Whats your most hated repair/maintenace job on a Defender?

Another thread got me thinking .... whats the worst repair job you have done on your Defender?

Not rebuilds but fixing stuff that's gone bang. Me - Clutch change.

Is that the worst one?

everything

^^^^^^ rear crossmembers ^^^^^^ LOL.

Anything to do with the wash wipe system.

Fecking dash board.

Clutch wins hands down. Bastard of a job on any LR.

Shifty1962 said:

Clutch wins hands down. Bastard of a job on any LR.

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especially if some plumb has glued carpet and sound proofing down

Uj's... i just cringe every time i hear a clunk when pulling away.

Since i know that clunk has just cost me 15 quid and an hour laying under my motor

Starter motor change.

anything that takes 3 hours to remove bits to get to the actual job

Washer jet replacement on the bulkhead Td5 with the silly metal bar above the thread that requires eight inch thin fingers and all sorts of surgical implements to install a £7 part, and changing a clutch on any Defender or RR classic why does that have to be such a drama eh? I will never do one again., oh and getting those bolts off the axle that hold the swivels on, Land Rover must have used a liberal amount of their patented Rust-Lock thread sealant on those.
While I'm at it, bloody Defender door cards suck too, always results in needing packs of new fixings and a new part of some description.

What else? Removing front radius arm bushes and then trying to get the new ones in, another job that takes far too long by half.

Electrics!

I just simply just dont touch any of that electric wizardry. I just call a spark i know and bribe him with tea and biscuits

Electrics again! The wires on mine are a complete pigs ear; I'm ripping it all out to start again with new looms but I haven't got the first clue about car electrics...I can hardly wait

I think mine needs complete rewiring. I've already had to bodge a brake light wire & a rear light wire because they're broken inside the looms. Thankfully I'm friendly with a good garage owner & they have a good autoelectrician. Still going to be an expensive job, especially when I need new doors too.

Drilling out and re-tapping to bigger size holes in the timing case as i had to remove the engine just to drill and re-tap two holes ( damage was caused before i bought my 90 ) presume the engine was smacked at some point as there was only 1 out of 4 bolts holding the power steer pump bracket on

i forgot about the starter motor- what a pig of a job that was.....

clutch is well easy comparitively.

top drive said:

i forgot about the starter motor- what a pig of a job that was.....

clutch is well easy comparitively.

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Really? I can take my starter out in less than 15 minutes. Its been on and off so many times I can do it in my sleep. Three bolts and two connectors plus a bit of wiggling. I really should fit the solenoid repair kit rather than keep cleaning up the existing contacts.

However it took me two long days to change a clutch as I found it easier to take the engine out. This also gave me access to clean and paint the chassis and firewall.

you can wiggle to your hearts content on my landy.....

there isnt a gap big enough for the starters smallest dimension - up top or down below.

you have to drop the exhaust and the turbo feed/return pipes to get it out.

Clutch is just floor plates/seat box/tranny tunnel out.

Drop props , remove the slave cylinder

undo engine mounts to allow engine to rock , remove gear box mounts and undo bellhousing bolts - slide it back.

Admittedly if your landys 20 years old and half that stuff never been out it will take forever....

top drive said:

you can wiggle to your hearts content on my landy.....

there isnt a gap big enough for the starters smallest dimension - up top or down below.

you have to drop the exhaust and the turbo feed/return pipes to get it out.

Clutch is just floor plates/seat box/tranny tunnel out.

Drop props , remove the slave cylinder

undo engine mounts to allow engine to rock , remove gear box mounts and undo bellhousing bolts - slide it back.

Admittedly if your landys 20 years old and half that stuff never been out it will take forever....

Click to expand...

My starter isn't easy to get out either. I always remove the exhaust downpipe, no intercooler pipes on mine.
Think shifty has Td5, which have a bit better access to some things, clutch slave is another.

Nice clutch method! Might be an idea to say to support the gearbox on something before sliding it back!

The steering box drop arm and it's poxy joint.