Thread: What did you do on your Defender today ? (well, this week anyway)

What did that kit set you back mate?

Originally Posted by Colmoore

What did that kit set you back mate?

Sorry didn't see this message, I assume you were asking about the new steering gear I fitted Straya day weekend. The Gywn Lewis 4x4 stuff was £275 incl the freight the track link was from Rock Ware in the USA, this part was ordered on a whim after reading this excellent write up on defender mods: Going Bush
It ended up costing me $300 as I had to get through a third party to export. With hindsight the Sumo bar straight version would have been just as good.
New OME steering stabliser from ARB, a cutting disk for the grinder and a 1&5/16 socket (drop arm nut) took care of the rest of my christmas bonus.

Cheers

Not quite sold on the idea, probably got in and out of the defer 8 times today......although at least the door handle isn’t jamming into my leg.

Collected parcels of gaskets bo,ts and bits to do a preemptive head gasket

Originally Posted by mfc

Collected parcels of gaskets bo,ts and bits to do a preemptive head gasket

In true LR traditions we count that as maintenance not a failure or lack of reliability And longevity .

Cheers

I’d go as far as a 150 k service item
Still can’t tar them as unreliable , just a tad more work to keep them legal and going rather than just running

Yesterday replaced the clutch master cylinder. A few of weeks ago I noticed a drop of something on the floor under the clutch pedal. "I wonder what that is?"

Next trip to town I noticed it was bigger, and I could smell brake fluid. So before the following trip I checked and topped up the fluid. Last week I dropped in to Burson's and got a master cylinder (they had it listed in their computer - I was certain they would have one because it is the most common M/C used on override trailer brakes). I was not able to get onto it before the next trip to town, and Wednesday- Thursday it was too wet - while I was working under cover, I was going to have to go to and fro, and also a bit concerned about using too much power for lighting as the sun was not helping, and we had already had two days of no sun.

So yesterday got into it. As I have found in the past, the easy way is to remove the whole pedal assembly - undo six bolts inside the footwell, undo the hydraulic pipe, lift and twist
90° to allow the footpad to clear the hole in the footwell (which on the Isuzu means removing the manifold to aircleaner pipe, and on this installation you also need to remove the relay that is secured under one of the screws holding the top cover on the pedal box.

Then just hold it in the vice and disassemble fully, laying the M/C aside, and the rest can then be cleaned of brake fluid and grease and general gunk. Grease was an issue - my pedal shaft has a grease nipple and it has been plentifully greased every service in an unsuccessful attempt to stop a squeaking pedal. The strip down left no doubt it is not the pedal shaft squeaking - it was very greasy, but the trunnion that pushes the piston rod was dry and shiny where it is in the pedal lever.

The new cylinder had a forked end on the piston rod, so this had to be replaced by the old one, and the adapter for the hydraulic pipe has to be transferred as well. Then reassemble everything. As I (later) remembered doing last time, I found that you have to put the trunnion in place before assembling the pedal into the box. The lower bolt holding the M/C is difficult even on the bench, almost impossible in the vehicle.

Before assembling it, while the various bits were going through their second lot of "degrease, hose down and allow to dry", I had removed the driver's floor mat, hosed it down and put it in the sun, and hosed out the driver's footwell and the area the pedal box sits on.

It only took about ten minutes to fit the pedal assembly and refit all the bits I had removed. Took about another five minutes to bleed the system from the pipe union at the M/C, and hose down the area.

The floor mat was dry by then, but the floor was not - should have opened the windows. So I opened them, and put the mat back in this morning.

The pride and joy ('11 90) has been off the road since late January - timing chain packed it in (driving through suburbia at 60km/h). And finally got to pick it up on Thursday. Went for a recon engine in the end (from land rover; yes, I hear you). Had gotten a few quotes - long engines to complete second hand engines, ranging between $16k and $22k. Went for middle ground, kept the original motor with a plan of hopefully being able to recondition and keep as a spare. Suffice to say, additional mods will have to be curtailed for a bit (bar the Brown Davis tank which I've had in the garage for a year now, so got that fitted at the same time - nice to almost double the fuel capacity; got a bit tight fuel wise in the Territory a while back).
Apologies for any odd vertical/horizontal photo flips - system doesn't seem to like vertical pics...