Ivan

My two pence worth. Torn between both really. I love my Discovery, 90 and Series III. They all have character and are well proven off road. However, IMHO, LR lost it when they started bringing in the TD5. They lost sight of the foreign markets where they were traditionally string (Africa, Australia etc) and went the "lifestyle" route. I try and go on a big trip at least once a year. Up to now the Disco has coped extremely well with everything I have thrown at it. The only mods I have are a suspension lift and bigger tyres (however the 2 and 300 series will cope perfectly well straight out of the box). But, in Libya I needed to carry 250 Ltrs of fuel. This meant a car full of jerry cans. A Land Cruiser however, can be made to carry 300 Ltrs of fuel using a larger main tank and an auxiliary forward tank. This means the fuel is stored down low and so helps the COG. I don't know of anyway (other than pure custom stuff) that you can get a LR to carry this amount of fuel. Toyota took Land Rovers ideas and improved on them. They marketed aggressively in traditional LR market areas and simply wiped out LR as a market force. Ask some of the Aussies what they think about the attitude of LR AUstralia and you will see why Toyota and Nissan are the big players over there. My ideal expedition truck would be a long wheelbase, air conditioing (to keep out the heat and dust), permanent 4wd, centre diff lock, axle lockers and the ability to carry loads of fuel easily and safely. If you add it all up it pints to a Land Cruiser. No LR model can provide all this usisng standard parts. So yes LR have the design and engineering skills but they are carp at marketing and follow tthrough. Sorry moan over Ivan

On my Series III the Inertia reel part of the seat belt (IYSWIM) is bolted to the top of the bulkhead just behind the seats. It was like that when we bought it and it passed MOT's with no problem. Ivan

Nice Les Even match the paintwork on the 90. I'll have a couple when it's sorted. Cheers Ivan

Those boots could do with some polish Les I hope they look better when catflap is up and running Ivan

Al I've got one from a 110. I brought the complete hub assembly but I only wanted the stub axle. The ball is shot but if it's any use you can have it. Basically what I have is a swivel housing, ball and a short half shaft. Ivan

It seems I voted the same way as most others on this thread (no). I totally agree with comments made by Tony, HFH and BBC. If they want articles from the forum then come and ask the forum Admin and the appropriate member who posted the article, don't try and sneak in by the back door using a third party. Ivan

Geoof Thanks for the reply. If they do decide to move the forum, do you mind If I pick your brains a bit ? I'm OK with Oracle Databases but not used many others. Cheers Ivan

The Series III, 90/110 owners club are building a new website. They have also built a new forum. Is it possible/how would they move all of the data from the old forum ? BTW I don't know who has built the new site for them or what his/her knowledge of forum software is. TIA Ivan

The valve lives in one of the connectors that go into the top of the fuel filter housing. I can't remember which one it is (I assume it will be the input from the lift pump). Definitely not the stop solenoid in my case. HTH Ivan

Don't know if this will help but, had a similar problem when I fitted the 300Tdi into my 90. It would start OK but would not run until it had been revved for a few seconds. Turned out it was a oneway valve in the fuel filter housing was sticking. In my case it was sticking open and allowing fuel to drain back to the tank overnight. Next morning it starts on what bit of fuel was left in the pump and then needs to wait for the fuel system to self bleed. When running it sometimes lacked power as the valve was not letting enough fuel through. First fix was to remove the one way valve. This fixed the running problem but not the starting. Next step was to replace the fuel filter housing with the correct 300Tdi version. Since the new housing was fitted it starts first time without glowplugs and runs fine. HTH Ivan

Thanks for the info guys. It's definitely the heater matrix (or pipes) as I've bypassed the heater now (kin cold driving as well) and it's stopped. The coolant level is ok (after topping up). I have managed to find a mechanic not too far from me (he does know what he is doing as well) who has agreed to fit a new one for £240 + parts. At that price I'm better off letting him do it instead of me trying to do it sitting in my drive for god knows how many days. Ivan

Dunc Had a similar problem on mine and it turned out to be an earth fault on one of the sensors. According to the manual the ABS fuse is on fuse box satellite 2 and is fuse no 3. Satellite 2 is the one at the top of the 3 fuse boxes behind the lid under the steering wheel. The fuses are numbered 1 to 6 from the RHS (o/s) as you look at it. There are 2 more fuses in the fuse box in the engine compartment for the ABS pump and ABS valve. I don't think you will need to remove these. HTH Ivan

Thanks Steve. I looks like I've got a bit of work on my hands. Before I rip everything apart any ideas as to what else might it possibly be other than the heater matrix or pipes ? Rgds Ivan

SWMBO has been using my Discovery this week. Got a phone call when she was on her way home from work that the car was full of smoke Got the car home and it's not smoke but steam coming out through the heater vents. Does this sound like the heater matrix has given up the ghost ? If so what's involved in geting it sorted ? If I't's a dash out job then what do I need to do about the air bags before I take the dash out (it's got passenger and driver air bags)? TIA Ivan

Fi Only advice I can give is get the vehicle checked over before you go. Preferably by a company/person that knows what to look for (definitely not a main stealer as they know b***er all). I went to Croatia last Christmas in my 1991 Discovery which has now covered around 350,000 KM's (it's Australian hence the KM) and we have just got back from Libya with it. Provided it's running well and the suspension is in good order you shouldn't have anything to worry about. Also you can get breakdown cover for most of Europe and possibly Croatia as well. Depending on who you are going with and what the plan is, most of the stuff we did was not that hard. If you take care you should be OK. Don't be tempted into doing silly things with the Zagreb 4x4 club it's safer to back out and know you can get back home rather than take risks. Ivan

Famous four (first one that came up on the google search) are selling Munroes for £56 a pair. I know it's on the Discovery page but I can't imagine it being much more (if any) for a Defender. HTH Ivan

John Apologies for getting the name wrong. Not sure as thats the next thing to check. I'll try earthing the test meter to the battery and see if it still fluctuates. I tried it using the earth in the instruments and then earthing to the instrument housing and the voltage reading fluctuated both times. I checked the alternator and the output was fairly constant on tickover. Rgds Ivan

OK after a weekend of messing about with temperature probes etc (including fitting a new gauge, rewiring the sender) I am pretty sure it's down to an electrical problem. Took the car for a run and the gauge went up to 100 as usual. Checked the header tank when I got back and it's reading 84 ish (gauge still reads over 90 almost 100). Hoses all felt ok. With the ignition and engine off on I caught the indicator stalk and the temp rose and fell by 3 degrees as the indicators went on and off. Put the heater blower on and it rose by another 3 degrees. So I checked the voltage at the sender and it's fluctuating when the indicators are on. By this time it was getting too cold to work outside so gave it up for now. Next task is to check the alternator and charging system to find out why the voltage isn't regular. Is there a voltage regulator on the 90 gauges like on the series vehicles ? Anyway a big thanks to all forum members for their help and advice, especially Richard (Turbo Charger) for offering to lend me a water pump. Ivan

John Thanks very much for the offer, it's very kind of you. I'll test out some theories first this weekend. If that fails I'll let you know and we can arrange for me to try out your water pump. I've also sent you a pm with my contact details. Thnx Ivan

The radiator is a Tdi one that was recored when I fitted the engine. Thnx Ivan

Simon I'll check the pipes but they were brand new when the engine was fitted. Ivan

Simon and John Thanks for the replies it's given me a couple of things to think about. Yes it was a racetech sender that was purchased with the gauge, as is the new one. When it's reading hot I can put my hand on the top hose (not for too long obviously) and the heater is still blowing hot air (i.e. it's not blowing cold which is the usual sign of overheating). So I'll check the earth to the gauge and also check the wire from the sender. One thing I didn't mention was that I am still using the old TD header tank, so I'm going to swap that for a Tdi version (see classifieds). Cheers Ivan

Trev The thermostat should open at about 84 degrees. So I would expect the engine temp to be running at arond that point (as thermostat opens and closes). Problem is, if it's running at the 100 mark during winter, it's going to be running higher than that during the summer. Also if you start to drive it at more than 55-60 Mph the temp continues to rise. Whereas without the thermostat it's not a problem. What's confusing me is the fact that the header tank is reading 84 whilst the gauge is showing 100. I thought that the sender may have been u/s which is why I fitted a new one. But the new one shows the same symptoms. From what I have heard on here Tdi's are overcooled so should never run that hot except when there is a problem. Without a thermostat the engine runs really cool, with a thermostat I would expect it to run hotter than without but not around the 100 mark. does this make sense ? Ivan

Also posted in the Defender forum but posted here for a wider audience. Have mentioned this before but think it was on the old place. Earlier this year I fitted a 300 Tdi to the 90 (was 2.5 Td). The temp gauge would not work with the new engine so I fitted a Racetech gauage and sender. Problem is that the engine appears to be running hot. The gauge shows the temp rising to the 100 mark. I replaced the thermostat, no change. I took the centre of the thermostat out and it was all fine. It never got hot and the highest it ever got to was just under 90 after a long run and then being sat in traffic for 30 mins. Now that winter is here the wife was complaining that it never got warm and the heater was putting out luke warm air (temp gauge never rose much above 40). So, I fitted a new thermostat. Car warms up great but the temp now rises to 100 again and it will go higher if you push it. I fitted a temperature probe into the header tank and took the car for a drive. The temp probe was showing 84 whilst the gauge was showing 100. So I fitted a new sender (from racetech). The gauge still shows the temp rising to 100 and over. I did suspect the thermostat was not opening properly but I have just fitted another brand new one and am having the same problem. My only possible thought is that the water pump is not moving the water fast enough does this sound feasible ? Anyone got any clues or ideas as to what's going on ? Thnx Ivan

Have mentioned this before but think it was on the old place. Earlier this year I fitted a 300 Tdi to the 90 (was 2.5 Td). The temp gauge would not work with the new engine so I fitted a Racetech gauage and sender. Problem is that the engine appears to be running hot. The gauge shows the temp rising to the 100 mark. I replaced the thermostat, no change. I took the centre of the thermostat out and it was all fine. It never got hot and the highest it ever got to was just under 90 after a long run and then being sat in traffic for 30 mins. Now that winter is here the wife was complaining that it never got warm and the heater was putting out luke warm air (temp gauge never rose much above 40). So, I fitted a new thermostat. Car warms up great but the temp now rises to 100 again and it will go higher if you push it. I fitted a temperature probe into the header tank and took the car for a drive. The temp probe was showing 84 whilst the gauge was showing 100. So I fitted a new sender (from racetech). The gauge still shows the temp rising to 100 and over. I did suspect the thermostat was not opening properly but I have just fitted another brand new one and am having the same problem. My only possible thought is that the water pump is not moving the water fast enough does this sound feasible ? Anyone got any clues or ideas as to what's going on ? Thnx Ivan