Dollywobbler's TZD estate - departure time

[Defender110]

Most rear knockings can be put down to the exhaust hitting somewhere.

[mat_fenwick]

Plus 1 for exhaust. The rear ARB clamps directly onto the rear arms, so no link as such to wear. But, there was detectable (with a pry bar) wear between the clamps/bar on mine last year - fixed with the ubiquitous Coke can shim! It wasn't something I noticed when driving, just when I was giving the rear suspension a good checking over.

[Dollywobbler]

Yeah, the exhaust is a likely culprit - it's brand new. Should have thought of that!

Car has been transformed by its new wheel bearing. Didn't get a chance to be with the car on the ramp though, so couldn't investigate turbo hoses. I still suspect there is a minor leak somewhere. There's a very steep hill coming out of the village I took the car too. The TXD will actually come up it in fifth, but the TZD wouldn't do that. I now there's a bit of extra weight, but it does hint that there's a mild loss of power. If you weren't driving two TDs back to back, you wouldn't notice.

The tick time is also very low. Looks like another accumulator swap session is needed Mat!

[citsncycles]

I have come across some exhaust systems that seem to have a bigger diameter back box than standard - the one on the 14 was like this and between the tow bar and the rear tie-down bracket it was very tricky keeping the exhaust from hitting one or the other.

[mds141]

Yeah, the exhaust is a likely culprit - it's brand new. Should have thought of that!

Car has been transformed by its new wheel bearing. Didn't get a chance to be with the car on the ramp though, so couldn't investigate turbo hoses. I still suspect there is a minor leak somewhere. There's a very steep hill coming out of the village I took the car too. The TXD will actually come up it in fifth, but the TZD wouldn't do that. I now there's a bit of extra weight, but it does hint that there's a mild loss of power. If you weren't driving two TDs back to back, you wouldn't notice.

The tick time is also very low. Looks like another accumulator swap session is needed Mat!

The injection pump hasn't been 'turned down' has it. What is the MPG like.?

[Dollywobbler]

No idea Mark! I've done 160 miles in it and the fuel tank is still full. The way it smokes suggests it isn't under-fuelling. There's definitely an air leak somewhere after the turbo.

[Dollywobbler]

Second weekend of owning this car, second weekend of driving it in the snow.


Have to say, this doesn't feel as planted on its winter tyres as the TXD did. I tried one tricky steep slope and it just sat there spinning the wheels.

[MULLEY]

Probably a different make of tyres & how worn are they compared to the TXD?

[Dollywobbler]

Barely worn, but a cheap, Chinese brand. I say cheap - having seen the bill for them, I could buy some Riken Snowtimes (as fitted to the TXD) for about the same price... (£48 each). Sadly the snow melted pretty quickly and I had other things to do, so I couldn't do a direct comparison on the same section of snow.

[Kitch]

Probably a different make of tyres & how worn are they compared to the TXD?

Or a different slope

[Dollywobbler]

The rear knock has been diagnosed.


The back box is knocking against the sphere! Because of this I suspect...


An interesting hanger modification. Brute force and some cable ties have stabilised the back box, so it no longer strikes the sphere.

Check out how solid this thing is though. I've never seen a crossmember this clean before!


It isn't all good news though.


There is a LOT of oil coming from the turbocharger. The odd noise and this much oil suggests knackered seals. The front subframe won't be rusting any time soon though! Access looks absolutely horrendous, so I'm tempted to just leave it for now and monitor oil usage. Eventually, I think it'll be worth yanking the engine out to sort this out, replace any other iffy seals, do cambelt, tensioner and water pump and investigate the noisy fifth gear. Interestingly, the chap who does my tinkering (when I can't be bothered) runs 205 rally cars, so he has a lot of correct gearboxes sitting around. Wonder what the gearing is like and whether internals can be swapped readily?

We also discovered plenty of play in the offside lower balljoint and some play in the nearside inner track rod end. No wonder it doesn't feel as precise as the TXD. I've booked it in for that work because work has been ok lately and I'm feeling very lazy. At £25 an hour, my mechanic doesn't charge the earth.

[Vanny]

Checked the oil feed pipe to the turbo? Loose joint is way more likely than seals.

[Dollywobbler]

Couldn't get anywhere near the bleedin' turbo. I like your theory much better though! I'll ask him to have a closer look when it's in for the suspension work.

[Dollywobbler]

I've decided to go and see a friend over the weekend. It'll involve a trip of mostly motorway (once I get to England) and I'll be racking up over 600 miles. Do you reckon the TZD is safe given that it clearly has an oil leak in the turbocharger area? The alternatives are to use the TXD (which isn't collected until Tuesday, but it seems a bit naughty given that it is technically sold) or my Merc 300E (which will double the fuel bill!).

[Philip Chidlow]

Personally I'd do it in the Merc. It's what they're good at.