UHF installation and chirpie sounds.

[Fausto79]

Hi Guys,

just starting to do some work on my Disco 1 and was wondering a few things. The first thing is i bought a UHF radio and aerial. Ive read the other posts about this but still couldnt quite find the right info as it was mostly about Disco 2s.

Basically I wana install this thing and I figured the best place without having to drill holes into the car is to either stick the aerial on the bull bar of the spare tyre carrier. Was kinda thinking the back as it is higher up and less obstructions. Any thoughts?

As far as the UHF unit itself i was hoping to install it in the middle of the overhead plastic compartment. Firstly i this part strong enough to be able to hold the UHF whilst bouncing around without cracking the plastic?
Most importantly, ive read on the Disco 2 there are power and wiring behind this panel which you could hook up the radio to. is this the case with Disco 1 too? Without being crude can you guys suggest the best place to put it?

Thanks.

Now on the other subject. Ive read abotu this on other posts. My car has a chirping sound which gets faster as you accelerate. Im assuming its one of the pulley bearings. Are Discos known for this problem? is there a particular pulley or tensioner which has common issues across all disco 1s? possible something not being true centre or having a known fault with bearings on particular part?

Any help on these issues is much appreciated. Thanks in advance for any feedback and sorry if i may have done something wrong in the posts, im still new here but i learn real quick.

Larry

[Sharkee]

Gday mate I have a d2 and I think the overhead consoles are similar in the d1. I have an old school gme cb hanging from there which is quite heavy and no probs yet and also had a similar size/weight uhf mounted in the same spot on my last d2 as well without problems. I tried picking up power in the plug that I assume was for the sunroof but could not find any wires that were actually powered and the fuse for the sunroof is in but ended up putting it in the too hard basket and ran new wires which was'nt that hard. My wires/coax cant be seen and are run up behind the plastic pillar cover to the top and I found if youre gentle can pull the rooflining out slightly where it meets the windscreen and tuck in there. When you get to around the centre feed the wires/coax into the cavity that has the removable panel in the centre of the overhead (d2 I think d1 similar) I think it the spot the sunroof switches are normally and there is your power/earth and coax ready to hook up.

Hope that makes sense

Sorry cant help ya much on the other questions

Steve

[Sharkee]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2013/01/1288.jpg

[slug_burner]

Welcome,

Sounds like the cb mounting has been covered.

It may not make a difference in this case but it helps if you tell us more details about your car. Diesel or petrol, auto or manual? Model year can also help.

Does the cheeping sound come from the engine compartment?

With the serpentine belt on the 300 Tdi and the later V8s, there are bearings in the fan belt tensioner and idler pulleys, the thermo fan, water pump etc.

Best get your bonnet up and have a listen with the engine going.

[DiscoMick]

My UHF is just mounted to the plastic trim covring the transmission tunnel on the driver's side up under the dash and seems fine there. Plenty of power pickup options under the dash. My trailer controller is also in that area, but mounted to the dash.
My aerial is on the bullbar. I was told if it was put on the spare wheel carrier the body of the vehicle might interfere with the signal.
I used to have a chirp, but it went away after the alternator was rebuilt. Not sure if that is your cause, of course.

[Fausto79]

Welcome,

Sounds like the cb mounting has been covered.

It may not make a difference in this case but it helps if you tell us more details about your car. Diesel or petrol, auto or manual? Model year can also help.

Does the cheeping sound come from the engine compartment?

With the serpentine belt on the 300 Tdi and the later V8s, there are bearings in the fan belt tensioner and idler pulleys, the thermo fan, water pump etc.

Best get your bonnet up and have a listen with the engine going.

thanks slug burner. yea i was gona look under the bonnet this w/e and have a listen n see if i can pin point, i thought id just ask in case it was a common issue. i also thought i had stated all the details.

its a 300tdi 1996 manual disco 1.

[disco 3 door]

Could be belt tensoiner or incorrect belt length.

[Spel1]

Chirping can be pulleys, but can also maybe be dry/worn uni joints. Check if the chirp is consistent with road speed or engine speed. Listen for the sound, then change revs - gear up or down keeping a consistent road speed. If the noise changes with revs, probably pulley/tensioner related, if it does not, probably driveshafts or driveline related.

[Spel1]

Also, mounted my cb antenna to the spare wheel carrier, no signal issues. Cb mounted on the roof console, with a remote connector to the speaker mic so it doesn't dangle down in front of my eyes. No mounting problems. Had to run power to the roof console, but was no problem and did it at the same time as running coax for antenna. Simon

[Fausto79]

thanks guys good to see so much useful info out there and so many people quick to post with help. im feeling more and more like this was a good idea.

[DiscoMick]

Incidentally, its possible to get retractable leads to pull the radio aerial up out of the way when not in use.

[Utemad]

If you have a lower end model car it is possible to use an unused fuse location in the under dash fuse box.

Don't cut anything important but it makes for a more factory feel.

My GME Tx3200 is just double sided taped to the roof console. Been there a few years now.

Antenna is on front guard.

[Fausto79]

Hi guys,

ive had a look under the hood and found where the chirpie sounds come out of. seems to be on a tensioner (hard to find exactly where but im pretty sure the one shown on the pics). the thing that alarmed me is that it is attached to another part and there is a seal between that and the front of the engine. now this whole housing shakes with the tensioner at the seal part. see the photos. ive circled the pulley in red and the seal attachment in yellow. at the seal part seems to shake left and right as belt spins n the pulley/tensioner makes the chirpie sound (ie bearings).

any feedback would be great. do you guys think i should pull the whole bit off and change seal and pulley or just try n fix the sound. there seems to be nothing leaking out and the seal looks ok from what you can see. also if you could tell me what that part is and why its completely attached like that to the bracket which the pulley is on.

thanks guys

larry

[Spel1]

That's the serpentine belt tensioner. The sprung section has a rubber isolator which wears out, leaving metal to metal - there are no seals where you have circled. Best to replace the whole thing - been covered here before. Unit is made by Dayco (OEM) and available from Bursons and Repco for less than $100 (I think I paid around $93 earlier this year when mine was also found to be worn). This unit also causes the belt to be out of alignment when it is worn that much. Only takes a few minutes to replace - belt off, then the centre bolt, might as well get a new belt while you are there as the one you have looks a bit marked up.

Try spraying some WD or lube on the sprung unit (not on the belt) and see if the noise goes away or changes - just to be sure before you replace it.

That's a very clean looking engine bay by the way, looks new.
Might also look in to getting that black radiator overflow bottle replaced at some point before it fails you. Simon

[Fausto79]

That's the serpentine belt tensioner. The sprung section has a rubber isolator which wears out, leaving metal to metal - there are no seals where you have circled. Best to replace the whole thing - been covered here before. Unit is made by Dayco (OEM) and available from Bursons and Repco for less than $100 (I think I paid around $93 earlier this year when mine was also found to be worn). This unit also causes the belt to be out of alignment when it is worn that much. Only takes a few minutes to replace - belt off, then the centre bolt, might as well get a new belt while you are there as the one you have looks a bit marked up.

Try spraying some WD or lube on the sprung unit (not on the belt) and see if the noise goes away or changes - just to be sure before you replace it.

That's a very clean looking engine bay by the way, looks new.
Might also look in to getting that black radiator overflow bottle replaced at some point before it fails you. Simon


hi simon,

thanks for the post. i will do what you suggested. also, why would the overflow need replacing? do you see something wrong with it? it seems fine to me, is there a problem with these?

[Spel1]

The black overflow bottles are prone to failing, the clear replacements are much stronger. Might look ok but it could fail a long way from home. Do a search on this too, plenty of failures and warnings to read about, mine cracked at the bottom and I lost a lot of coolant. Simon

[DiscoMick]

My black one cracked, dumped the water and cooked my engine. New engine was required. Get rid of it and get the white one ASAP. Cheap insurance.

[Fausto79]

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY 1 200/300Tdi - Coolant Expansion Tank to`98 (PCF101590) | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-1-200-300Tdi-Coolant-Expansion-Tank-to-98-PCF101590-/251143725028)

are these the ones? is there a particualr brand?

[DiscoMick]

Yep,that looks right. Any LR stocker should have them too.

[Fausto79]

Ok I found these guys in Bassendean which stock the white tanks for anyone else interested.

Land Rover Parts - RADIATOR EXPANSION TANK - L/R DEF+DISC+R/ROV (TDI+EFI) (http://www.roverparts.com.au/inc/sdetail/12152)

should i start a new thread with it so other people can see?

i also found this on ebay though

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LAND-ROVER-DISCOVERY-1-200-300Tdi-Coolant-Expansion-Tank-to-98-PCF101590-/251143725028?clk_rvr_id=409282272437

it is the same part although costs less than buying it from perth even after postage costs. so if people can wait a few weeks for the package they can save about $15-20, otherwise they can buy the part immediately (if in stock) for the price on the other link.

Larry

[frostyblue]

Hey Fausto79, here is a pic of my UHF install, there is a plug behind panel that you can pick up both earth and power, UHF anntennae generally dont need ground plane but putting ant on rear wheel carrier will generally transmit forward and to the left, mounted on bullbar generally will transmit moreso backwards, centre of roof is ideal but not generally practical unless mounted on roofrack,

cheers

ken
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[Fausto79]

Fitted my UHF to the roof console. Looks good. Has awesome range. My antenna is on the bull bar.

With the chirpie sounds i did as suggested and turned out the sound was from the drive belt tensioner bearing. I ended up buying the whole assembly including an expansion tank as well for about $130 delivered from UK and arrived in 4 DAYS! Changed the tensioner over and changed drive belt while i was at it and it now sounds awesome (quiet).

[DiscoMick]

Glad it worked out.
Incidentally, with the hanging UHF mike cord, its possible to use one of those retractable cord thingies like you get in dog lead reels to hold the cord up out of the way. Just a thought...

[warren9981]

I just tuck my mic lead into the overhead console bin. Stays there on everything except the really rough stuff.

[Spel1]

Glad it worked out.
Incidentally, with the hanging UHF mike cord, its possible to use one of those retractable cord thingies like you get in dog lead reels to hold the cord up out of the way. Just a thought...

My UHF unit is mounted in the top centre console but did not want the hanging cord, so I ran an extension lead (which is like a phone wire) for the speaker mic around the windscreen under the trim and down to the console on the floor. Clipped the speaker mic to the console - cord comes out of a grommet in the plastic.

[Fausto79]

I leave the mic in the glove box until i need it and take off the antenna when im in the city.

as far as the cord os concerned i have the clip for it mounted on the side of the cb unit and clip the mic onto it and the cord is not too bothersome although i tuck it into the passenger side sunvisor. was thimking of making some kind of hook to hook it onto but we shall see.

thanks for ur posts.


fausto79