Clueless landy owner in need of help...SW17 (Tooting) London

Hi all,

Started a thread on this in the intro section but apparently this is the place to put it.

Have been proud owner of 110 300TDI for approx 6 months now and had first mishap a week ago. Drive belt shredded so ended up getting towed. It seems that tensioner has gone as has alternator.

Bought myself new parts and some tools, read a bunch of threads and watched some videos. Then i grabbed a big cup of tea and started working. Just to let you know, i am a mechanical virgin.

So disconnect batt no probs.

Started on alternator. Got all off except bottom bolt. It's pretty solid and finding it very hard to get any kind of leverage due to its position. So i gave up and went for the easier job to cheer up.

Removed the nut. Removed old tensioner. Put on new one. Started tightnening with torque wrench set to 45nm. As i was tightening, it felt a bit too easy. So i started to take it off and then whole stud came out.

So now im not sure if the thread in the front cover is gone. Or if i just need to use some threadlock and tighten. I don't want to do more harm than good so am angling for help in return for payment in the form of adulation at your mechanical mastery as well as some cake etc...

Grateful for any help chaps. Oh - and please feel free to treat me like a total idiot as when it comes to this. I am!

Just for info,

This is the information discussed on the intro section.

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-ro...r-in-need-of-help-london.307110/#post-3849508

Following on from that, @wildey87 , if the coil stuff ( as you put it , LOL) is not attracted to a magnet, then I would hazard it is probably aluminium and you may well have stripped the thread in the casing. Can you post a picture of it ? just for clarification, It is not unknown that this may have happened before and it is a form of helicoil, but then I would not expect it to be aluminium, maybe it a stainless steel. The good news is that if it is a helicoil, hopefully it could be put back in with some thread lock.

Cheers

SW London is quite big - a post code might help encourage people from Sunday afternoon drudgery.

Without seeing the problem there are two possibilities that I can think of. One is that the thread has stripped completely, but maybe it had unscrewed a little as you undid the nut the first time, and that a few turns have stripped. The latter may mean that you're lucky. You may be able to tell by looking closely at the stud and seeing how many threads contain alloy debris from the damage. If it's only one or two, you should be OK to screw it fully home before trying again. Get the nut off before you try because you need almost all of the thread that screws into the casing to be buried. If you've got a spare identical nut you can tighten one against the other at the outer end of the stud to give you something to wind it in with. Otherwise you'll probably being using pliers, which is frowned upon, but as long as you only grip the unthreaded part you'll be OK if nobody's watching. Studlock liquid is a good idea too.

Hi all.

Sorry it's SW17 (Tooting)!

I've had another look and i fear the casing has been stripped. Gutted. As i imagine this is probably going to cause some bother and possibly a fair cost. I'll post a picture of the coil but as i said, i looked in the casing and it looks to me like it has stripped.

Is this something that someone can help me with or am i in big trouble!

Hi,

I may be wrong, but did you take this out before it was stripped? when / if you refitted it, did you put it in the right way around? It just looks to me like it should have been the other way around, BUT as i say, I might be wrong.

But, does look like you have stripped the threads. in which case it looks like either helicoiling it or fitting a new case, if you can find one, you may be lucky and find a good one second hand.

Cheers

No i didn't take out before stripped.

Would helicoil be strong enough? Or need whole new casing?

It may have been in the wrong way around but that wouldn't been from previous owner. i am not sure how deep the whole is in casing as cant see without taking out the radiator or something. If it was deep enough to turn the bolt around that would be good but not sure if that's the case!

wildey87 said:

It may have been in the wrong way around but that wouldn't been from previous owner. i am not sure how deep the whole is in casing as cant see without taking out the radiator or something. If it was deep enough to turn the bolt around that would be good but not sure if that's the case!

Click to expand...

I suspect I was wrong, just went and took my tensioneroff, the thread at the front of the stud ( where the nut screws on is 27mm long )

The casing it bolts into is shown in the link in the intro section. it is not that deep to be honest.

A helicoil will be plenty strong enough, in fact they are fitted as a precaution against stripping in some places.

Cheers

Helicoil will actually be stronger than original, if done properly. You're in luck though - Naismith Engineering http://naismithengineering.co.uk/cylinders/1286504, just up the road from you. They'll pop one in if you take the casing in to them.

From the pic it looks like there's a small section of helicon as well as some striped ally thread on the stud.

It's possible it was badly helicoiled but you need to have a good look at the thread in the cover. Sometimes it's easier to see by taking a pic.

If it can be helicoiled ie not previously mashed, then it should be straight forward to do in situ.

Thanks all.

@blue beasty I'll try to get a photo for you in the week. Too dark now!

If it looks good to helicoil, how abouts do i do that?

If not, i may need all your help in how to get the casing off. May be a big old job but then again it may help with my seized alternator bolt situation!

Thanks all for advice. I'm going to go and eat crisps in misery at my ineptitude.

As promised @blue beasty

Looks pretty shredded to me. Have been watching videos about how to put in a helicoil and feeling pretty nervous about doing it and bu**ering the casing. Is there a way to get it off without too much trouble so that i can get engineer that @boguing suggested?

Between that and the seized bolt on the alternator, i'm a bit stumped as to what to do next. Hoping the answer isn't to drag the old girl to a garage!

The bit that worries me is whether it's already been helicoiled and that has been pulled out.

If it's not been the stud should still be a reasonable fit in the hole.

It may have already been yes. It's a 95 model so it's been around a while and is bound to have had some work done to it.

What do you suggest next step? Happy to have a go at putting bolt back in as is but surely that will only damage more?

wildey87 said:

It may have already been yes. It's a 95 model so it's been around a while and is bound to have had some work done to it.

What do you suggest next step? Happy to have a go at putting bolt back in as is but surely that will only damage more?

Click to expand...

Just try the bolt to see how loose it is. If it's been previously helicoiled it will be very sloppy.....so hopefully it isn't.

I've not had a 300tdi so I'm not sure what's involved in removing the cover but someone will b along that knows.

If access can be made reasonable I'd be tempted to try and sweet talk someone with the kit to do it in situ

Righto.
Anyone listening who has said kit and inclination, let me know what kind of cake/sandwiches/beer you like and i'd be most happy to supply.

It could be helicoiled in situ. But you would more than likely make life a lot easier if you remove the rad. ( this will also help get at the stuck alternator bolt)
Not the end of the world.

It may just be easier and provide a better result to drop the whole case. plus you have the added benefit you can change the p Gasket while you are there. Then you can drop the case into the local engineering shop and know the helicoil is fitted well and true.

I personally , as it is so easy and allows for more access remove the rad and get at everything nice and easy.

Did you download the workshop manual?

Cheers

This may help.

was done with rad in situ.
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/300tdi-p-gasket-replacement.171383/

Cheers

@neilly Thanks for this.

I think you may be right on getting the whole thing out so the engineers can sort the helico properly. Wouldn't want to bodge it myself and cause more harm then having to take it to them anyway.

Thanks for that link - v useful. Sure it's easy for you lot but seems quite a lot for me after finding that what seemed a simple swap of tensioner and alternator left me with more problems. May find that undoing the rest of bolts and nuts leaves me with yet more to get sorted. Then again, part of the reason i got the landy in the end was so i can have a go at doing this stuff and learn so i don't have to rely on mechanic! So don't want to give up at first hurdle.

Only q from me is - how sensible is it for me to attempt this given i live in london and don't have access to a garage to keep her clean and dry. Is it okay to take this on out in the street given it's likely to take me a while longer than it would you chaps to get it done. Not sure if leaving the landy a bit open to moisture etc might yield yet more issues.

Cheers

@neilly oh and no didn't manage to download that manual. Seems my knowledge of how to use .iso files is as patchy as my mechanics.

Have a manual dl'ed from some site but not all that helpful so far as leafing through to find relevant parts is a bit of a nightmare.