Andrew Chua

I've got a C-tek MXS7000 and it works well on AGM batteries. they also have reverse polarity protection so if you have had too much to drink and tried to connect it up it won't end up exploding. Optimas are AGM batteries and not all chargers will do them well. However, i've had a rare issue of a faulty optima yellow top and that caused me an alternator!! Eventually the battery die within 3 months and i got it swapped under warranty.

smell coolant in the cabin in the morning? yes -> you heater matrix is leaking. mine was.

one thing to note : you didnt mention which year and engine model the disco box was from. the Td5 has a small housing that has a mechincal switch to tell the engine to use FTC or LTC. Fast throttle control (high range) and Long travel (low range). When the switch is in open (it's FTC) when closed it's LTC. FTC put 80% of the engine power with 30%of the pedal travel. it is located on the transfer box. i've done the 1.222 via buying gears from ashcroft (and some workshop boached up the job) and a direct swap from an old disco box. Now when you get the disco box, you might want to swap over the switch housing from your 1.410 transfer box to the 1.222 transfer box so that this switch remains usable. however, if it's too tedious, you can run a wire up to your cab and just flip the switch when you want the LTC. So you can now use the LTC in high range as well. if you can get the donor 1.222 box cheap like what i did then it's worth the messing around. if not, go the gear change route. However, do note that you should ensure the box seals are good as they all start to leak when they age. ask me how i know . Mine was a 2002 Td5 90. you can search for my threads and see a picture of the switch you need to look out for.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3718924&l=8c54870897&id=693928001 This is a defender front on a 100" disco chassis with a tata flat bed back at the rainforest challenge 2006.

i've had one inside my 90 before. i removed it when i was having problems with my battery, but it's another story. anyway, i've killed a disk even while driving on normal roads. perhaps my suspension is a lil too hard. anyway, the modern power supply will do a auto shutdown and powerup upon cranking and key out. very nice to have, especially when you need to jump out and run to a meeting or so. good to have it off an aux battery as i had once drained the battery after watching movies for half a day and had to get the wife to help me push the landie. ha ha. you can really tweak xp to load with lightning speed if you have time to tinker or use nlite to help you. you also can skin your pc to look like rangie's display, you can use riderunner garmin mobile pc can be intergated to give a 'seemless' look to your skin. toss in wifi and a mobile broadband router will also allow you to connect you ipod touch to surf the net so that the wife/gf doesn't get board on long trips. been there done it. it's sure a lot of work to get it nice. but it's well worth it if you have the time!

buy the original bits. i've had all these after market generic kits and like what was mentioned, they need a bit of fiddling to get them to fit rite. after which, the door card doesn't sit properly and keeps popping out. and the cards will press against the seat box and then the card gets damaged and the door needs to be slam to get closed. don't waste your time. the original bits are about 200 sgd and it will work just as well in fact, they pull the windows faster than a bolt on aftermarket generic kit as the number of teeth on the winder is different.

yes, there is the additional housing which hold the FTC switch. You can simply put the sensor in and not connect it or you can swap around the top housing and it will all be well. I took a LT230 from a TDi and fitted it on my TD5 to which i just swapped the top housing to accommodate the switch.

land rovers collect water like a bucket. that lil tilt helps it drain off.

Hi Guys, Just a quick check, i don't have a leak on the PAS unit but i do get oil coming out from the breather cap on the reservoir thru that tiny hole there. The thing is that it only grunts when turning left and not when turning right. Is this an early warning to the box going to fail? Thanks! Andrew

does it rattle like crazy when you put the t-box into neutral and the main box in 5th? try 1 to 5. if it rattles like crazy even at 3rd, the bearings in the box could be worn out or loose which requires an entire rebuild. i've had this problem before and it turned out to be the box was not properly overhauled the last round, so all the gears are like chattering teeth. the gears were damaged and even with new bearing, they will whine, not as loud. the solution was either to change the affected gears or swap the box. i swapped the box for one 10 years older and it works out very well for the past 12k km.

personally, i use a 1.222 t-box on a standard TD5 90. no tune, no large intercooler, nothing. i'm on 235,85,16 tyres. so it all seems nice and well able to cruise happily in 5th without sounding loud. nice reduction on the fuel consumption as i do highway almost everyday. my take, if you don't pull a horse box around, you'll be happier with a 1.222. 1.003 might make climbing some slopes a lil challenging even in gear 1. you'll end up reving quite a bit and doing half clutch especially on spiral carpark ramps.

great. this sounds like what i have but except it's on the rear door. I had a close look and realised that the holes where the nuts go thru have gotten larger. so i suspect the repeated slamming of the door with the tyre on it has caused the holes to widen thru making the bolts shift back and forth. have tried changing the nuts and tightening them up really tight but the problem seems to come back in a day. i'm about to throw in the towel and just live with a rattling rear door. grrrr... Andrew

Never mind the above for now. I've got a terrible leak from the tank or the lines? After starting it up, it starts dripping diesel. My bet is that the lines are not done up tight, but i though the hoses are just clipped on rite? or am i wrong? What do i check now? Any possibility that the lines are fitted wrongly causing them to leak? Looks like that tank is going to have to come down again. it's a 2002 with 170k on the clock. Thanks!!

Having replaced the Td5 fuel pump last week, i now wake up to starting the defender and the low fuel lamp is on and the gauge says the tank dead empty. I'm sure i have fuel in the tank. The interesting thing is, if i leave it long enough it will decide to slowly creep up to the correct level. hence i'm sure the gauge is working. The tank has been up and down 3 times already but still can't find the fault. The float is correct. What do i check next? before i changed the pump, it goes up to the correct level immediately when i click the key to pos II on the ignition. yes, even in the midst of the pump screaming away.

so LR cheated us of this in lieu of a intermittent wipe. what is this.... how come they can't implement a pull and release to flick wipe.

it's written in the manual, you push it upwards slightly just before it clicks into normal wipe to do a flick wipe. Serious. it's in the Td5 manual.

99.5% of the defenders Td5 in singapore have a rear mounted air con. it's more powerful than the front dash mounted one which is good at blowing cold air into your pants. you can feel cool on a hot day. you can even fog up the glass on the outside. what's bad about it : it doesn't talk to the ecu. the correct Td5 air con will tell the ecu when the compressor is running and it will then adjust the rpm via the ecu. in this case, when the compressor kicks in, the revs fall around 30rpm before going up again, resulting in a tiny jerk. i'll post a pic once i take one. i remember i did before but i can't find it.

the stalk is attached to a plastic bit which is like a ring that goes around the steering column. that plastic ring is broken. Hence the only way is to replace the entire stock. sorry. no easy way out.

they don't whine. i've done a 1.41 to 1.22 conversion and i've swapped an entire LT230. they were whining cos the gears are loose. usually the bearing is damaged or the preload is off. sometimes it could be the spacing between a gasket or without gasket which causes the gears to shift. hence it whines. if left uncorrected, it can get really bad till you can't talk in the car. yes, it will still drive well, but it's terribly loud. this in turn damages the gear and you'll need a new box or a new set of gears, that's why i did mine twice.

check your coolant level. the core plug are prone to forming rust spots and they let out water like that. so if it's near the cat of the exhaust, it's prolly the rear core plug that has a tiny hole. i had this once and when i parked up and there was a giant puddle after 10 minutes. it's really a cheap piece, but can be a chore to get to depending on which one. there are 2 sizes of them around the engine block. another time was it was leaking only for awhile, then i topped up the coolant, and drove 30km to the workshop and no leak. but still it was a tiny hole in the core plug.

it could be your water pump. mine temp went up instantly to the red and then when to the blue after. cos the system didn't have any coolant at the point of the coolant sensor. after letting it sit for awhile, all's back to normal. but if it keeps doing it, there is a PROBLEM. fix it before some worse happens.

okie cool. Thanks! the pump has already done 166k km.

Help! When i put the ignition to pos II the fuel pump screams for 3 seconds and later all is well. The thing here is it need the landie for my wedding tomorrow!! it's the bridal car and i don't have the time to drop the tank today and change the pump, which i have. How long can this hold up for? it just started yesterday. Thanks! Andrew

for those who love early change up. i'm changing up at about 2.1k rpm in first, 2.2k rpm in 2nd, 1.9k rmp in 3rd and 2k rpm in forth. averages about 2k rpms for each change up. this takes things easy, so sometimes when i boot it hard, i get black smoke due to the stuck carbon. but after awhile it clears and nothing has gone bad in the past 5yrs.

if all else fails for now. get a set of computer speakers (12v if possible) hook it up to your 12v ligher socket and drop in your ipod. done. will work for that urgent trip.