newclear

Well at least thats now the Alternator fixed, ignition light goes out instantly, took the old one to be tested, was barely outputting 10v, tester suspected windings. Not bad for the original 1994 Alternator though . Just need to get something to eat and have a test of the brake light/fuse issue, but I fear it may be too dark by the time I finish . Regards, Matt.

At first I didn't, but have done since, problem still remains. Just to be sure I got the right connection, is the one to the rear of the Gear/Transfer Box area? Anyone have a pic of the reversing switch? Have a feeling I may have removed the wrong one now And I can't say with certainty that the switch hasn't got wet, quite a while back did go through a ford where the water was on top of the bonnet, wasn't sat in the water though, but agian would only be guessing if it did or didn't get wet. Kind Regards, Matt

Hi all, Typically, this issue started as soon as the weather turned, been using the truck all year with no issues, as soon as I go to use it "in anger", the issue began. Also no idea what the 3rd item this fuse seems to cover, the symbol on the fuse box cover looks like an Engine shape covered by a Lightning bolt. First noticed the problem a few weeks ago when the Brake lights didn't come on (quite a large issue with light fading as early as it does at the moment) while reversing onto my drive. Only driven it around locally since to attempt to test each "fix". So far I have: - Checked the brake connections at the rear corners - all fine and clean, no corrosion or none connected wires - Checked the cables to and from the rear of the car, no grommit's missing or touching the chassis (that I could see) - Disconnected the Towing electrics plug - Checked the Reverse light wiring and plugs, agian no wrongly connected or corroded wires - Disconnected the Reverse light to isolate the Brake circuit Now the fuse is still blowing after all that, and I'm at a loss as to what else it can be, other than maybe the brake light switch (more on that in a moment). I have now also removed the Alternator to get it refurbished since the charge light has been on nearly constant these last few weeks, now with the shape of the "other" symbol on the fuse box, could that fuse also cover the charge light? And with the alternator being dodgy at the moment, it's causing the fuse to blow, not a steady charge? Back to the brake light switch, how exactly do I get at it? Do I go from where the pedal is and up or is there an access panel I'm currently not seeing when you go from above (in the engine bay)? My father seems convinced the switch is not to blame but I would prefer to check all options, that switch is possibly 16 years old . Mine is a '94 300tdi 90 Hardtop if that helps Kind Regards, Matt

It's always far far to the back of the drive, usually either an MG TF or an Audi A4 sat between it and the drive Exit. Last truck was stolen while I was at a friends party, so it was "just" parked on the road . Also park it next to a Toyota Supra of my brothers, hopefully a nicer target (hope my Bro never reads this haha). Cheers Matt

Hi Ralph, Thanks for that, my last truck was stolen by opportunist thieves as there isn't much you can do against the crane driver types . Guess I'll go help my Dad fit it then Cheers Matt

Hi all, My Dad has been told by a friend of his Boss's that well, to cut it short "the only real way to stop a Defender from being nicked is to fit a fuel cut off". My Truck already has a battery cut off on both leads (positive and negative) and whenever it's parked the steering wheel has a huge chain locked onto it, I personally think this is enough, my Dad has other idea's (he partly owns the truck so he does have "some" say). I did however recall seeing some sort of post or thread, that I can no longer find, that suggested running a "modern" 300tdi out of fuel is a good way to destroy the injector pump, now obviously if some theives do indeed manage to get past the fact there is no Battery connected (technically) and drive off, I'll be glad to get the truck back no matter what, what I'm concerned by is if "I", or my Dad forget. How much, if any damage is likely? Cheers, Matt

Thanks Chris, this I already know, I checked with the Insurance company and the model I have they don't have listed so I sent them all the details and they havent so far contacted me back, doubt I'll get anything but then I am not installing the alarm to get an insurance discount (at 25 the premium is quite reasonable anyway), I'm installing the alarm to make a noise if anyone opens the doors or breaks a window, after having my last Truck stolen in broad daylight. The Local car electronics places either didn't have the alarm I wanted, or were going to charge from £150 to install, on top of the £300 for the Alarm . Western: Cheers, it will certainly help, the Generic Haynes wiring Diagram is ok, but it doesn't really say "Yes, this is for 300tdi" Cheers Matt

Ok, Found a wiring Diagram that actually matched my truck So I answered my own question above. I am now however looking for the connections at the rear of the Ignition Barrel. When I got the truck there was a Immobiliser fitted and I think that is interfering with the Alarm Immob. All the wires except the wires from the Truck are black, so it's harder for theives to bypass I assume, but I have no idea where the plugs "should" go on the back of the Barrel, at the moment they are all Black with yellow insulated connectors, I would like to remove the old Immob and get it back to "standard" then try and add the Alarm that way. I had a search and all I found was a post by Western regarding converting to 200tdi, but my truck is standard 300tdi, are the connections the same? He noted that one of the terminals didn't have a connection, but all of mine are connected (to "something".... black wires, no idea what) I have the orignial wires coming to the Barrel, but they are then wired into this "old" Immob and it all goes into a Key switch, hence I can't "follow" the wires to check. Any Help at all would be great Cheers Matt

Hi All, Since my last 90 was stolen, I have decided to buy an Alarm for it, as we all know, a 'skillfully' applied knock to the doors or a spoon can open most . The only real "problem" I have is how to fit the Immobiliser, it's a 3 point Immobiliser and those points are Ignition, Starter and Fuel Pump. I know the Fuel Pump won't go to an electric Fuel Pump as there is none, seems the usual choice for this is the Fuel Shut off (On Diesels). The two I'm unsure of are Ignition and Starter. (All colours Below are from the Ignition Barrel/Switch) White/Red -> Starter Solenoid, So I'd connect to the Starter Immobiliser Brown -> Ignition, So to Ignition Immobiliser White -> Fuel Shut Off, So this would be the "Fuel Pump" Immobiliser White/Black -> Glow Plugs - this is the only other wire and I see no point in stopping th Glow Plugs heating and the truck will start without anyway. Does that look about right, I have tried to use a Multimeter but that got me even more confused, which I admit is easy to do. If the replies could refrain from the usual "Take it to a professional" as I am thin on the ground regards Money as it is Cheers Matt

Quick Update, Turns out it was just siezed up, quick spray of WD40 and all is well, bit of interior trim was also jamming the internal button from moving so that didn't help. Thanks for the tips guys, all noted down in my big Land Rover notebook .... ...Well, it's more like 2 Notebooks but hell who's counting Matt

I painted my Mazda Calipers with Hammerite Smooth (green, brush painted), let it dry, went for a blast around the local area (all under the speed limit, just a lot of braking from speed, while checking there was nothing behind) and by the time I got back, paint was rock hard and is still on there after a year, but dull after all the heat up's and cool down's, plus there is quite a layer of Brake Dust on them at the moment, other than that the Paint is fine, even the layer or two I put on the edge of the Disc is still fine. Quick wash and they would be as good as when I did them . Only painted the visible parts, I personally don't really think Calipers need paint as a corrosion inhibitor as I think the heat does a good enough job, well the bits I didn't paint are still rust free, just a bit dirty and Dust Covered. Bet it wouldn't hurt though and if you had it off the vehicle painting every bit wouldn't be as hard/messy.. Admitedly there is very little deep wading done with my Mazda so I suppose that could contribute to the lack of rust on the calipers. I was going to paint my truck's calipers, but well, that decision was made for me by some local scrotes... Ahh well, allowed me to upgrade the truck to a newer model I suppose (4 Discs to be painted now ). Cheers Matt

Ok no probs, cleared that up (for me) Just a case of getting used to each search system, what comes from using 3 forums, each with different software . Cheers Matt

Just as a note, has this behaviour been changed? Noticed just today that I could search for 3 letter words... "Washer jet" worked fine, well, it searched yet the information I got back was a bit... "much" Used the Google "trick" and found what I wanted Cheers Matt

Hi All, After getting my new (replacement) truck home I went to lock the drivers door on the second night. I put the key in the lock and it turned fine, but it won't actuate the lock, no matter how hard I twist the key there is no locking 'click'. The key itself also 'waggles' in a strange way, I think the barrel may have collapsed, it waggles side to side from the vertical position if that makes sense . Few questions, - Is this fixable? - If 'I' can't fix it myself, will Land Rover give (sell) me a lock that matches my key if I give some sort of key/lock code? - If they won't or can't is there a 'set' that includes both sides and the rear door? Trying to cut down on the amount of keys I have for the truck, after having around 4 for my 1986 90 I was so happy when I found out the newer trucks use the ignition key to open the doors, and now I think even that good point is broken . Cheers Matt2

Feel for you, recently had mine stolen too . Will keep my eye out around here, quite a distance away but never know . 300tdi the new "in" thing with Thieves? Lock em up tight folkes. Cheers Matt

If you haven't changed anything I would have thought pump too. Mine was worse when it failed as for some reason the main seal on the pump failed, looked like the Fluid was a milkshake after a short journey . New Pump and Fluid sorted it. I adjusted my Steering Box and got similar symptoms as I'd adjusted it too tight. Re-Adjusted taking into account the full range of motion and all was well. Hope that Helps, Cheers Matt

I am all for these new types of camera's, as they "automatically read number plates" so I guess they can be connected into the ANPR system, as with having my truck stolen recently (still a bit bitter ) the more places where the numberplate can be detected the better. There are only so many Police Patrol cars around and nobody can expect them to detect every single Numberplate that goes past them, where as a camera can and will check them all. Maybe missing the odd one if it's obscured perhaps. Cheers Matt

Thanks agian for all the comments, sounds stupid but it does help. I never know what to put on threads like these so I appreciate how hard it is. Cheers Matt

Thanks for the comments guys, really am quite gutted . Wish I knew, what makes it even more annoying there was a guy across the road from it (around 6 metres away) who saw the guys get in a drive away, he's a neighbour of the friend I was staying with, and he was at the time working on his Green Land Rover 90 . Makes me wonder if they (he said it was two guys in blue Hoodies, figures) had the original plan of taking two LR 90's today . I don't know the neighbour very well if at all, been meaning to speak to him for a while, Fellow 90 owner and all, so he just thought it was me getting in and driving away, it had started raining so the hood's could have been legitimate. He only came round to my friends as it seems they nudged the car behind as they were driving it off the curb, so he'd come round to let my friend know that "I" had hit the car, it was only when "I" came out to say hi to him that the sh*t really hit the fan.... :/ Police knew pretty much straight away and had the full reg plate in about 2 or 3 mins, so it's hopeful, well at least I am... Thanks again, Matt

Hi guys, not really the kind of subject I like to post about (ever) but if you could keep an eye out for my truck around your local area's that would be great. C471 WVJ Stolen at around 15:30 on Sunday, 9th November. Other Details are it's 300tdi, custom Red Air Intake, Custom Rear steel step and Custom Snorkel. It also has some Lime Green Tyre Treads on the Rear Panels with, in white, "You can go fast, I can go anywhere" (although I bet that is one of the first things to be removed), Other than that it's just what is in the Picture. Cheers Matt2

The box I was refering to was the 1.222 I had on the garage floor, my 1.4 is still on the Truck but yes it will be for sale once I've done the swap. I wouldn't have thought the gear would be cross drilled, but I haven't removed it yet. I do have a for sale thread somewhere.... Sure it was on this forum. Cheers Matt

Hmm, so it's normal for the input gear to slide out while still attached to the Gearbox? Mine certainly didn't, the 2 main gears inside the Transfer Box were not lined up to allow the input gear to be removed, I had to remove the Gearbox first, is there something wrong there or is it just a case of having to rotate the pair of gears so they line up? Maybe it needs to be in hi or low (not 100% sure what range the box was in when I tried to remove it, guess the Disco and Defender selectors work the same but I just don't recall where it was, maybe best in Neutral?). Cheers Matt

I am currently about half way through doing the same thing roughly, but I'm going from 1.4 90 Box to a 1.222 Discovery box. The reasoning behind input gear removal, as far as I can see, is to allow inspection of the gear and respective splines. If there is excessive wear on the Gearbox output shaft when you remove the box, then your input gear is probably not the cross drilled type, as far as I can see from Les's walkthrough it seems the cross drilled was a later improvement of the design, correct me if I'm wrong? Allowing lubrication of the splines far better than before (if/when you do remove the input gear, you'll see straight away if it is or isn't drilled, who knows why it wasn't to begin with). I had the luxury of testing out the process on the garage floor as the "new" box I got still had a Discovery LT77 attached. I tried to remove the input gear with the Gearbox still attached but there was no amount of "gentle waggling" was going to allow it free, the two internal gears were not lined up to allow the gear to slide out, only way it came out was after the box was seperated from the gearbox, sort of just fell out after I took off the cover plate. Is it neccassary? Probably not, I suppose only you can decide if you want to swap the gear for a newer type, all down to budget I suppose, you can also check the bearings at the same time, might want to swap those too? How gutted would you be if a few months later you had to strip it all out agian to replace a failed bearing? This was my reasoning, may indeed be flawed but there you have it. Cheers Matt

I just screwed my earth connection screw out a bit, then back in on the rear. Been working fine since then which was around 2 weeks ago. It's a Land Rover - the Earth's are never going to be great (Ally body?), I just keep an eye on them every so often, roughly every month if I remember. Matt

Thanks Western, Cheers Matt