Vehicle & Technical > Defender

Wading plugs - Yes/no

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iianorthants:
if you go to and old clay-pits etc  (like tixover) without the plugs every time you go through the water/sand splashes you have a small chance of getting that in timing case  :shock:  the stuff eats bearing alive, a rubber belt or a timing chain an't going to last long

smo:
I've always had TD5's so not needed them :p

DogVanMan:
I asked Ray's advice at Rockingham Landrovers some  time ago. He's been playing with them and fixing them for donkey's years.

He said he's happy to drive through water without them, recently drove over half a mile along a river in Africa without stopping to put plugs in, but he would if he was going to be stationary in deep water for any time.

What does come across though, both from Ray and from what you guys are saying, is that if you do fit them for a play day, you MUST either remove them afterwards or check them regularly.

Horses for courses. Personally I leave them out day to day but fit them for a day at Tixover.

Graeme

simonred90:
i dont bother on the grounds of if they are in it WILL leak and let [!Expletive Deleted!]/water/grit in. seals always do. that way it iwill stay in and wear your timing belt etc or mainshaft/release bearing etc. leave them out and anything that goes in will come out. that way no damage caused an as a bonus you'll know if a seal fails.

Saffy:
Leave mine in on both Series Engine (1 plug) and defender 300tdi (2 plugs). I remove them at beginning of monthly fluid/grease level service and check that nothing has dribbled out at the end when I go to replace them.

I make the choice of leaving them in and regular checking for internal seal failure/oil build up out of laziness and forgetfulness - I know I will forget/cant be bothered to put them in when I take a greenlane short cut. I run the risk that a very bad crank seal failure will go unnoticed between my monthly checks or that there is a lack of ventilation causing a detrimental moisture build-up. On other hand, crank seals usually fail slowly, a dribble of oil being caught by the plug will give a good fair warning that I will need to replace seal in couple of (read 6) months. Such small dribble build up would go unnoticed with plug removed most of time.

I would not give bad advice and say do not bother fitting them - the hole and plugs are there to be used by design.

I have seen a timing belt case slowly fill up with sand and clay when the owner didn't use plugs, what gets forced into hole during offroad doesn't easily come out on its own. Sticking a jet wash in will only drive particles deeper into places where they have no place to be.

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