I need so that I can get one. Or alternatively, is there someone in the Northwich / Runcorn / Chester triangle who could lend me one? Actually I've found the size courtesy of a Les Henson post -- 32mm. Just trying to find one now! Thanks

Finally got through the MOT. The damage was: Welding to both rear wheel arches & one inner wing patch - cost about £180 New front wheel bearing £25 plus about £50 fitting New swivel bearings & sphere (one side) £75 + about £80 fitting 2x MOT @ £48 (ran out of time for re-test but see below) Total £350 odd plus £100 parts = £450 Exhaust that I fitted a couple of weeks ago £75 Might have been a couple of additional bits that brought the total up to about £575 Here is the interesting point: At the first MOT, the tester did not spot the collapsed top swivel bearing that was giving a lot of play (and I mean a lot) of play on one of the front wheels. Fortunately, the second tester (different garage) did spot it. I'm ok about the expense of doing it although it did put a dent in my budget, my point is that the bearing was dangerous. In theory I could have spent the next 12 months trundling round with a bearing that could have collapsed terminally at more orless any time. Guess where I won't be going back to?

Remove the viscous fan if you have not already done so and replace it with an electric one. You could also remove the centre exhaust box and it won't make too much noise. I haven't done this personally but I'm assured that it's worth it!

Just ordered the bits from Paddocks. Very helpful lady on the phone provided details of the bits.

I think it would be a good idea to drain the fuel system completely and full it up with fresh diesel. A flush through with a gallon or two of fresh would also not come amiss. I would undo the fuel hose unions to do this and flush right up to the fuel filter. Then I would: Clean out the sedimenter Replace the fuel filter, refilling the filter with fresh fuel also Put a good dose of REDEX or some similar cleaning compound in Give it a good run out on the motorway for 20-30 miles That ought to give the system a good flush out. You may want to replace the fuel filter again in a couple of thousand miles just to be sure.

One of the MOT jobs is a new wheel bearing as the front passenger side is shot. What parts (including any seals) will I need for the job? I'm also going to replace the leaking swivel seal. Car is a 1996 300tdi. Thanks

I agree. Do a compression test asap. Can anyone remember the figures for a 200tdi?

Guys, many thanks for all the offers. I'd normally do it myself but I'm up against a time problem in the next couple of weeks, that being that the MOT expires on 21 Sept and I'm away on business for 6 days between now and then. A bit of hunting around this afternoon found me someone who will do the welding at a reasonable price and I'm hoping he can sort out the other bits on the list. I'll let you know end of next week when it's all done.

Just took the Disco for the MOT. Knew I might have a might have a couple of issues but the tester went a bit hard on the old girl and knocked a couple of holes in the underside (wheelarches and associated areas) within 30cm etc... He also found some play in a couple of the muddy bits. He also condemned one of my rear shocks, rubber bushes & a couple of other minor things that I can fix myself (at a price). Unfortunately I sold my MIG welder some years ago when I got rid of the MG so it looks like the MOT will cost me somewhat more than I had budgetted for. This means that my plans for improving the motor have been dented for the time being. Was planning to replace the squeaking alternator, fit a decat pipe and electric fan and get some tyres that work better on road than the Insa Saharas. Oh, and the radiator fins are corroded so I'm budgetting for a new radiator after winter! Is there a simley for "really hacked off"?

Use of easy start except in dire emergency is a BAD THING. Could be one of several problems: Dead glow plugs: is the fuse intact and are the plugs drawing current Low compression due to worn rings / bores (once the oil has circulated the rings seal better Worn valves (low compression again) Does it burn any oil? If not could be the valves. Note that the TDI engine should start without the aid of glow plugs in summer and mostly in winter unless it's very cold. Hence my comments regarding compression. Easy Start is addictive to diesels! If you use it too much the engine may need it more and more. don't know why but experience proves!

BBC News Wales From the local news, it was a forestry commission track. It's also a relatively remote area. Regardless of the rights & wrongs of whether or not they had permission to be there, this is a warning to all of us that no matter how well equipped or experienced we are, mother nature is far more powerful and more dangerous than the best equipment & experience can account for. Trying to ford a swollen and presumably unknown depth of river, 2.3 tonnes of Disco was simply washed away. From the pictures, the car was equipped with proper off road tyres and had chequer plate along the lower edges of the doors. Presumably the occupants had been off roading before. Obviously, we feel for the occupants and victims but we should also learn a lesson for ourselves.

Could you move to Cheshire & do mine please Lee! I've been quoted £250 for the 300tdi from an independent and £300 from an indie specialist.

What's the part no. for the defender one please. I might well fit one afte the MOT next month Cheers

Roy, Where did you get the non-cat pipe for this price? The cheapest I have been quoted is £47 + delivery I was thinking of just cutting the cat out and replacing it with a length of straight pipe. Tony

I suspect that it might be a short circuit in the wiring loom somewhere and / or a loose connection. I would perhaps try removing the wire from the fuel valve solenoid and running a separate wire and switch from the battery +ve to the fuel solenoid. This will at least allow you to start the engine and stop it without resort to pulling fuses. Note that short circuits can cause electrical fires! HTH