90 Defender problems - ADVICE NEEDED PLEASE!

Hello All,

I've just purchased a '96 90 Defender 330TDI and am having a few
teething problems.

I picked the vehicle up on Saturday and by Sunday the alternator
pulley had come loose causing the belt to come off. I realised there
was a problem when the battery light illuminated and the power
steering stopped working. After pulling up (about 400 yards later) I
opened the bonnet to find coolant splattered all over the engine.
The vehicle was returned to the garage (a well respected specialist)
and a few hours later I was told that the alternator had been replaced
and the engine succesfully pressure tested.
Do you guys think that there could be any damage to the engine ? Do
you think it's worth getting an independant garage to check it over ?

Also, sometimes when changing gear (usually from second to third and
forth to fifth) I can feel and hear the gears 'crunch' into position
and also (not necessarily in the same instance) I hear a different
'crunch' when releasing the clutch. The garage technicians say that
they couldn't find any problems and I was made to think that this was
due to how I was driving.
This is the first time I've driven a Landy (although I've covered
several 100K miles across the UK using various vans at work) so I'm
not really sure if this is a defect with the vehicle.

And finally, since the garage 'replaced' the alternator, there has
been a constant squeak coming from the engine - is this just temporary
or is it worth worrying about ?

As you've probably gathered, I'm no Land Rover expert (although more
than willing to learn) so help you can provide would be greatly
appreciated.

Regards,

Chris Cox

Leeds - UK
Land-rovering for about 230 miles.

In <[email protected]> Chris wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> I've just purchased a '96 90 Defender 330TDI and am having a few
> teething problems.
>
> I picked the vehicle up on Saturday and by Sunday the alternator
> pulley had come loose causing the belt to come off. I realised there
> was a problem when the battery light illuminated and the power
> steering stopped working. After pulling up (about 400 yards later) I
> opened the bonnet to find coolant splattered all over the engine.
> The vehicle was returned to the garage (a well respected specialist)
> and a few hours later I was told that the alternator had been replaced
> and the engine succesfully pressure tested.
> Do you guys think that there could be any damage to the engine ? Do
> you think it's worth getting an independant garage to check it over ?

There shouldn't be any direct effect on the engine but I'd be a bit
worried about the coolant. I can't think of any reason that a failed
alternator pulley would cause water to appear all over the place...

> Also, sometimes when changing gear (usually from second to third and
> forth to fifth) I can feel and hear the gears 'crunch' into position
> and also (not necessarily in the same instance) I hear a different
> 'crunch' when releasing the clutch. The garage technicians say that
> they couldn't find any problems and I was made to think that this was
> due to how I was driving.
> This is the first time I've driven a Landy (although I've covered
> several 100K miles across the UK using various vans at work) so I'm
> not really sure if this is a defect with the vehicle.

Noises of any kind aren't easy to diagnose over the internet but it may
be that you aren't fully depressing the clutch ? The clutch is quite
heavy by modern standards and can take some getting used to.

> And finally, since the garage 'replaced' the alternator, there has
> been a constant squeak coming from the engine - is this just temporary
> or is it worth worrying about ?

Did they replace the belt as well ?

If not then it may be a damaged belt, if they did it could be anything
although the tensioner pulley is always favourite.

>
> As you've probably gathered, I'm no Land Rover expert (although more
> than willing to learn) so help you can provide would be greatly
> appreciated.

As you are local, if it's still doing it on Sunday you could come up to
our trial - I'm sure there'll be no end of people happy to take a look/
listen. Details on the web site, in the events section (see sig).

cheers

Dave W.
http://www.yorkshireoffroadclub.net/

Dave White wrote:

> There shouldn't be any direct effect on the engine but I'd be a bit
> worried about the coolant. I can't think of any reason that a failed
> alternator pulley would cause water to appear all over the place...
>
No water pump/fan drive = overheating = spewing boiling coolant out of
the overflow.


--
EMB
change two to number to reply

[email protected] (Chris) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

> Hello All,
>
> I've just purchased a '96 90 Defender 330TDI and am having
> a few teething problems.
>
> I picked the vehicle up on Saturday and by Sunday the
> alternator pulley had come loose causing the belt to come
> off. I realised there was a problem when the battery light
> illuminated and the power steering stopped working. After
> pulling up (about 400 yards later) I opened the bonnet to
> find coolant splattered all over the engine. The vehicle
> was returned to the garage

How was it returned to the garage? The danger could be that cold
water was used to top up the coolant. Otherwise, hopefully no
damage in 400 yards.

(a well respected specialist)
> and a few hours later I was told that the alternator had
> been replaced and the engine succesfully pressure tested.
> Do you guys think that there could be any damage to the
> engine ? Do you think it's worth getting an independant
> garage to check it over ?

What harm would it do? And it would restore your peace of mind.

>
> Also, sometimes when changing gear (usually from second to
> third and forth to fifth) I can feel and hear the gears
> 'crunch' into position and also (not necessarily in the
> same instance) I hear a different 'crunch' when releasing
> the clutch. The garage technicians say that they couldn't
> find any problems and I was made to think that this was due
> to how I was driving. This is the first time I've driven a
> Landy (although I've covered several 100K miles across the
> UK using various vans at work) so I'm not really sure if
> this is a defect with the vehicle.
>
> And finally, since the garage 'replaced' the alternator,
> there has been a constant squeak coming from the engine -
> is this just temporary or is it worth worrying about ?

Try splashing some water on the external belt and see if it goes
away. If it does, this is just the famous 300Tdi belt squeak (do
a Google Groups for fun!). It is caused by the belt/tensioner
becoming glazed and similar to the squeak made when drawing your
finger down a window pane with about as much for you to worry
about!
>
> As you've probably gathered, I'm no Land Rover expert
> (although more than willing to learn) so help you can
> provide would be greatly appreciated.
>
> Regards,
>
> Chris Cox
>
> Leeds - UK
> Land-rovering for about 230 miles.

Good luck and welcome to the club!

Derry

On Wednesday, in article <[email protected]>
[email protected] "EMB" wrote:

> Dave White wrote:
>
> > There shouldn't be any direct effect on the engine but I'd be a bit
> > worried about the coolant. I can't think of any reason that a failed
> > alternator pulley would cause water to appear all over the place...
> >
> No water pump/fan drive = overheating = spewing boiling coolant out of
> the overflow.

Yes, I'd say there's nothing worrying about this, just be careful for a
while. It doesn't sound as if there was enough driving done after the
belt came off for there to be any serious consequences.

Gearbox, it depends rather more on miles than years. There are several
minor possible problems, including clutch adjustment. On some LR
designs, the connection between the gear stick and selectors wears, and
can affect a particular gear-change. It can cost in time, but it isn't
a job needing expensive parts, tools, or skills.

I can recommend the other poster's suggestion of going to a local club
event.

--
David G. Bell -- SF Fan, Filker, and Punslinger.

"History shows that the Singularity started when Sir Tim Berners-Lee
was bitten by a radioactive spider."

I did find that you develop a different style to the gear shift with a LR.
Forcing in the shift can be done but I found that a slight delay in neutral
made the shift seamless ( just momentary not so as you'd notice ).
Also there is a small ball bearing that clicks out when you disengage
reverse, look out for the click as it can be off putting and is simply a
lock to ensure you don't get reverse at an awkward speed !!


> Also, sometimes when changing gear (usually from second to third and
> forth to fifth) I can feel and hear the gears 'crunch' into position
> and also (not necessarily in the same instance) I hear a different
> 'crunch' when releasing the clutch

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I managed to get a collegue (who owns a Defender 90 Td5) to take it
for a test drive and he reckons it's OK - he also let me take his for
spin for comparison and having experienced the same in his I had to
conclude that it's how I'm driving it (still practice makes perfect).

I took it back to the garage this morning and they replaced the belt
and also mentioned something about some bearings (which they said they
fixed). Just driven it back from Leeds over to work (in Bradford) and
it seems OK now.

Going to be taking it down to Cornwall at the weekend for a couple of
weeks camping so hopefully there should be plenty of driving time to
get used to it.

Thanks again,

Chris

Leeds - UK

"Hirsty's" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> I did find that you develop a different style to the gear shift with a LR.
> Forcing in the shift can be done but I found that a slight delay in neutral
> made the shift seamless ( just momentary not so as you'd notice ).
> Also there is a small ball bearing that clicks out when you disengage
> reverse, look out for the click as it can be off putting and is simply a
> lock to ensure you don't get reverse at an awkward speed !!
>
>
> > Also, sometimes when changing gear (usually from second to third and
> > forth to fifth) I can feel and hear the gears 'crunch' into position
> > and also (not necessarily in the same instance) I hear a different
> > 'crunch' when releasing the clutch