soakes94

So another update, I went out and added a secondary switched supply to the FIP stop solenoid so if the car did start to bounce around I could switch on this secondary supply, if the problem went away then theres my fault. If it didn't go away then I have another problem. Been out driving for over an hour and nothing happened. I drove over the bumpiest road I could find, up and down plenty of speed bumps, even drove the road it happened on last time and nothing. If it was fuel supply related I would have expected some kind of reaction with an hour of driving? - So it was a lose connection to the FIP and Ive fixed it while attaching the 2nd supply. - It was the air in the filter and bleeding that sorted the problem - Its more intermittent than I thought My plan tomorrow is to try spraying some water around the fuel lines, since going through a puddle was the first thing to trigger it. Other than that I am at a loss. However I don't think its the gearbox now. It sounded fine and there was no weirdness from it at all. S Just another quick question, this leaking return pipe, would it cause any problems, other than the diesel thats all over the place? It starts fine and its had plenty of cold starts. Just wondering if this is messing with the fuel system some how. I have replacement pipe on its way but was just wondering if it can cause any other problems than long cranking sessions in the morning?

I changed the lift pump less than a year ago and fitted a Delphi one. Where are the breathers on the tank? It's a 1986 90. I've looked under the drivers seat but couldn't see anything. I'm about to head out and rewire the stop solenoid and change the fuel filter. S

Another update. Been out and wiggled more cables, checked battery connections, checked grounding cables, wiggled cables behind the fuses, wiggled behind the dash, wiggled looms and nothing. However its obvious the cable for the solenoid is an addition. It looks like it beens wired in green & yellow earth flex. and once it goes into the loom I lose it and have no idea where it reconnects. My plan is to wire an additional 12V supply to the solenoid but have it switched. Then drive around on the most pot hole filled roads I can find and see if I can get the car to struggle. If and when it does I turn on the extra 12V supply to the solenoid. If the problem goes away its the supply if its stays its something else. Since getting home I have moved the car around, not far though, just down my drive and then up and down it hoping to recreate the problem and it has been acting fine. When I pulled up outside my house earlier it struggled to get up the street. But seems fine now. Oh I also bleed the fuel filter, it took 3 pumps of the fuel lifter to get all the air out. Don't know if thats normal? Could this leak in the fuel spill pipe be leaking air into somewhere I don't want it? And if so why so randomly, wouldn't it cause bad running all the time? S

I do have a small leak on the fuel spill pipe between the engine and the FIP and have a new pipe on the way but with that being on the return side and it seems to be spraying diesel out and not sucking anything in I doubt its that? But happy to be told otherwise. I wiggled it a lot around the bulkhead where it passes through incase it was shorting as it passed through. Fuel supply wise, it had a new FIP pump fitted last February time along with a new Delphi (I think) lift pump. All been fine since and haven't had any problems. While it seems unlikely to be the gearbox is there anything I can do to check that? I obviously don't want to be taking it out or anything though! I will go out again and try wiggling the cables more especially around the bulkhead and where there could be a chance it rubbing against anything. S

If it was the electric why would it sort its self as soon as I pressed in the clutch pedal? If I pushed the accelerator hard I got the car to move, pushing the clutch in while having the accelerator pushed down caused it to rev fast like changing gear without taking your foot off the accelerator. As soon as I lifted the clutch it bounced around and struggled. Ive just been out and checked all the axles and props move fine and as expected. Handbrake isn't jamming on either. Engine runs fine and wiggling every connection between the FIP stop solenoid and the back of the barrel hasn't turned up any problems. Ive even tried spraying water on the connections to recreate the effect but I can't. I could re-run the power cable to the solenoid but I have no way of telling if thats the fault as the engine is running fine. Im hoping it is something as simple as that and its just a big coincidence that pushing the clutch in returns the engine to normal. Also while going through the puddle a few days ago seemed to create this problem for the first its been fine since then (around 60 miles) and then its happened again today and for a longer period of time and without any big puddles. Some rain but thats pretty normal up here. S

So it happened again today. After driving almost a 50 mile round trip on the way back about 1 mile from home it started losing power. I was in 4th at the time but it happens in all gears. Pressing the clutch in lets the engine rev again. When the clutch is out the car struggles to drive and kangaroos. At first I thought the handbrake could be getting stuck causing the car to kangaroo but nope. My thoughts are gearbox or transfer box. Since with the clutch pedal pushed in the problem goes. The car does freewheel downhill fine out of gear so I'm thinking gearbox? Does anyone have any ideas what to look at our where to even start? Cheers

Thanks, have dropped him a PM. Also added a wheel bearing kit to my order. Thought I might as well while I'm in there! S

No fan fitted. Well there is but its electric. The connector is a little lose and has caused problems before (After I changed the FIP) but has been fine for 3/4 months now. I just a went a look with a torch in the dark and I have a leak on the return pipe between the injectors and the FIP. Which explains the diesel mess everywhere. Could water have got in there, went into the fuel pump and back to the engine? Or does all the returned fuel go straight back to the tank or can it be recirculated? Cheers S Also I did stutter for a while after passing through the puddle. And it came and went, so it wasn't just during the puddle. I think the puddle caused the problem but it was longer lived. So it affected something. And it looks like it needed time to drain out or clear away before it got back to normal. Also pushing on the accelerator done nothing. Didn't increase speed or change engine noise. I don't know if the engine cut out or not. It obviously kept turning as I was in gear and moving.

Just checked and the air filter is bone dry! Dryer than the inside of the car! Haha S

Ah sorry. Yes its a 300TDi fitted to a 1986 90 with an LT77 Gearbox. I will have a look at the filter and see if its wet. Thanks

So its never just 1 thing at a time with my defender! The engine is clearly getting upset at the attention the axle is getting just now! Took the car out today and all seemed fine! Spent yesterday cleaning the front passenger side brake as its full of grease and I need the car before the parts arrived. I also fixed the handbrake which was sticking on recently so a semi-successful day for me. Today I went through a puddle, a big one but I have been though deeper and bigger before with no problems. It wasn't a road closed puddle. Any car could have got through it. I maybe went a little fast though it but thats the fun part of driving through puddles! Anyway the car lost all engine power or so it seemed. Almost like the engine went silent, hard to tell what was happening (I was having a panic!). It cleared and stuttered a little more for maybe another 30 seconds. All was fine after that but I've no idea what happened. When I got home it seemed fine. I have some ideas but no idea if these are logical. 1. Water was getting into the diesel supply 2. The clutch was getting wet and slipping? 3. Water got into the handbrake and somehow jammed it up messing the diff and the power distribution to the axles I prefer option 1 though as when I lifted the bonnet expecting to see something missing there was a coating of diesel around the FIP. I changed it out about 10 months ago and don't remember there being diesel spilt on anything. Also if it had I would have expected it to be gone 10 months later. The cable to the stop solenoid was probably the worst covered. I looked for obvious leaks but nothing obvious. I also gave the cable a shake to see if that done anything but nope. My thinking is if I run the engine and then spray a fine mist of water around that area and see if anything happens. If it stutters again I know I have some kind of leak. Anyone have any other ideas as Im currently stumped S

Perfect thanks Heading there now S

Perfect, do you know the part number for the retaining plate? And do you happen to know the bolt sizes? Thanks for all the advice! S

Will the splines be the same on the drive flange side as the input side or can they change? As far as I know it's the original axle. And perfect thanks

Im sure this is an impossible question to answer but does anyone know how many splines my CV will have? I don't know how to tell other than pulling it off but I'd rather leave that for when I'm doing the work. I wasn't sure if there is a way to tell from dates or if its just what the factory were using at that time. S

So I have been for a look in some daylight and well its worse than I thought! The ball is badly pitted so looks like I might as well just rip it all out ad start again! So I guess now need This Kit and a spare day! While I'm in there and have it all stripped down should I do anything else? I'm thinking CV joint? And maybe the disc? Don't want to have to pull it apart in 3 months because one of them has failed! I will also check the breather to make sure its not blocked and this wasn't all caused by pressure build up in the axle. Stephen (Changed swivel kit to OEM)

So I took the passenger side front wheel off today and had a look at the brakes. Now I had known I had a leaking swivel housing but didn't realise how bad. The inside of the disc has a lovely coating of grease as did the pad. The outside edge was okay. So Im going to clean it up and stick it back together but obviously need to fix the leak and replace the pad (the disc should clean up okay I think, could someone confirm? Just with break cleaner) Which pads do I need? I had previously ordered STC9145 but that wasn't the right one. I think I need STC9191. I have included a photo (They look the same but obviously you can't go by looks all the time!) Its a 1986 90, drums on the rear. And now my next question, whats required to sort my leak on the swivel? Would it be this or would I need to replace the ball as well or something else? Or do I need to provide more info for someone to be able to tell me? Sorting this will be the biggest job I will have done. I know there are videos on youtube about it so I will be watching them a few times! But any tips would be useful and a hand to sort the parts! Cheers Stephen

Ah okay perfect! If it is the Pistons that have siezed how do I work out which ones I need and how do I know which pads. I've not had the car long enough to work out what's standard and what's not Is there any obvious tells? Piston size or pad size?

I know this might be stupid but how easy is it to stick on the brake tester with it being a 4WD? When they done the last MOT he didn't check it on the brake tester but took it out a drive. Oh also it's a 1986 90 with a 300tdi. It's fitted with a 110 servo and master cylinder. Just incase that makes any difference

Is there a way to check the vacume? Or is it just change it and see. And okay will take a look. Might need a hand working out which pads I need!!

So it's coming up to MOT time so I've been checking the car over for faults. All seems okayish. However my brakes are little odd. Sometimes they work well and other times the pedal goes solid (can't push it any harder) and the brakes aren't doing much. Which makes me think air in the system? Or could it be a faulty vacuume pump or master cylinder. I've changed the servo recently as it was leaking so I know it's not that. 2nd is it pulls to the right when braking. So there is a fault on the left brakes. How do I tell if it's rear or front? And how do I confirm its the brakes? Someone suggested to me it could be the swivel joint or CV. Or could it be the air in the system? Cheers Stephen

So I went for a test drive this morning, in the lovely wind and rain! The top of my street is on a hill and is a big circle, tried full lock left on that and no problems. Drove to the bottom of my street to turn left up another hill. As I pulled out it felt like it was slipping again. Was in 1st gear with a little revs to get it going. Pulled out it slipped a little then all was fine and up the hill I went with no complaints. Got to my empty car park. Full lock right, no noise. Up to about 15mph on full lock and nothing. Tried full lock left again at about 15mph and no noise. Got out to shut the window and almost fell over from being dizzy. Back to my street, tried pulling out again but no slipping. Then tried again and guess what nothing. Only thing that has changed recently is the weather. Its now wet (Scottish wet!). Could it just be tyres? They are AT2's all abut 1/1.5 years old except the rear right which I have the spare on just now. Its a different tyre and its on a steel wheel rather than an alloy. Could this be it? The tread on all the tyres is fine, some lower than others but all plenty legal! Stephen

My thinking is that it can't be gearbox wear as then the problem would be happening all the time not just on a hard right lock and would happen when I was pushing the car hard. My thinking is either the front or rear diff. More likely the front as it gets the most use. Or the half shafts on the front axle? My reasoning being it only happens on coners and the juddering/whining noise could be the splines slipping. Is there an easy way to check? If I'm taking the half shafts out to look I might as well replace them. Don't want to messing around because of my back. Would rather it was just done haha. So any advice where to look or tests todo? Cheers S

Tried reversing up a hill with the handbrake on the car moved a little and then stalled so clutch seems fine? Full lock to the left no noise from anything. Full lock to the right, I was getting what sounded like a winding up noise? But it wasn't constant only every now and then. Done this on a slight hill seemed to be happening only when the car was heading down hill. (I think anyway) Ideas anyone? S

So I'm back! Everything seemed fine recently with the clutch, driven plently of miles (300ish) and nothing, except this morning when I pulled out my street. I turn left onto a upwards hill. And it felt like it was slipping. Dont know if it was the tyres or the clutch. Doubt it was the tyres theyre all in good condition and its never slipped there before. I pushed the car hard up some hills in 3rd, 4th and 5th and didnt feel any slipping (Am I right in thinking thats when it most likely to happen?). The only other thing ive noticed is when turning sharp corners, I feel like something is slipping or the power to the wheels just isnt right? Could this be some kind of diff problem or the splines wearing? S