mickeyw

I also had this problem all yesterday evening, until just after 11.15pm.

Another good reason for lift handle doors is the fact that the latches don't freeze up in the cold. We have had 3 later Defenders with push button doors that persistently freeze up. If it's not the lock barrel that freezes, the button will stick in when you press it to open the door. Regular application of WD40 helps to some extent, as does wrapping a towel round the door handle at night. Fortunately the latest 110 has remote locking, so at least that eliminates the key problem

I bought a pair of these a while back. About half the price of the Irwin ones. They are lasting well although the suedey palms do get greasy. Having just spent this last arctic weekend outside doing the head gaskets on a V8 I can say they are absolutely fantastic. No problem with holding small screws. Wouldn't have wanted to be holding icy spanners without them.

All but a couple of pumps I have ever used have shut off completely when the tank is full. My local filling station is a Shell place, also used BP no problems. I used to fill up from a small repair shop near me, their pump was a pretty crude arrangement, but when my tank was full the tank valve would shut, the pump could be heard to strain against it but no more fuel would pump.

All LPG tanks have an 80% fill shut-off valve. That is to say it stops further filling beyond 80% volume. I have encountered situations myself where the pump slows but does not shut off properly. This is normally due to the shut-off valve not functioning correctly.

This is a subject I too have given thought to from time to time. The trouble with this kind of security is that the winch becomes difficult to remove for servicing. My winch normally gets a good dunking when I go playing off road. Consequently I like to take it off the vehicle for a good clean 2 or 3 times a year. This would be a spot tricky with these security bolt covers or welded-on bolts. I think one needs to assess the risk of theft first. Where is the vehicle kept at night, during the day? It's rather like the ongoing discussion of workshop security, if you keep stuff generally out of sight it's a whole lot safer from the opportunists, let's say you park the vehicle nose to the garage (if you have a drive or garage) rather than facing the road, the winch is out of sight, and harder to get to. You'll not be able to stop the determined thief though

If you're feeling lazy, here's a complete bolt-on retro fit system Clicky

What he said ^^^^ Disco electric window switch, cheap/free from a scrap car and easy to find another if it breaks.

Another vote for K-Seal

LRE just came through my door too with a G4 article. However, the editor's covering note on the address sheet corrected this. To do with the cancellation happening after the mag's copy date.

When I was researching my V8 transplant I found a couple of companies offering conversion 'kits' (bellhousing adapter, spigot bush adapter, engine mounts etc) that instructed you to chop the end of the crank off in-situ with an angle grinder!!! I didn't like this idea, but I think the reason was so their spigot bearing adapter would fit on. Ah, just remembered - the series input shaft is bigger diameter than the V8 one. I had to grind the diameter of the gearbox (series III) input shaft down to the same size as the V8. (Did this on a cylindrical grinder) Needed to take the front of the g/box apart for this. That would explain the cutting of the crank if you wanted to avoid touching the g/box. Having done this I turned up an longer Oilite bush with a head to replace the standard V8 spigot bush. Hope this helps.

Nice one Steve, thanks, Suppressor connected now. As for the extra air valve (need to identify this yet), is it something that can be 'un-gummed' or is it a replacement job? Cheers,

Hi All, I recently rebuilt my Marreli alternator on my 3.9 EFI with new bearings. I thought I had made careful note of where everything went, except for this bit.... I know it's a suppressor, and I know it bolts to one of the three bolts that go through the casing. But where should the other end of it (ring terminal) be connected to? And could its absence be what is causing erratic idle speeds? They were fine before I took the alternator off. Any ideas please??

Make suer you eat plenty of spinach first. I wouldn't want to hacksaw through a crank!!! I have known people to use an angle grinder to make this cut When I put the 3.5 on to my SIII box I made my own bronze bush to suit. I prefer not to bodge stuff except where unavoidable.

Fitted some Monroe Adventurers from Paddocks to a mate's road going Disco 1 a few years back. Yes, they are a cheap option for a gas shock, but we decided they were way too soft. Towing became quite scary even with h/d rear springs. In the end he splashed out a bit more for some de Carbons, the transformation was immediately obvious. I have de Carbons on all my vehicles and rate them highly.

Been using BPR6ES in various Rover V8s for many years. Never had any trouble from them, even LPG likes them so they must be good. Any running problems have always stemmed from crappy cheap coils.

There seem to be a lot of rolling Landrover stories going around at the moment. I seem to remember the days when the good old Zuk SJ got a reputation for falling over too. On the whole the Defender is a fairly stable vehicle, but not when compared with a normal car. Whilst I accept that many genuinely unavoidable accidents do happen and often incur some horrible results, I think that as Landrover (and 4x4) drivers it is up to us to understand the limitations of the vehicles we drive and adjust our style accordingly. With body and suspension lifts becoming ever more popular the dynamics of our favourite rides are getting worse and worse. It's ironic that a cage can also make this situation worse at the same time as hopefully protecting the vehicle occupants. I make no claims about being am especially safe driver, and over the 14 years I have had my 90 I've had some dubious loads on or behind it and done some stupid things too. Some have been potentially unsafe, and some just plain illegal. I have always continued what I was doing, but borne in mind the possible dangers involved and made the best efforts to avoid trouble. I remember once having four timber railway sleepers on a Brownchurch rack on top. This would have been way over the safe roof load for the 90 and horribly unstable, but remembering to take the corners at a sensible speed is what has resulted in me and my truck still being together. In the recent years where the 4x4 has become the trendy mode of transport, many 'ordinary' car drivers have switched to a 4x4 and expected to drive them exactly the same as their fast saloon car. This is an example of inexperience partially combined with ignorance and has resulted in many an accident. The only answer is to understand your own and your vehicles known limits and stay within them, oh and a large helping of good luck too. Just my 2p.

Ahhh - some real engineering. So much more fun than bolting on other peoples products.

Mark, Thanks for your comments. I shall pull the rad out over Christmas and flush it through with a hose (unless the hosepipe is frozen ) What brands do people prefer as an in-the-car flushing agent? Will it be worth adding such a product before hand? Your gauge looks very shiney and nice, and very expensive too . Don't think I'll be rushing out to get one of those just yet. Thanks,

I've had the 3.9 in my Ninety for a couple of years now and in recent years I've not had the time to play in the mud much, until recently that is. The engine is a serpentine unit from a Disco. When I installed this engine I swapped the std V8 90 rad for a turbo diesel one with integral oil cooler. I've never had any trouble keeping it cool on the road, with or without a trailer. Recently though I have spent several weekends playing off road and have found the temp guage creeping up towards 110 deg. Initially I discovered that the viscous fan coupling wasn't working, so as a short term fix I have bolted it up solid. Now the fan makes more noise than anything else on the truck,and should give plenty of airflow. However it is still tendng to read too hot when worked hard off road. I have cleaned the rad fins meticulously, checked for air locks, the stat can be seen to work ok as the engine warms up (gauge hits 90 deg, then drops by 10 as the stat opens). I have a Warn M8000 and a pair of 8" spots on the front, but I wouldn't have expected this to block too much air. I am now wondering about the TD rad's cooling capacity. Does it have less rows than a V8 one? What other larger capacity units are available that have integral oil coolers? I guess the 50th one would go??? Alternatively, what do people use in the way of uprated radiators? I spent a long time trying to match various LR temp senders with the std gauge without much success. I ended up buying a VDO gauge and sender, so hopefully this is reading correctly. On the road it stays at 88 deg as expected, and I have not had reason to question its accuracy. I'm going to look for some sticky on thermometers to verify the temp. If the engine is really reaching 110 deg would the header tank cap be blowing off? If not what should it take to make one blow? The engine still seems to run absolutely fine at this temp, no worrying noises or power loss. I have kept a close eye on coolant levels but it's stayed spot on. Comments and advice please. I really don't want to cook it. TIA

If I've thought this out correctly, castor corrected (and cranked?) radius arms are designed to relieve the strain on the chassis bushes when using longer springs AND correct the castor angle at the same time. This also makes the propshaft UJ angles less favourable. If one was to use corrected swivel balls, the castor angle would be adjusted without adding strain on the UJs. However you would not be easing the strain on the chassis bushes, which at the end of the day are one of the things that restrict axle flex. So me thinks best solution would be to use corrected swivel balls AND cranked radius arms WITHOUT any castor angle correction built in. Open for comments... and taking shelter from those who know better

Gutted to see your pride and joy destroyed in this way, but glad you got out to tell the tale.

How does self amalgamating tape work? I once bought a roll of 'loom tape' on the basis that it was better than lecky tape. I wrapped it round and round but it just wouldn't stay stuck to itself What was I missing?

I could rant about other drivers for days, but I can't afford to pull any more hair out! I have to agree that I would expect other motorists to notice something as big as a Landrover. Generally when I'm in the (blue) V8 90 people tend to give way. When in the 90 it is rare to get into a jostling contest where two lanes merge, but when I do it's invariably with a small car. I reckon the other motorist sees a Landrover, thinks slow truck, and decides to have a go at getting past. When this happens I'm afraid to say I plant my right foot and surprise them Normally I win, unless they happen to have a deathwish, in which case I take action (and lots of horn) to prevent the impending smash up. On the other hand, when in the RRC (Ardennes green), I may as well be invisible! Traffic always pulls out right in front of me requiring heavy braking on my part. Another trick is to simply move sideways at me on dual carriageways. Is there something about this green that magnetically draws cars and vans towards it? Why is it so less visible than Stratos blue? What are the stats for green cars and prangs? Others have suggested repainting it orange, but I like green, and orange wouldn't be very PC would it. The annoying part is that I wouldn't be that bothered if some dumba55 wanted to hit the 90, it has enough dents already, all off-road injuries. But why aim for my nice shiny RRC :angry:

Same here