MOT failure and advisory items

hey ya, recenetly had my MOT on my defender 90 (1991) 200tdi. It failed on chasis (cross member) with rot, but fixed, and eletrics, where when brake light applied, only one rear light shone?

advisory notes: (and what way is best to deal with it)

1: both rear shock absorbers slightly worn rubber bush

2: steering box slight leak

3: all four brake pipes slightly corroded

4: slight leak from front swivel joints (but one full and other 0.5cm under filler line).

5: wiper blade spliting.

Is this considered bad? and whats best are dealing with these issues, shoudl shock absorbed be left, as only slightly worn and wait for them to go?

brake pipes, can I just sand any rust debris away and hammerite them? as am planning to protect chasis with hammerite and then old oil soon. swivel joints, well the levels were full, or near so, but the swivel joint does look like has thin film of oil, but then is this not how it should be as it ment to be lubricated. Ill just change wiper, thats simples.

I use ep80/90 and Schulz blended to a black tar like substance- takes about 3 years to go off hard.

found glass paper strip/emery cloth no longer stocked at motor factors, but wickes do a big flexible roll (red and cloth,not paper backed ) £7

cheapo damper is £12 a side

the cheapo damper is for the shocks yeah? is it easy to just replace the bushes? with the poly bits.

also "found glass paper strip/emery cloth no longer stocked at motor factors, but wickes do a big flexible roll (red and cloth,not paper backed ) £7" what does this do, sorry for ignorance but is this to cover the brack pipes?

RUDDdefender90 said:

the cheapo damper is for the shocks yeah? is it easy to just replace the bushes? with the poly bits.

also "found glass paper strip/emery cloth no longer stocked at motor factors, but wickes do a big flexible roll (red and cloth,not paper backed ) £7" what does this do, sorry for ignorance but is this to cover the brack pipes?

Click to expand...

the emery/glass paper is ter rub them pipes down and remove te corrosion

ah i see. ofcourse it is lol. Can I protect them with anything? or just the normal stuff one uses on the chasis? which many people have many preferences

get the shock absorbers replaced.No rush so can wait till next pay day etc but get gooduns and only pay once.
Steering box, every landy ive ever driven had a leaking steering box!Top it up with atf, put that on marchs pay day to do list.

goon can you recomend some goodunes? (the shock absorbers) do I need to do all four at once, or just the rears, and it was just the bushes that were slightly worn so are absorbers ness? I am joining offroaders club shortly, so I guess things are going to get used!

so really, not a bad MOT really?

Seems as if you got away with a good MOT there. All things can easily be fixed.

Stearing Box - Mine has had leeking stering box for years.

Wiper blade - well if its not working replace it, if it is working well just leave it and replace it for next years MOT

Swive joint - They all leak after a time - either take it apart and replace the seals, or if its not too bad (sounds as if it isn't) then just drain out the old oil and replace with 'one shot' grease avalible from all good LR stockists - this is thicker and does not leak as much. The original LR is thicker than the britpart one - i have one make in one side and the other in the other, but have not seen any difference at all

Shock bushses - replace them

Break pipes - have a look - if only slight corrosion then clean then and paint then with hammerite (make sure you cover them completly) - or if there worn, then get copper ones fitted - more expensive, but dont corrode and they impress the MOT examiner (well mine was) and he missed the fact that one of the front pipes was hanging off completly and was going to snap in a few miles (i was waiting for the part to arrive - Now fixed ) and he did not even go looking for problems as he said copper ones will be fine

hey ya,

Is replacing the swive joints relatively simple? say sim. to oil seels in wheels. might clean em up and look for leak myself and then assess if bad or not. cant be, as level not going down much. is the one shot as good as the other stuff. I guess im saying if its thicker, and I looking out on something els just to keep the oil in the joint?

I would love to impress the garage folk lol, where did you get the coppper ones from, and how much exactly? do you use paddock spares, or are they considered expensive?

you saying just place the bushes and not the whole shock absorber then, right? I guess ill ask get conflicting advice, as thats life.

oh, I got some wheels that have pretty newish tyres on, a year old with good tread still. But, they are only 205R16, are they going to be suitable for offroading? Im joining a offroaders club shortly and hope to get muddy!

hey james I just had a good look at the break pipes. Am I right in thinking they are simply pipes, no cables. Its a sealed unit where the brake fluid passes through. If corrodes, then leaks, and no brakes? I guess I thought they were cables? but thats push bikes lol.

Anyhows, when you refer to flaring, do you mean a blow torch? can you just heat and bend to shape, or is there more special tools needed? copper only needs a low heat, am I right in thinking that? and that I could if want, buy sections that need to be replaced, and leave rest if I was really tight for cash? Or do you buy complete copper brake kits? or do you have to cut to lengh etc