Thread: Expedition Home-build - AU to IE

Originally Posted by mike_ie

Thanks for that ...

Originally Posted by Bush65

The way the gasket has failed makes me suspect that the legs of the exhaust manifold to #1 & #4 cylinders, may be frozen in the centre section and not allowing them to slip as intended when the manifold heats and cools.

The amount of oil in the inlet manifold indicates there may be a good amount in the intercooler as well.

Anything I can do to rectify either of these situations???

...

The manifold would have been easy to check while it was off, but because it is not a show stopper and only conjecture (I have not heard of this being a problem), I probably wouldn't pull it off again unless there was some other reason to do so.

The exhaust manifold is in three parts. The branches from #1 and #4 cylinders slip into the centre section and are able to move to allow for differential expansion as it goes through heating and cooling cycles.

The reason I thought the gasket may have failed like it did, was that if the sections could not slide in the centre section joints, they may have been moving at the gasket joint.

However the other matter with the oil is a well known issue. There are 2 possible sources of oil in the inlet manifold. Leaking seals in the turbo, or excess oil in the line from the crankcase vent (feeds back into air inlet to turbo).

The oil accumulates in the intercooler and reduces its performance. The intercooler can be removed and the oily mess cleaned out.

Whether anything should be done about the source of the oil depends on what your oil consumption is like.

if anyone can help me get a winch from Queensland to South Australia, I'd appreciate it, and happily document its rebuild

Originally Posted by dobbo

or as tall.

255/85/R16 really do rob the power out of a na 4BD1 LT95 combo, dunno about a 4BD1T the turbo might just be enough. I wasn't impressed. Also rubbing issues at the rear if your on standard offset rims.

I drove some down from Newie to Yass, around town and therefore offroad they are fine, get them on the freeway and they are not a nice combo.

235/85/R16 or 7.50R16 are the best sizes on my setup for any type of distance driving.

I agree that an NA engine would struggle a little in some instances, but mine struggled with over revving on 235/85/16 so went to the taller tyre. I would prefer a narrower one in that diameter, as you say they will rub on full compression. I have just bought some tubeless wolf rims and a Flatdog 50mm flare kit to finally fix the offset and rubbing issues with the 255/85's.

JC

Well it seems that my manifold gasket diagnosis was the correct one – my engine block is as dry as a bone and is as oil free as I’ve ever seen it, so pretty happy with that. However, all of that oil spraying around caused a few problems that needed fixing in themselves. After a few months of wondering why my alternator would only charge intermittently, changing the regulator, cleaning the brushes, I figured that the oil being heated by the exhaust manifold was condensing in the alternator itself, and causing a bad contact between the brushes and the commutator. Nothing that a quick strip down and clean wouldn’t fix.


An alternator swap is well within the capabilities of anyone with a set of spanners, so here’s a quick how-to....

First, disconnect the battery. One lead at the back of the alternator is connected straight to the battery, and it’s all too easy to ground it accidentally.
The alternator in a 300tdi is located on the left-hand side of the engine bay, directly under the top radiator hose, and is driven by the auxiliary drive belt – which will need to be removed.



To do this, first slacken the nut that the tensioner arm pivots on, then use a 15mm socket on the centre of the tensioner pulley to pull it towards the driver’s side. This will release pulley tension from belt, and you can remove it from the alternator pulley.







Once the belt has been removed, it’s time to free up the electrical connections from the back of the alternator so that it can be removed. Depending on the model, there may be a heat shield on the back of the alternator – remove it. Then note the position of the wires, and disconnect them.



Now it’s time to get underneath the landy, and find the bottom fixing bolt for the alternator. It’s a pain in the @ss to get at, so be patient. I couldn’t get a socket to fit on it, and it had been ringed, so I welded another bolt to the head of the original in order to remove it. If you do this, be careful, the welder can fry your alternator pretty easily.



Back out from under the car, and stick your head under the bonnet again. Now remove the long through bolt from top alternator fixing, taking the weight of the alternator at the same time. Once the bolt has been completely removed, you can lift out the alternator.



From here on in, most people would be popping in a replacement alternator, but mine was in need of a cleaning, nothing more, so I stripped it down. First remove the regulator – it’s the silver wedge shaped block bolted to the alternator in the photo below, in the six o’clock position. The regulator contains the brushes, or carbon contacts that conduct the current generated by the alternator, and the circuitry that controls how that current is passed to the battery. If you don’t remove it and dismantle the alternator, you’ll break the brushes and it’s a $60 replacement



The regulator is held on by the most evil bastard size of bolt known to man – 5.5mm. A 5 or 6mm won’t do, and I ended up using needle nose pliers in the end. Now you can see both brushes exposed – they seem to be in pretty good condition.



Unbolt the three retaining nuts that hold the halves of the alternator together and pull it apart. Although you can’t see it in the photos, the alternator, both inside and out, was coated in a layer of oil that I could write my name in.



Clean the alternator thoroughly with your favourite degreaser – I used petrol simply because it’s what I had at hand. Make sure that the commutator is thoroughly clean, and reassemble.



Refitting is a matter of reversing the above procedure. Fit the alternator to the engine mounting bracket and secure with top and bottom fixing bolts. Reconnect the electrical leads, and pull the tensioner back and put the belt back on - making sure it's located in all the pulley wheels. One shiny clean alternator reinstalled.



Finally, reconnect the battery and start up the engine. I had fitted an ammeter a few months back when I was trying to figure out what was happening with the alternator, and it shows straight away that the alternator is charging. Job done!

Still waiting for the suppliers of various parts to open shop again after the Christmas, so I took the time today to do some of the niggly bits and pieces that, although they won't stop the Defender from running, make life much more comfortable when fixed.

First I stripped out the remainder of the interior - all seating and central cubby.



Next to come off was the spare tyre carrier - it needs some welding in spots. Then, seeing as I had a few rust spots developing in the bottoms of the doors, I took off the door panels to take a look.

Surprisingly they were in pretty good condition for a 16 year old defender. The worst were the rear passenger door, and the rear door. After taking the rust back with a wire brush, you can see where the frame has swiss cheesed in the corner.





Fixing this was pretty straightforward - pulled out the welder and filled the holes Once they were ground back, a quick skim of filler and a rub of sandpaper, and it was ready to be primed.



The rear passenger door hadn't been perforated, so I wire brushed the rust back to bare metal, painted it in phosphoric acid to kill any remaining rust, and skimmed with filler.



Sanded and primed....





And one quick spray later.....





Alpine white my Defender may be, but a can of Appliance White spray paint, used to fix scratches in fridges and such, seems to be a perfect match

All other rust spots were minor, and were ground back and treated with phosphoric acid before repainting. Any unused holes drilled in the cab were also filled, seeing as they do nothing but let in noise. I'll be sealing up any torn or missing grommets for the same reason. Windscreen washer also got fixed. Anyone that says you can remove and refit the sprayer nozzle through the ashtray hole must have the hands of a 5 year old child - it took me all of two seconds of trying before I removed the dash.

Does anyone know where I can get a few replacement plastic studs for the door cards?? I broke a few when removing them...

Well some of the shops finally opened again today, so I nipped down to Paramount Browns for a sheet of chequer plate to make wing and bonnet farings. The reason for this is that I live out of a roof tent when on the road, and as it swings forward over the bonnet, I spend much of the time standing on the wings to open out the tent, or loading and unloading gear from the front roofrack, and I'm debating whether to keep the second spare on the bonnet.

Seeing as I had plate to spare, and as the rear door card was pretty shot, I decided to plate the inside of the door too - it'll be more durable, and will add additional stiffness to the door.

Using the original door card as a template:



All marked out and ready to be cut - I squared off the lines with a tri-square:



Now for the cutting. Let me preface this by saying that this is a bad idea, and in no way am I recommending it. I swapped out the table saw blade with a cutting disk. In theory it should give me straight cuts on the ali plate, and if you do try this, please be careful. I'm not one or preaching about safety, but wear a face mask and watch your fingers.



To get neat corners, I punched and predrilled, before drilling out the corners with a 10mm bit.





Getting ready to cut. Sorry about the lack of pictures of the cutting process, but when I have a metal cutting disc spinning at 2000rpm an inch or two for my fingers, the pictures can wait



One section cut:



All cut and in place. I cut out each void, filed down any imperfections in the cuts, rounded the corners, and rubbed it down with a wire brush to get rid of any burrs. For now it's clamped in place, but it lines up perfectly. I'll set it aside for now to be sprayed, and mount it with rivnuts later.



I cut out the basic outline of the bonnet and wing plates:



I had plenty of plate left over, so I decided to cut some rear panel plates. It'll hide the damaged panel on the other side, and it will give me a stronger anchor point for the roof ladder which will be running up the side in future. They are an odd shape, so first I marked out their position on the defender...



then clamped the plate in place, and used the defender itself as a template:



One cut, one to go...



All cut, and wire brushed.



That's enough for this evening, will work on the bonnet plate tomorrow.

Well some of the shops finally opened again today, so I nipped down to Paramount Browns for a sheet of chequer plate to make wing and bonnet farings. The reason for this is that I live out of a roof tent when on the road, and as it swings forward over the bonnet, I spend much of the time standing on the wings to open out the tent, or loading and unloading gear from the front roofrack, and I'm debating whether to keep the second spare on the bonnet.

Seeing as I had plate to spare, and as the rear door card was pretty shot, I decided to plate the inside of the door too - it'll be more durable, and will add additional stiffness to the door.

Using the original door card as a template:



All marked out and ready to be cut - I squared off the lines with a tri-square:



Now for the cutting. Let me preface this by saying that this is a bad idea, and in no way am I recommending it. I swapped out the table saw blade with a cutting disk. In theory it should give me straight cuts on the ali plate, and if you do try this, please be careful. I'm not one or preaching about safety, but wear a face mask and watch your fingers.



To get neat corners, I punched and predrilled, before drilling out the corners with a 10mm bit.





Getting ready to cut. Sorry about the lack of pictures of the cutting process, but when I have a metal cutting disc spinning at 2000rpm an inch or two for my fingers, the pictures can wait



One section cut:



All cut and in place. I cut out each void, filed down any imperfections in the cuts, rounded the corners, and rubbed it down with a wire brush to get rid of any burrs. For now it's clamped in place, but it lines up perfectly. I'll set it aside for now to be sprayed, and mount it with rivnuts later.



I cut out the basic outline of the bonnet and wing plates:



I had plenty of plate left over, so I decided to cut some rear panel plates. It'll hide the damaged panel on the other side, and it will give me a stronger anchor point for the roof ladder which will be running up the side in future. They are an odd shape, so first I marked out their position on the defender...



then clamped the plate in place, and used the defender itself as a template:



One cut, one to go...



All cut, and wire brushed.



That's enough for this evening, will work on the bonnet plate tomorrow.

Good stuff Mike, but did you pack some hitemp grease into the needle roller at the back of the alternator? That rear bearing is the weak point of those alternators, and needs good clean lube to last. Because the actual surface of the rotor shaft is the inner bearing race, if it fails you are better off tossing the unit in favour of a Disco 100 amp unit, as they at least have replaceable bearings.

JC