My dream Defender is turning into a nightmare!

sp00k said:

I could be wrong but from the description, it sounds to me like one of the rocker pedestal bolts is stripped. I had that problem on my 200 TDI, when it comes away the tappets do become a lot louder and oil of course escapes from the rocker. Assuming the design is the same on the 300, the pedestal bolts only go into aluminium and take very little torque. I had to put a helicoil in to repair mine which has held fine for over a year.

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Hi sp00k, yes, one of the three bolts on the top of the motor cover has popped out taking the aluminium thread of the head with it. I have been looking at the helicoils, which look great, now just to find them here in Chile!! The bolt is 8mm I think so I just need the length in order to buy the helicoil, is that right?
Thanks for your help!

I bought a set of ebay. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BERGEN-13...r-Kit-Set-M5-M6-M8-M10-M12-2536-/251961025936 .
I did this because it gets quite complicated to work out which drill bits and tap sizes you need. For example, you can't use an M8 tap because the M8 helicoil is slightly larger than M8. To fit an M8 helicoil, you have to drill a larger hole and then tap it to a larger size, then when the helicoil is inserted, it will accept an M8 bolt, if you see what I mean. If you're not sure, I recommend you do some searches on google or youtube.

I just covered the head in newspaper and greased the drill bit and tap so that all the swarf was collected. You have to drill perfectly straight. Mine was at the front of the engine, if yours is at the back, I would remove the bonnet for easier access. I did not drill very deep, just enough to accommodate the helicoil.

Victoria Mattison said:

Hi sp00k, yes, one of the three bolts on the top of the motor cover has popped out taking the aluminium thread of the head with it. I have been looking at the helicoils, which look great, now just to find them here in Chile!! The bolt is 8mm I think so I just need the length in order to buy the helicoil, is that right?
Thanks for your help!

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Make sure you get the correct thread pitch, M8 can be 0.75, 1 or 1.25mm pitch. Threading into aluminium is usually done with the coarse thread (1.25mm) but double check first.