Having been away for 10 days, I've got back to these issues. I think I've sorted the earth on the temp gauge but I'm still getting intermittent problems with starting. When I turn the key to start I intermittently (usually) get nothing. There...

12.2v is a good voltage, may be an issue with the relay, swap with one of the others to test. When I was having start on the key intermittent issues I had a stand by rig of a wire from a known 12v feed with a switch in it and a double spade to...

I take your point about the birds nest. I assumed the battery was flat. It was reading 12.2v which I assumed was low. After recharge, the landy started up fine. But then wouldn't restart after a 1 mile journey - battery still should have...

The lower dash is just about the only area I have not been into. I could do with re sealing the cabin air flap in there. As for looking at the loom itself you may well find there is nothing to see unless there has been a big melt down. I have...

Thanks. Yes, I think the earths are good. It's had a recent professional rebuild onto a new chassis. It was starting fine before I got my mits on the instrument panel. But I'll check through that..... Thanks. Yes, I did suspect a drain. I...

Have you got a good earth connection to the battery? And another good connection from the engine to the chassis? If this one is bad the electrikity will try and complete the circuit any other way it can, resulting in odd things happening.

Sounds to me like you have a short in the system some where that is draining the battery. Someone bypassed the main loom to the fog for a reason. An 86 could well have a relay for the starter under the fuses, my 1990 did. But now has a direct...

Thanks Anaconda. I should add that there was a brief short at one point when i was doing the work (at a time I had the battery connected) between the fog light live feed and another connector and some clicking came from the relay area below the...

Ignition switch maybe and dash instrument earth. Obviously it's something you have touched so check your work. Hard to know what previous owners have done during an engine conversion.

More head scratching going on with my Land Rover Defender 90, 1986 200TDi (Discovery engine). So I completed some work in the dash, getting the instrument illuminators to work correctly on the proper switch rather than being hardwired to the...

You can get the instrument panel out with the steering wheel and bezels on, well mine you can and also my son's. Should mention there is evidence to suggest both of ours have rubbed slightly at sometime in their life. Steering wheel isn't really...

Hi, thanks for the great advice. Yes, I tightened the lower screws on the upper shroud first, followed by the steering wheel end which could have distorted the top shroud towards the steering wheel. I'll start again as you advise. It seems to...

I feel for you and I had in the past also faced similar situation when replacing parts around the steering column. This made it worse if they were plastics have warped slightly over time. A suggestion on how to approach would be to start with...

Hi Defender 90, 1986. Just fitted a new instrument panel and put on the shroud around the steering column Is there a best order to put the screws in underneath the shroud. When I put the shroud together it is very tight against the dash and...

Just to confirm @Hicap phill above the interior/ dash light switch as standard gives dash lights one way and interior light the other way with both off in the middle.

So is it only po So is it only possible to have the instrument lights on at the same time as the internal light. Or would there normally be another switch on the internal light, or is it supposed to just run from the door post switches (which I...

Thanks for confirming. Clearly been hacked about then. I've got the switch but it's unplugged and the wire chopped for the internal light. The wires for the instrument light have been rerouted to run off something else - obviously a permanent...

Mud do a replacement, but it is probably available from other places as well: LINK Depends on the exact wiring for your model but at '86 I would expect it to be permanent live. On later models it was changed to be ignition only.

My 1990 Ninety has both Permanent live wire and a switched one available for the lighter socket. I think how which was connected depended on the country vehicle was sold in.

Thanks all. It looked like such a hacked about hole that I thought it was mostly the work of the PO. But good to know it's alot of the original wiring (albeit I don't have a rear wiper or rear demister). I've got the casing for the radio but...

Hi Just doing some work on the dash on my Defender 90 - 1986 - instrument panel, tidying up etc. There's an outcrop of wiring emerging from the centre of the dash (pic attached) - hole cut through at the back. Some of it probably for the radio...

The part the bulb holder slides into is not replaceable as it’s part of the instrument. I repaired mine recently with the tube of a felt pen and glued it in. I then used heat proof tape round the bulb holder so it was a nice fit. I’ve got LED...

I used Gorilla Glue. The one where you wet the surface and the glue reacts with the moisture. It’s good stuff but I needed to clamp it while the glue set, as it expands and creeps into any tiny gaps. I can’t remember where I got the bulbs sorry...

Nice plan! I'll hunt around for something similar diameter or raid the family felt-tip store. What glue did you use and which LED's did you use? There's a massive choice out there it seems....

I feared as much :-(

Hi all In the process of overhauling the instrument panel which was all bust up. Defender 1987. The backs of all the instruments are missing the part that the bulb inserts into - just a hole - except the fuel gauge still has part of the green...

I know the feeling. Amazing what a few months does to the memory!

Thanks everyone for your advice. ATF it is then! Cheers

Hi, just had a bit of play. Looks easy enough. Thanks for the advice... I've ordered a new cowl as well.