Take a 12mm open ended spanner too for the pipe to the pump......

Probably a lot better. I've seen a couple of the Dunlop branded ones that have been completely destroyed inside. No idea who makes them but I suspect someone in China as Dunlop don't make pumps themselves. The old, all black, ones usually just need a new seal and sleeve.

I bought a job lot of valve blocks and have worked my way through some of them. Initially I used the X8R kits but saw the same complaints you have obviously seen and I did have a couple of problems with the very thin O rings around the base of the solenoid plunger, so tried the 4x4airseals kit. I measured the size of these O rings and found them to be identical to the X8R ones. The 4x4airseals kit comes with a small sachet of silicone grease that X8R don't supply too so have used them since. Not all of the solenoids have the square seal under them which is why you only get a couple of them (in fact the latest 4x4airseals kit I have got doesn't include them) but as you say, they are only to keep dust out.

To be quite honest, just recently I have stopped taking the valves themselves apart to replace the solenoid plunger O rings. I have found that when you take them apart, the plunger will rotate so the groove worn in the rubber seal on the end then no longer lines up with the piece it should seal against so you actually create a leak that wasn't there in the first place.

That's odd, if they have been done and don't leak immediately, then chances are they won't for another 10-15 years. I always pressure test them overnight and if they haven't leaked in that time, they aren't going to.

I wouldn't go under the bonnet with the pressure washer, only the underside, but the heatshields can suffer with age. They are some sort of fibre and metal sandwich so they can soak up any fluids. They are held in place with pegs and large washers but the holes in them wear through so they drop down. My driver's side one is completely missing! I've got some thin aluminium sheet so may make up some replacements although I suspect my driver's side one has been missing for years and the floor hasn't caught fire yet.....

I was round at Phil's (Holland and Holland) place last week where we are getting a very late Vogue SE recommissioned when Phil noticed my car had dropped something on his pristine driveway. A quick look underneath showed a dribble down the back of the front diff from the input. Ordered a replacement seal and output flange so tackled that today.

Put an axle stand under the rear axle so one rear wheel was off the ground, gearbox in Neutral and parking brake off so if I lifted one front wheel I could rotate the propshaft to get to all the bolts. I had previously bought a set of high tensile Allen bolts of the correct size for the propshaft flanges, so dropping the front prop was a simple job. Rattle gun had the bolt holding the flange in place out (early cars have a bolt, later ones a big nut) and it pulled straight out. Levered the old seal out, tapped the new one in, new flange in, bolt done up and prop refitted. Then, with the suspension on high, blasted the underside with degreaser from the pressure washer, let it soak and then blasted it all off.

Took it for a run to get everything nice and hot to dry it all out and checked underneath only to find smoke...... Whether it was the pressure washer or whether it was like it already I've no idea but the passenger side heatshield was soaked in oil from the diff and had dropped down so was sitting on the catalytic converter. Wired it up into place on the original mounting points and hit it with the pressure washer again to get rid of the oil that had soaked into it. Took it out again and this time, no smoke and a dry heatshield.

One of these https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/135066225960 but with the power via 3 diodes to drop the voltage and hence the gain. The only problem I have noticed with it is it suffers from overload so the signal drops out in close proximity to 5G sites. Been considering putting a 250 MHz low pass filter on the front of it but haven't got around to it yet.

It sounds as though it hasn't had an oil change in 280,000 kms either if it was that badly caked up inside. A bit of tappety noise on a cold start is very common as the oil pressure in the hydraulic followers has drained down while standing so has to build up pressure before they take up the slack. It might be worth putting some high detergent oil in, something intended for diesel engines, and running it for a while to wash out the internals before giving it an oil change. Depending on your ambient temperatures, you might want to put in something fairly thick, I use 10W-60 in mine, but you shouldn't need to use any additives with good quality oil.

Ahh, that's different. It always annoys me that people wouldn't drive around on 15 year old tyres but complain that EAS is unreliable when air springs, which are made of exactly the same stuff as tyres, start to leak after 15-20 years.

Although they will be past their best in terms of grip, I wouldn't expect sidewall cracking to happen until they are over 10 years old or had been left flat for any length of time. Different makes vary but I know that BF Goodridge are well known for premature sidewall cracking. I wear them out well before they reach that stage though.....

That's similar to what I have on mine but with an external 20dB gain pre-amp. The signal still drops out in places, notably the M11 between Duxford and Stansted, but works well in most other areas. I expected the screen aerial to be pretty poor when I put it on the SE but as it came with the head unit I figured I might as well give it a try and it works far better than I thought it would.

If you stick it right at the very edge on the passenger side, the elements don't go right to the edge of the screen. I fitted it there on our 4.0SE and it only drops out in the same places as mine (in a dip surrounded by stone houses next to where the step daughter works) with an amplified whip aerial on the roof.

One other thing you can check which can cause a similar noise is the flywheel. The noise will sound like it is coming from everywhere and anywhere but will be louder from underneath the car. On a GEMS you've got the tags that sit either side of the crank position sensor and it is easy to bend them slightly when doing the flex plate bolts up. Drop the lower cover off and slowly turn the engine over with a big screwdriver in the ring gear. You are looking for a tag that is slightly out of line with all the others.

If the oil has been in there while it has been standing, a change isn't a bad idea anyway. If you put some high detergent oil through it, something intended for use in a diesel, that should wash out any residue or gum.

Definitely sounds like lifters to me or a worn rocker or rocker shaft. I agree it is at camshaft speed. If it was a hydraulic lifter leaking down, it would be worse on initial start up and then get quieter as the oil pressure builds up. What oil do you have in it? If it is too thin, it may be OK when cold but thins down too much when it gets hot and the oil pressure drops. Anything less than 10W-40 is too thin.

Does the little flap close over the keyhole? That flap is what operates the microswitch so if that is sticking that is why you are still getting the message.

When you turn the key to the off position, the centre of the barrel should pop out by a millimetre or so and you hear the clunk from the steering lock. As it moves out, it operates a microswitch. What happens is it doesn't fully pop out so the switch doesn't operate and the steering lock doesn't engage.

Spray brake cleaner into the lock and work the key in and out a few times. Keep doing that until it returns fully every time. Then, once the brake cleaner has evaporated, spray some graphite powder into the lock to lube it. Don't use anything like an oil or WD40 as dust will stick to that and it will gum up again.

Yes, after 3 minutes of the brake on, it will move. If less than that, it sits there showing Motorway height steady and Standard flashing and rises as soon as you come off the brake. Whether it will drop to Access after 3 minutes though I've no idea and have never tried (although will now).

No, or at least there's no setting for it, so it doesn't look like it.

I've got a query that has intrigued me for a while too. Why is EAS movement inhibited when the brakes are on? I can understand why it won't move with a door open as you wouldn't want to lower to Access if you have a door open and you are parked next to a high kerb or similar or you could crunch the bottom of the door. But if you pull up and want to drop to Access to allow someone to get in, you have to put it into Park and take your foot off the brake pedal. It would be so much more convenient if you could just stop, drop it, allow your passenger to get in and then drive off (I'm thinking airport pick up and drop off where they only give you milliseconds to get in and out).