As part of our article series on useful tools for travelling, we’ve also put together the right kit for the Land Rover Defender. Besides the general tools, as a Landy driver you should definitely take these along on tour and travel.
To the other parts of this article series
There basically isn’t one single Defender. Over the decades it was fitted with many different engines, so here we’ll cover the common and widespread models, the 300 Tdi, Td5 and Td4. There isn’t much special tooling for the Defender that’s needed on the road.
Tools for all Defenders
Propshaft
One special tool has proven very useful: the tapered propshaft spanner. The universal joint is one of the few remaining places, besides the holes in the differential housing, that still have an imperial size. The spanner has, for one thing, the required 9/16″ width across flats and, for another, is so slimly tapered that it gets past the universal joints. With a normal ratchet and extension that’s impossible or only awkwardly possible without canting. In an emergency, only 14 mm or 15 mm open-ended spanners will then help; sometimes one fits better, sometimes the other, but both have the potential to round off the bolt head, and that would be awkward if no replacement bolts are to hand.
For counter-holding, it’s advisable to fall back on a 9/16″ open-ended spanner. In an emergency it’s often enough to use the 14 mm or 15 mm spanner and a medium-strength thread locker. But when the specified 48 Nm are torqued up, especially when going over rattly tracks, the counter-holding spanner should fit exactly, otherwise there’s a risk of rounding off the bolt heads.
The Land Rover part number is DA1065. In this version the spanner has a 3/8″ fitting for the ratchet. Other versions have a larger 1/2″ fitting.
Propshaft spanner 1/2″ at Nakatanenga
Price: €29 incl. VAT plus shipping
Wheel bearings
For the wheel-bearing repair a 52 mm socket is needed. With it you can work on both common wheel-bearing systems, with and without a clamping sleeve. On both systems this socket is needed for the large wheel-bearing nut or nuts.
Crankshaft locking tool
When it’s time to work on the crankshaft at the front, a counter-holder is useful. On the Td5 this is the special tool LRT-12-058, and for the 200/300 Tdi engines the LRT 12-080. There’s such a tool for the Td4 2.2 too, the DA1899.
For the R380 gearbox and the LT230 transfer box
For vehicles with the R380 gearbox and LT230 transfer box, you should also have a 32 mm ring or open-ended spanner, a 55 Torx socket and a 1/2″ ratchet spanner for the oil inlet and outlet plugs along. That way you can do an oil change on the road.
Tools for the Td5 engine
For the Td5 basically nothing special is needed. However, you should have a cranked 15 mm ring spanner, ideally with a long handle, a 36 mm open-ended spanner and a larger hammer along. You need this trio for the drive-belt change. With the 36 mm spanner and the hammer you undo the large nut of the viscous fan. This nut is self-locking, since its right-hand thread runs against the fan’s direction of rotation. That’s why the 36 mm nut sometimes sits rather tight. Sometimes it takes a few attempts, but with a few blows against the spanner in the loosening direction it eventually comes free and the fan can be unscrewed by hand.
With the 15 mm spanner you can then push the drive-belt tensioner away so that the belt comes free. The tensioner has a deep-seated 15 mm bolt.
Tools for the 300 Tdi engine
When the water pump has to be replaced, a strap wrench (also known as an oil-filter wrench) is very helpful for holding the pump’s belt pulley. It has to be removed to take off the water pump.
For the tensioner pulley a special (digital) torque wrench is needed, one that doesn’t click but only shows the current value. The pulley needs 17 Nm of preload. The choice on the market for such wrenches is sadly very small.
You can also get the fan off with a 36 mm open-ended spanner; only here, unlike on the Td5, a left-hand thread is used. So watch the loosening direction, it’s clockwise.
© Photos: Doreen Kühr, Unternehmensfotografie NRW