1989 90 Rebuild

So very impressed with your work!

Back home now for Christmas. Managed to do about 2000 miles on the new engine since September and a few issues are apparent that need sorting over the holiday.

First thing was the MOT. Passed once again unfortunately with one advisory, chip on the windscreen. It was there last year but the didn't notice. MOT tester was a bit concerned with the smoke coming out of the exhaust though . Once the MOT was done, I finally got round to contacting Paddocks about the dodgy steering box. Managed to get a warranty replacement but after two weeks seems to have play in it again.

Got a trip planned for the holiday, probably across to Salisbury plain. Engine needs to be looked at too, current MPG is around 20 and really struggles when towing
. Having replaced the injectors for known working ones and the injection pump is off my old engine, I'm starting to think either the timing is out or something is wrong with the turbo, especially with the amount of smoke coming out. Also need to have a look at my front diff pan again as it started to leak last year and I keep putting off getting it repaired.

It might be worth sticking a boost gauge on it to see what boost your getting. I've done that no my Freelander and it's amazing how useful the info is.

Engine Rebuild Round 2:

After a bit of debating, I have decided to now rebuild the engine that I took out over the summer and then swap them back over again. Luckily this engine doesn't need a new crankshaft so I'm just going to do a quick overhaul, shells, rings and gaskets. The engine that's in at the moment just doesn't seem to be performing that well and turns out the engine that came out is a late 1993, so one of the last 200tdi's so no doubt probably a much lower mileage engine. The condition of the engine with the head off confirms this. This will then leave me with a spare engine that I can either keep or sell on but it's unlikely I'll get my money back after having to buy a new crank. Plan for now is to get the head stripped down and get it re surfaced. The valves are tight in the guides which should save me about £150 compared to last time as hopefully I can just get away with reseating the valves.

Having 2 engines means that I also have two fuel injection pumps. The one of the ebay engine has a major leak out of the front seal and I'm told it's not a job for a home mechanic even though people have done it. The pump I'm using at the moment is the original but has a leak on the head seal which I'm told can be replaced if you're careful. I'm in two minds what to do, whether to sell one to fund a rebuild of the other or risk it and rebuild it myself.

Lack of power and lots of smoke points to the turbo, maybe just the intercooler pipework, worth a close look at all the flexi bits.

Todays Update- Engine seems in much better condition than the one I bought on ebay. So far only looking like bearing shells, rings and gaskets are needed for this one

Cleaning seems to be taking up most of the time-starting to wish I'd bought a parts washer when I first started with the car; would've saved so much time by now.

I would have thought lack of power on an engine with new rings and shells ect would be something different than putting it down to high milage surely? Even has a new crank.

IamRobbie said:

I would have thought lack of power on an engine with new rings and shells ect would be something different than putting it down to high milage surely? Even has a new crank.

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how do you mean ?

jamesmartin said:

how do you mean ?

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I thought that the reason they start to go slower is down to worn rings losing compression ect so why would an engine with new shells and rings be slower? Mine has had new rings and shells ect and fires up instantly

Had a day out laning on Salisbury Plain today:
VIDEO:

Few bits ordered to get sorted through the new year. Firstly I've ordered a couple of new fuse boxes to convert my old glass type to blades after having multiple electrical issues in the last couple of months resulting in indicators not working half way through a journey. I collected some headlining material yesterday from an upholstery shop locally so need to get the current headlining out of the car and dry it out. As well as the headlining, I took the plunge and spent a fair bit on Silent Coat sound deadening which I'll use on the roof, sides, seatbox and footwells to hopefully keep the vibrations down.

Getting back to the engine, got it all stripped down now. Spent today cleaning the block ready to get it painted. Need to take the head to the engine shop to get it skimmed and valves recut. Once I've ordered the new bearings, rings and gaskets it should be ready to put back together much quicker than the other one was.

Been busy over the weekend but managed to get a few small jobs sorted. Finally got a new gear lever gaitor which fits so no more floods inside when driving through puddles. The volt gauge arrived after a month all the way from china, just need a third to fill the dash.

I removed the headliner from the car ready to recover but it was soaking so that's been drying out over the weekend and I've also made up some aluminium strengthening pieces for it to stop it warping. The plan is to get that recovered this week and refitted now I've also got the sound deadening installed on the roof.

The new fuse box arrived to convert from glass to blades, so spent today modifying the current holder to take the new boxes. Tomorrows job is to snip all the wires, crimp new connectors on each and connect up the new fuse box. (Wish me luck)

In terms of the engine, the block is now painted, might get around to taking the head to the machine shop this week for a skim and valve seat regrind. Need to order the bearing shells and rings so I can then start to put it all back together.







On a final note, on friday morning I had a major issue with my indicators right before I needed to make the 80 mile journey to Weymouth. Turns out the flasher relay is dodgy and will only click when the engine is running or a load is put onto the electrical system. It works fine when the relay has warmed up. I think the relay has had it as the trailer light is always on the warning panel when the ignition is on. When I took it apart, there was moisture inside, probably down to the fact the relay was upside down so it didn't drain because I had the fuse box removed. Anyway, a new relay is ordered and I'll find out soon if it's that that's the problem.

New fuse box is now fitted. Like others have found, there is hardly any slack in the wires so is pretty tight once you cut the old crimps off. New hazard relay came whilst I was changing the fuse boxes and fixed the indicator problem straight away so all the electrical problems are fixed for now.....

I strengthened the headlining and got it covered today. Not perfect but 100x better than the old one that was overdue a recover but never got around to it on the rebuild.

I've ordered a universal central locking kit as well as an RFID Keyless go ignition kit to have a play with and see if they can be fitted to the defender. The keyless go system is typically coming from China so will be about a month before I get it but the central locking kit should be here monday.

Finally got the headliner back in. Had a few problems with the captive nuts that hold the sun visors on so it will have to come out again at some point. Unfortunately no pictures yet.

Central locking kit arrived and again no pictures but will get them at some point. Pretty simple job but now just need to work out a way to hide the wires coming from the doors.

The RFID keyless start kit arrived quicker than I expected. Mostly wired in but just waiting for a relay and some wire to arrive before I can finish it. I'm not going to go into detail on here about how I wired it in for obvious reasons but if you want to know how I did it, the kit I used or want more pictures then PM me.

Southernlandy said:

Finally got the headliner back in. Had a few problems with the captive nuts that hold the sun visors on so it will have to come out again at some point. Unfortunately no pictures yet.

Central locking kit arrived and again no pictures but will get them at some point. Pretty simple job but now just need to work out a way to hide the wires coming from the doors.

The RFID keyless start kit arrived quicker than I expected. Mostly wired in but just waiting for a relay and some wire to arrive before I can finish it. I'm not going to go into detail on here about how I wired it in for obvious reasons but if you want to know how I did it, the kit I used or want more pictures then PM me.

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Id be interested in the kit you used. Could you pm me please. Cheers

Love your post. Your father must be very proud of you.

When do you do your school home work?

Fantastic work

Headlining looks a tidy job. Well done bud.

Alan Crossley said:

Love your post. Your father must be very proud of you.

When do you do your school home work?

Fantastic work

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I'm currently at university so balancing work and the car takes some, even though being at university I don't have the same facilities that I have at home.

Make sure that your "balance" is tilted towards your study. The great thing about the LR is that it's going to be around long after your academical education.

So currently at uni, a few weeks ago the dreaded vague steering and death wobble returned. That was steering box number 3 (Warranty replacement). I decided not to faff around with another 6 bolt so bought a second hand 4 bolt on ebay off a discovery. While I was there, the guy convinced me to convert by steering arms to the disco setup. (Yes that's right, I'm now on steering box number 4 in less than 2 years) Anyway, I went home a couple of weeks ago and fitted it, no joy. It's still as vague as it was, and now whenever I hit a largish bump in the road the wheel gets shaken. Thinking it was the swivels, I took a couple of shims out of either side with no change. I have literally changed every part now apart from the panhard rod bushes and it's starting to get a bit tedious trying to fix it. What's even worse is this box is leaking about 1/2 litre of ATF per week. Bearings, swivels, ball joints have no play whatsoever.