The Defender thread

O.A.P

WheresMyCamera? wrote: »

See that's what I love about Defenders, you can't really tell what year they are from model to model! It's a '03 with 63k on the clock.

I do like the Zu rims. One of the guys I work with has them on his 110 along with 37" Cooper STT's. Looks very well. Trying not to copy him too much!

There are slight differences between the models on the outside but only owners or defender anoraks would spot them. I knew yours was a td5 but that is anywhere between 99 - 06. It has the new type dash so and an easily tunable ECU, all good (mine dont have)
I was joking about the Zu rims although nice they are much to expensive, for my pockets anyway. Imo wolf rims painted or powder coated black look the best on a defender. The new M.O.D wheels that Sean was talking about are unbelievably expensive and I think ugly.

101sean

"puts on anorak"

The Zu rims are an alloy copy of the Matt Lee Mach 5 steel rim which is about the strongest you can get, a lot of challenge trucks use them.

Terrafirma have leapt on the bling bandwagon and now make a copy of the Blindo rim. A set of genuine Blindos off a Wolf went for over £650 on ebay recently :eek:

caprilicious

WheresMyCamera? wrote: »

See that's what I love about Defenders, you can't really tell what year they are from model to model! It's a '03 with 63k on the clock.

I agree, I seen a lovely, really tidy looking 110 earlier in the week. I had to do a double take when I realised it was an 88', it looked clean enough to pass for a 10 year younger vehicle.

OAP - that's good to know about the main dealers (about time too!). I work close to the local dealers but never darkened their doors since they quoted me €1200 to replace the head gasket in my freelander when I was able to buy the parts (spurious) for under €200.

O.A.P

My td5 defender seems to be working well for now so I'm hoping this is not the start of a bigger problem. I was giving it a clean out this morning and there is some water getting into the load area which I have lined with ply and mdf. I decided to dry it out before it starts to rot and I pluged in a heater to the cigarette lighter. I left the engine running to save the battery and it was already warm when I started, at about 90*.
So I had a few jobs to do and left it alone for an hour or less, then when I went to see if it was drying out the temp gauge had droped into the blue . I took it for a drive and it went up again straight away to normal.
As I said every thing is working proparly including the heater and the coolant is full. Am I been paranoid maybe or is the thermostat or something else broke?
Thanks for any advice and have a happy Christmass.

101sean

Panic ye not, it's normal!

Diesels run cool unless working hard. If it had been a 200tdi, you'd have no heat at all at idle!

The Td5 thermostat also has a spring loaded valve that directs the most of the flow through the heater at idle so you do get heat. It's the white plastic yoke down behind the LH side of the rad.

Your leaking Defender is also normal :rolleyes:

O.A.P

Good man, thanks for that Sean.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

101sean

No problem

Temperature gauge acting weird is what mine does but I have a dodgy sender or loose connection, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't :rolleyes:

Will get round to fixing it after the wandering steering and shuttle switch failure in the ABS modulator! Busy few days coming up

caprilicious

Happy Christmas folks, hope ye had a good one

Quick question,I'm looking for a set of replacement axle straps for a series 3 109, however I can only find them on Australian websites for some reason.

This is a link to what I'm looking for......http://shop.allfourx4.com.au/Rear-Axle-Check-Straps-Land-Rover-Series-3-2A-SWB-PAIR

Do they go under a different name that would help me locate them on websites a bit closer to home?

101sean

LRSeries is a great website for finding parts, used them several times for stuff Paddocks don't have although the postage is dearer.

Axle check strap is the correct term. Must admit I've never replaced them when they've rotted away but are important for a proper restoration.

http://www.lrseries.com/shop/product/listing/1778/598854-AXLE-CHECK-STRAP.html?search=axle%20strap&page=1

Bearcat

Hi lads, got a puma defender commercial recently 07 with a 100k on clock. I really like it but the niggles about reliability cross my mind. Have to say gearbox which is said to be a weak point is a pleasure especially on the open road. My previous experience of a td5 and lt77 boxes were things got real noise circa 65mph where as puma is comfy at this speed....sound levels are half. Heating has been transformed too and that transit engine ain't have bad.....loads of mid range punch.....does have that lovely idle of the td5 nor is it as tunable I'm lead to believe. Photos to follow.

I'm on the hunt for an A Bar. My front bumper got a thump and I'm think of changing it.....rebel 4x4 seem the most competitive....pity I have to go to uk.. I also need 3 new grabber Tyres (spare perfect). .......anyone care to point me where I get these without been taken to the cleaners?

A happy bunny again, happy as clam back in my comfy zone again driving a defender.

101sean

Glad to hear you are enjoying it and it's running fine.

If you get in touch with Crozier 4x4 in Moate or West Coast Spares in Galway they will get hold of Bearmach, Taubenreuther and Terrafirma accessories inc an A bar. Otherwise UK is usually cheaper and Paddocks only charge a tenner postage.

Paddocks are cheapest for tyres but if you take their price or one from Eiretyres to your local retailer they may match it, local tyre fitters are getting more competitive.

Bearcat

Thanks Sean, just back from a 100 mile trip around Meath / Kildare through fields, back roads etc.... Love it and appreciate advise

caprilicious

Thanks a million Sean, google wasn't cooperating with me when I was searching for them for some reason, would only show me one's in Aus with €30+ postage rates :eek:

We're changing from leaf springs to parabolics and the old straps are a bit ropey so thought for the sake of less than a tenner for the straps it'd be worth replacing.

I'm hoping we're seeing the end of the parts required for this restoration, my poor bank balance can't take much more of a hammering with it!

101sean

Parabolics have a lot more flex so you'll need check straps unless you fit longer shocks. Depends what you intend to do, if it's a road going vehicle it will be fine. If you intend off roading the check straps will restrict one of the benefits of paraboics.

I'm sure someone asked me about parabolics before, my memory is hopeless these days

O.A.P

I'm planning to change all the transmission fluid at the weekend or when I get a litre of MTF 94. I have EP-80-90 and MTF left over from the last time so all I need is another 5 litres for the diffs and transfer box and a litre of MTF for the gearbox.
So can anyone tell me where to get it in litre bottles locally, Landrover want 48 euro for 5 litres so I made an excuse and left.
Halfords have a simialar oil (forget what its called) but they are different opinions on wheather it is suitable in an R380 box or not and as I will be mixing it I would rather keep it the same.
Thanks for any advice.

101sean

You should be able to get MTF (manual transmission fluid) at any decent motor factor, we got Esso last time, can't remember what they called it but it said manual transmission fluid on it somewhere and looked like runny jam so was the right stuff. It isn't cheap though and €48 for 5l from a main dealer wasn't too bad.

O.A.P

I went to the two main motor factors in Ennis today but they only have ATF which wont do. There are a few tractor places outside town that might be worth a look though.
I only need 1 litre so while 48 euro for 5 may be reasonable, (and I know its there for next time) I gota mind the pennies at the moment

Suckler

:mad: Got home over Christmas to do a few jobs on the defender. Its just gettin worse:

Ran it for a while, checked the coolant, found a nice mayonaise time substance on the lid of the coolant chamber. New head Gasket obviously. Had one on stand by but dampness got to it and the rings are rusted

Lights and windscreen wash pump cross connections somewhere.

All gauges have now stopped working.

Rear door rusted to bits and will need replacing.

Bottom of drivers door rusting nicely and will need replacing

That on top of a non-starting discovery has me fit to explode!!:mad:

caprilicious

Suckler are you sure it wasn't our garden you drove into rather than you're own?
1 non running discovery, 1 non running 110 (needs a replacement fuel tank, minor rewiring then she's sorted so nearly there!), 1 non running 109 (hope to have that sorted by weekend, then just need to bolt body back on).

So I feel your pain sure isn't the self maintenance part of Landy's what makes us love them

101sean

The joys of owning Land Rovers! You need at least three to ensure that at least one is working

O.A.P

I got all the oils changed on the 110 today and but there was one moment when my hart sank to the bottom of my stomach. I left the gearbox until last and when I had the filler plug undone I went for the most obvious drain nut which is at the bottom of the bell housing. When I opened it not a drop not even water , I asked my young helper a lot of questions but he had no answer to this one either.
After ten minutes I remembered its the awkard one over the cross member I should open and all was well again but messy.I know the bellhousing is not the gearbox at all(its the clutch and flywheel) I just couldnt see the wood for the trees and just went for the obvious drain nut again.
So I'm curious now what is the purpose of this nut ?

101sean

Without looking it up I reckon it's a wading plug. On older LRs, there's a drain hole in the bellhousing to let the inevitable leaks out from weeping crankshaft seal, input shaft seal and knackered slave cylinder :rolleyes: When going wading you screw a wading plug in to stop the clutch being wrecked by silty water.

Current land Rovers don't leak (well, not as often!) so the the plugs are left in. Worth removing each service to see if anything does come out! :eek:

200 and 300tdi engines also have a wading plug for the timing case.

stock>

yep with the 101man on this...definitely a 1/4 bsp blank ..........an after market addition ......................not a genuine one me thinks..........

Bearcat

Well here's my 90. Just got itrecently ex DD. It's the transit engine version with the 6 speed box. Very happy with it and for me who does a fair bit of motorway traveling it ticks all the boxes. That extra gear makes 110kph live able with unlike the td5 that drones at that speed re it's gearing. The heating is a massive step up from previous models and I'm happy with the fuel consumption. Like every defender it's like driving the queen Mary on the open road such are it's handling characteristics on the open road but that goes hand in hand what the defender is all about. I spent the day in the Wicklow mountains up a few rough places today....not a bother. I'm glad I'm back in defender land.....I feel free again.....


My plan as I get some cash in (when is the big?) is replace Tyres as there on limits especially for the rough stuff......I may end up buying a wheel package from cradocks as general grabbers alone are v expensive. Want to put an a bar on it with spots, Chequer plating plus a few bits, bobs........I bought a http://shirefabrications.com/services security plate for it. Going to change gear and diff oils next week.....have all the spec.

It's not everyone's cuppa but it's my brew:))

101sean

Very nice blank canvas to work on.

Got some Wolf rims on the way for mine and should be getting a reasonable quote for 265/75 BFG A/Ts locally soon.

I'll probably be selling my current 255/85 Bfg MTs on boost alloys and also the 30mm spacers I have but not for a month or so.

O.A.P

Well ware Bearcat it looks spotless. Has it many miles done ?

Bearcat

Just 109km on clock......I was down with geo today who was servicing a similar engined ford with 250k miles on clock. He says they go forever with a bit of tlc. As Sean says a good canvas to work with but I'm utterely broke but I'll tip away at this girl......got a big wave from a 90 with a zg plate up the mountains today.

O.A.P

Thats just over 12000 miles a year which is bang on average, so some nice fellow has ran it in and taken most of the depreciation for you, very good.
I dont think there was ever any doubts about the puma engine been a good lump. The gearboxs on the older ones gave a lot of trouble though I belive but if yours is still tight at this stage it should be a good one.

caprilicious

lovely motor bearcat

Folks could anyone post me in the right direction to get a set of series rear/passenger doors for a series 3 109?

I'm going to mail Kevin in the Carlow breakers, though I think he didn't have any series stuff in last time I checked.

If ye know of anyone breaking a series or if there's anyone here breaking one, would ye mind PMing me?

I'm waiting for a reply from partsgateway.co.uk & off to peruse clri.net - tried ebay but nowt doing except new one's which are pric€y :eek:

Bearcat

caprilicious wrote: »

lovely motor bearcat

thanks, it's my 3rd 90. My first was a series hybrid with a 90 body and a high lift cam v8 in army green with black modular kumos.on zv plates....cough etc..it was the biz but just drank fuel. Sold it to my best mate who still has it doing farm work but needs badly now a new bulkhead. 2nd was 05 td5 which I stupidly sold.....I put a lot of €€ into it.....I saw it for sale recently on DD but I wasnt going to revisit an old memory....