Oh right well that's good to know. Actually when ringing round today to find a good price for the battery, a couple of different people commented on how much they'd gone up in price recently, so maybe the improved performance is part of the reason...

Haha fair point. Just hope the battery doesn't get any smaller in the cold weather!! :(

Haha cheers dogsbody that's my kind of electrical work! So as long as it's a 12V battery then the rest is just bigger = better? Unfortunately I've already got the smaller one but just taken it for a test drive and it seemed ok. But is the smaller one likely to perform worse in the cold weather?

Great thanks for the info. Nice to get a clear and concise explanation! Unfortunately the old battery didn't have any detail of the CCA written on it so I'm a bit in the dark as to what my engine needs. I don't suppose anyone knows what the minimum CCA is for the 2.25 petrol? I'll go and check...

Hi all, I'm afraid this is a pretty basic thread but I have had a good search through the forum and haven't found a conclusive answer to my question. I don't know much at all about the electrical side of things but just took the old battery out of my S3 lightweight to a local exhaust/battery...

Yeah I went and had a look under the bonnet of someone else's and found a similar gap so that was a relief. Just seemed odd for things not to go tight up to each other, but obviously those tapered grooves wedge it quite nicely. In fact I've got a feeling that's why they're so bloody hard to...

Just realised there's a washer which pops out and the oil seal then slots into the housing, so that explains that. Still just wondering how to get the drop arm on all the way...

Right so I've reassembled the box and I'm at the stage of putting it back in the landy. Just trying to get the new drop arm on and it seems like it might as difficult to put back on as it was to get off! I'm kind of assuming you just keep screwing the big nut on and hopefully it just squeezes...

Oh right that would make sense. Mine doesn't have a steering lock so that would explain why it seemed a bit redundant. I assumed it was for clipping something into or something similar. Cheers.

Actually just found some pics online and it seems it does face upwards anyway (and it's near the top, not halfway up). Still if anyone's got any ideas as to the purpose I'd be interested to know. Maybe to do with fixing the electrical fittings etc at the steering-wheel end?

Can't believe I'm still banging on about this but just haven't had much time to get on with it and been waiting for parts etc. Sorry Honolulujoe I didn't see your post before. I managed to pick up the new box for £40 wich was lucky. Unfortunately I had to cut the old drop arm off mine to get the...

Well it's weird because it's actually already come off half an inch or so, so I guess it's jammed itself at a bit of an angle. I've tried hammering it from all different angles and tried knocking it back on a bit but no luck. Randomly I've just been on ebay and there are a few complete boxes for...

Very true, it's always a learning experience when something goes wrong on the landy haha. Also I've never worked on the steering before so it's been interesting seeing how it all works etc. Just hoping I can find a new rocker shaft somewhere but it's not looking too hopeful. I guess the...

Just an update for anyone who's interested, after lots of hammering the ball joint separated so I finally bot the steering box out and on the bench. I'm embarrassed to admit this but I just got the side plate off and tipped all the bearings out, and there were 21 small ones! Looks like Paul D...

I still haven't managed to separate the drop arm from the steering box, or the drop arm from the ball-joint. If anyone has any tricks for separating ball joints I'm all ears!

Sounds like my kind of plan haha. I've just learned through experience not to always grab the drill or grinder before trying more subtle options. I was a bit worried about damaging the thread etc but I guess it can stand up to a rusty old pin.

Back again! Very slow going because I've only got an hour or two every night to get on with it. So far the biggest problem seems to be getting hold of a 1" socket for getting the bloody steering wheel off, other than that I've managed to free most of the nuts and bolts. One other hurdle is...

Good thinking, that should be much easier. Now if I can just get the bloody steering wheel off I should be away!

Well I've just spent a couple of hours fiddling and made a bit of progress. Got all the wiring etc stripped off the column easily enough, but the first hurdle was the massive nut which holds the steering wheel on. Couldn't quite fit my adjustable spanner in there and haven't got a socket big...

Brilliant thanks, found the workshop manual which looks pretty comprehensive. And better diagrams than the Haynes manual. I'll try and get going tonight after work so I imagine there'll be more from me soon! Cheers.