popotla

My 110 Td5 (2005) is parked in storage, overseas, til next August (2017). Is it a good idea to remove the battery and charge it regularly during this period, or does this risk causing a problem with the electrics? (A solar charger is a possibility, I think, but the man taking care of my vehicle doesn't have one, and I don't think I can ask him to go looking for a suitable one. (He and my vehicle are in Uruguay, where such things are expensive, and I'm in Germany.) The battery was new two months ago. What to do for the best?

My 110 is at present parked until next August with each tyre on a piece of wood (I have no access to it). What are the best tyre pressures to maintain for this period?

I shall be storing my Defender for a little over four months in a fairly hot and somewhat humid climate (Uruguay, now summer). Battery care is already accounted for but are there any precautions I should take (for example maintain certain specific tyre pressures) or anything else? I'm not sure yet whether or not the vehicle will be under cover. Thanks.

There was recently a squealing and scraping from the area of a rear wheel. I discovered that a metal cover over the inside was twisted and damaged, so removed it. I also found that on the other side, the cover was missing. I've no idea since when. So, presumably, I should replace these. I don't know what the part is called so hope someone can put me wise on this, maybe with a part number, too. Is it a spare part that's easy to obtain? Thanks.

I hope this isn't a silly question but here goes. I have a 100Ah 900CCA starter battery connected in parallel (manual in-out switch) with a 115 Ah leisure battery. If I start the engine with the two batteries connected, is there any possibilitry of causing any damage/doing any harm to the leisure battery?

In my Defender Td5 (2005) I have two Delphi YDG100860 110 Ah / CCA 800 batteries. They are separated by a connector switch ("connected-not connected"). From the second I run a fridge all the time and a light and a 1000-W inverter some of the time. I want to buy one new battery (would like a Varta Dynamic 610 200, if it'll fit), which will be the starter battery. Thus I'd be using a new starter battery and the better of the two Delphis. Tayna batteries have told me I cannot do this. Only if I'm replacing both batteries can I use this Varta (two of them). If I replace only one, then I'd have to use (from their range) a YDG100860 Enduroline. "Failing to do so will damage both batteries", I'm told. Is this correct? Is it the case that batteries of two different makes/Ah/CCA cannot, in my set-up, be used together? I would like to get to the bottom of this. Thanks.

I would like to contact Defender owners living in Germany, preferably but not necessarily in or near Berlin.

I will shortly need a routine service for my LR Defender Td5 CSW (and also repair to a non- functioning heater) and would like to get in touch with a local (therefore, I hope, reasonably low-cost) local garage which is Land Rover experienced and capable, and totally reliable. I wish to find this garage somewhere between London and Brighton, or along the road (more or less) from Brighton to Dover. I am overseas at present but will soon be in England for a few days. To have an email address for the garage would be best. I can then get in touch and try to arrange what I need. Can anyone provide a recommendation, please?

Some time ago I came across a list of Land Rover repair garages around the world which are lower-cost alternatives to main dealers. I seem not to have kept it and now can't find it. Has anyone seen this, please, or a similar thing? i am in Austria now. Expect to soon be in northern Italy then the south of France. I need a heater repair for my 110 CSW.

Has anyone reading this had any dealings with AZALAI, a company who will convert a Defender to a small mobile home? We are looking for something along the line of these pictures. Other companies too, perhaps. Any suggestions/recommendations, please?

Our LR Defender Td5 CSW 110 (2005) has, according to the manual, a thing called a “heater” but it doesn’t heat, at all (nada, rien, nichts). In hot countries such as Oman and the UAE the a/c never really worked; we regarded that as just another feature of the Defender with which one up had to put. Now, though, we are in the midst of the European winter, at present in Austria, travelling in warm, thick, winter clothing, woollen hats and with ‘granny rugs’ over our legs. I was having a look at the 12-volt and mains-operated, blower-heaters on Amazon. Some, I wasn’t surprised to read (assuming their likely origin) were described by reviewers as an utter waste of money. Others seemed OK. We need a heater both when moving and when parked. I’m not sure just at the moment if our inverter, running off the second battery, is powerful enough to support a 2-kw heater. Anyway, wondered if heating off this kind might work, if anyone reading this has tried anything similar.

My Land Rover is a Defender Td5 110, CSW. From the region around where the ignition key goes in, I hear a noise somewhere between a tapping and a ticking. It's not there all the time,but most of the time. When it is there, it's not regular like the ticking of a clock, but irregular. At first I thought that some of the keys on the same ring were tapping against the surrounding plastic as they moved with the movement of the vehicle, but that isn't the case. Please, any ideas or suggestions?

I want to fit something double-bed style on top of my Defender 110 CSW: not a roof tent but something solid, a sort of added-on-top sleeping compartment, I could call it. What is available, what might it cost?

I googled “ferry Europe to UK” and got nearly 31,000,000 responses. For “ferry France to England” there are a mere ten million. Simply, I want to take my Land Rover Defender 110, a fairly long and tall vehicle, and myself, on any crossing from the Netherlands, Belgium or France to England, probably in mid August . I want to do it as cheaply as possible, night crossing no problem if that’s cheaper, prefer not to book but would do so if that saved money. Please, any advice? Which crossing should I take? Is there a particular crossing known to cost less than the others? The websites I’ve tried work in a way different to how I’d like them to work: they ask me for route, date and time (to which I’d like to answer “not important” /”don’t know exactly”/ “doesn’t matter”; “please tell me the best price and I’ll be at that port at the right time”.

Before leaving on our overland trip in Land Rover Td5 110, I wish to establish contact with UK spares suppliers who’d be able to ship out a spare part, should this be needed. Reliability obviously is key, also fair dealing. Any recommendations, please?

Can someone tell me please, is a crankshaft sensor the same thing as a crank angle sensor? Thanks.

Thanks. I shall replace. I could get upgraded shocks in Dubai/Abu Dhabi while passing through, but might just get standard replacements locally, having them fitted by regular and trusted mechanics.

Imagine you are going to take your Td5 Defender County Station Wagon, year 2005, now with 65,000 km on the clock, on a long (50,000 km?) trip from the Gulf region to Europe and then to the Americas and onward. You are limited to carrying a maximum of four spare parts, other than filters, a fan belt and hoses. Which four would those be?

I have a 2005 Landrover County Station Wagon (2.5 liter diesel) with 65,000 km on the clock from new. Perhaps one quarter of this distance has been on unmade roads –some quite rough and rocky but some no more than unmade, so sometimes a bit bumpy. I’ve treated the vehicle quite kindly and so far, suspension-wise, have needed to replace one shock absorber bush. I’m about to leave on an overland trip which might last for a further 50,000 km. Here’s my question. I’m wondering whether to replace all shock absorbers now rather than have a problem in the proverbial back of beyond somewhere, with a vehicle that will be carrying a full load and potentially on all kinds of roads. Peace of mind is more important than cost but I don’t want to be extravagant, to throw money away unnecessarily. ** I don’t know hpw long I should expect the shocks to last. Should I replace now or wait? Please advise.

I want to have made a SAFE for the interior of my Landrover Td5 2005 County Station Wagon. Ideally, this would be (as a minimum) 13” long (ideally 15”) x 11” deep (ideally 12”) x a reasonable width, as I’d like to keep in it a not-very-small laptop and an essential paper file or two, as well as the obvious other items. The obvious place for this would be the box between the front seats but that box is too small and anyway has in a number of wires and is useful for other items. Any suggestions for siting within the vehicle, and a design for how it would best be made, please?

Did I read that right? GBP 2,112.00?? That’s one-tenth the cost of a whole new vehicle. Why are we being ripped off?

I live in Oman and have had from new, for three-and-a-half years, a LR Defender Td5 110 which is due for its 60,000 km service. For the first three years I was obliged to have the vehicle serviced by the local Landrover agents, otherwise the guarantee would have been voided. In a way, this suited me: it was costly but I had no choice and assumed LR were doing the job(s) properly. On other occasions they did jobs for me under guarantee that they perhaps should have charged for (since no defect was involved). The most basic service (code X071) now costs equiv. GBP 51.00 for LABOUR ONLY – that’s for changing the oil and oil filter, basically. For service X072, due now, the labour cost is GBP 92.00, an extra 42.00 for changing part ERR 6299, variously described as “centrifuge rotor” or “rotor oil filter”. However, at 60,000 km, the labour charge is 10.00 more than at other 40,000 km service intervals. (At 60,000 km the engine coolant should be changed, but there’s no mention of this on the dealer’s price/service interval list.) So, this leads me to my first question: During services, does (should) a Landrover dealer go through a checklist of various points, then pointing out or remedying stuff that may need fixing/repairing? I think this is probably the case, isn’t it? I should like to know the answer to that, but my main question (which does, though, tie in with it) is something else: By taking my vehicle to a small workshop, I can get an oil & filter change (labour only, obviously) for 3.00 to 4.00, with a bit on top for changing ERR 6299. This is what Omanis normally do, I understand: rather than take their vehicle to Ford, Nissan, Landrover etc., they go to a small workshop. (However, Omanis are not normally noted for taking care of their vehicles, and the received wisdom is never to buy a used vehicle from them.) I don’t know what I should do. On the one hand, an oil/filter change is a pretty simple thing; on the other hand, my LR is still fairly new and going to the dealer’s has given me some peace of mind up to now, and would continue to do so. The workshop I’m thinking of going to was not recommended by a Landrover owner but by a workshop where I was having some metalwork done, and recommended as somewhere that “does Landrovers”. I went there and there were a number of Landrovers in the yard, and I’m certain they can do routine maintenance! However, I don’t think they’re going to check other things (maybe I should try to find that out). I’d like to know the best thing to do. I don’t want to waste money, but want the vehicle to be totally reliable, as far as that’s possible, and to last a long time. The question is one that’s going to come up again and again (and when we leave Oman with the vehicle, to travel for a long time, should we be forever looking for Landrover dealers or be carrying routine spares and getting services done here and there in “small workshops”)? Your advice, please.

I have here a South African publication, obtained online, which sings the praises of gas shock absorbers: “….. for a vehicle expected to work long hours off-road, they are essential …….working 4x4s need gas shocks … the real advantage comes when cornering or carrying a load ….the main reason why shock absorbers become soft when they get hot is eliminated.” I have a Landrover Defender Td5 110 CSW (2005) and am looking for new shocks. My driving is likely to be 85-90% on paved roads, but heavily or quite heavily loaded. My choice seems to come down to – partly on account of what’s available- Koni Heavy Tracks or Monroe Gas Magnum/Gas Magnum TDT. Which ones might be best?

For my LR Defender Td5110 CSW (2005), I want the shock absorbers to be in the best possible condition at the start of our overland trip (vehicle will have done about 70,000 km when we start). So I’m considering fitting Konis as replacements for the originals. I don’t plan to make any other changes to the suspension. One reason for choosing Koni is that I can get them in the UAE, next to Oman, where I live. I’ve been quoted the equivalent of about 600 USD for four Koni “Heavy Track”. I’m wondering if buying these would be a good idea. The price seems high.

Thanks for all contributions and comments, which I'm following up on.