The viscous goes between the front and rear output shafts so under normal circumstances you won't be able to turn one without the other turning. However, if you lock one so it can't turn, then put a socket on a long breaker bar on the other end, you will be able to turn it very slowly against the resistance of the viscous unit. That is its function in life, to allow the front and rear propshafts to turn at a slightly different speed when cornering. Under extreme off road conditions it will also allow one end to turn while the other end isn't, so works instead of a locking centre diff with the advantage that it can't 'wind up' like a locked diff can.

The clunking you can hear will be the chain in the transfer box slopping about. If badly worn, it will jump a tooth under hard acceleration or if you are in low range going up a very steep incline or towing something very heavy. When that happens you get what is often described as a machine gun sound from under the car. Carry on using it like that and you will destroy one of the clutches in the gearbox so it's new gearbox time. If you can't make it skip when putting maximum torque through the transfer case, ignore it, if you can you need to replace the transfer box or rebuild it with a new chain. I could make mine skip last year so took it off and fitted a new chain, bearings and oil seals but that was after around 400,000 miles with a lot of that mileage towing. Chain isn't cheap though, https://ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk/product/borg-warner-chain-p38/ and a further £93 for the bearing a seal kit. Problem with fitting a used transfer case is you don't know how worn the chain in that is. If it has come from a car that has been used primarily on the road it should be fine but if the car was used for a lot of towing or off road it may be as bad as what you already have.

They are all identical though, 4.0 litre or 4.6 petrol and the diesel all use the same transfer box, the only ones that are different are those fitted to cars with a manual gearbox. Word has it that the ones on a diesel wear out faster due to more torque being put through them, so try to find one from a 4.0 litre petrol as that will have had the least torque put through it.

My original gearbox always seemed to change up at lower revs than I expected and was reluctant to drop down a gear when climbing a hill for instance, I had to give it plenty of throttle to make it change down. The Ascot, a 4.6 GEMS, changed up at slightly higher revs (around 2,000 rpm compared with 1,700 on my original box) and would drop down a gear far more readily when needed. My car now drives much the same as the 4.6 (if not better) although I don't know if this is a difference between the two gearboxes and torque converters, my original box had been on its last legs since I've owned the car or if the fact I am now running a 4.6 gearbox ECU and the original one had been re-programmed to meet the requirements of the original owners (Greater Manchester Police) I have no idea. The larger torque converter means I now have effectively a heavier flywheel so I thought that might make it feel different, but it doesn't seem to have done.

The gearbox supplier has fitted the 4.6 gearbox to over 30 4.0 litre cars over the years and has always left the original 4.0 litre ECU in place. I suspect the only difference is the range over which adjustments to suit driving conditions can move. I will admit that mine is now so smooth when accelerating with the rev counter just hopping between 2,000 and 2,200 rpm as it goes up through the gears but the changes can't be felt at all.

Going back to the original subject, I'm about to go out in mine and it is already up to over 26 degrees outside, so I'm going to monitor the engine temperature and see what it is running at now.

I have a feeling I've seen this question before.....

They will do it on a GEMS too but only if the engine temperature is high. My car runs fairly cool, rarely, if ever, getting over 95 degrees C and I've only ever heard the fans kick in once while it was idling when I was calibrating the EAS. However, with the current heatwave affecting most of Europe at the moment, I don't know about the electric fans but my viscous has been locking up regularly, I can hear the jet engine noise it makes when pulling away if I have been stationary for more than a couple of minutes. It would be interesting if you used diagnostics to check the engine temperature on your car and the Thor to see what the running temperature is.

Klarius is Eurocarparts own brand so unless bought from them, it won't be.

The No Nonsense Degreaser actually smells the same as the bubble liquid in kids bubble blowing kits. I put it in the bottle on the pressure washer and use it on the underside of cars with a oil leak before taking them for MoT. Considering the block on the V8 is alloy and the engine mounts and various hoses are rubber, it hasn't done any damage to them, It also got bicycle chain grease stains out of the hem of a white dress belonging to my step daughter.....

It might work but not very well as it's intended for cleaning the exterior of the car and not the greasy bits underneath.

You should be able to do a click and collect service where you get the option to choose which branch you want to collect from. That's how it works over here anyway, you put your postcode in, it shows the nearest branches and if they have it in stock or will be there the following day.

Best to replace the pair. Not only will the joint be rusted solid but you can almost guarantee that if you have different makes side to side you won't be able to get them to hang evenly.

Gunk is horrible smelly stuff. Do you have Screwfix in ROI? They do some stuff called No Nonsense Degreaser. You can brush it on or if you have the bottle that fits on your pressure washer use that to spray it on, leave it for a couple of minutes and blast it off. Works superbly.

The only part shown on LRCat that looks similar is ANR2985, available just about everywhere but your, or at least the remains of yours, looks slightly different. To avoid problems with duty and VAT, they are available from LR so your local main dealer can supply, or try RLD Autos in France (www.rld-autos.com).

Yes, there's clips at the bonnet hinges.

Probably no more than my Launch C Reader, OBD engine functions and that is all, none of the other systems. Biggest problem with the P38 is that it is pre-Canbus and most systems use proprietary, non-standard protocols, hence needing a dedicated tool. My Nanocom has licences for GEMS and EDC (diesel) but not for Thor, so if I need to check the engine on a Thor I use the C Reader for that (which also works on every other car I have ever tried it on, including Jap imports with JOBD).

Seems a bit odd. I had ABS Fault and Traction Failure come up on the Ascot but that was down to one dead wheel sender. For traction Failure to come up when you are doing a bit of low speed shunting seems very strange, particularly as the traction control wasn't even trying to kick in, that only happens if one wheel is losing traction.

There might be a stored fault with it that the Nano can read though which should give you a pointer to where you need to be looking.

Told you I know nothing about the diesel......

In your last picture, the radiator mounting is the same as the V8, the top two lugs and the pegs at the bottom (and the two bolts that achieve nothing) and will just lift out but by then you've already got the fan and cowling off. From your pictures I can't even see where the water pump goes! As for the pipe, not a clue.....

Screw a suitable size nut onto a bolt, screw the bolt into the Rivnut and put it into the hole, then, holding the bolt so it doesn't turn, screw the nut clockwise so it is against the Rvinut and keep tightening it. That will pull the Rivnut into place so you will then be able to unscrew the bolt and attach your side steps. If you want to get really flash, you could even put a washer between the nut and the Rivnut.

Not being familiar with the diesel at all, I just checked RAVE and the first thing it says to do is remove the radiator assembly. Looking at the parts catalogue, it looks to be the same as the V8 where you can lift the radiator out leaving the cowl in place. With it all slack you lift the cowling slightly so the pegs clear the holes and move it back so the radiator can be lifted out. Once that is out, the cowling can be moved forwards, away from the fan, and lifted out too. There shouldn't be any need to remove the power steering reservoir or washer filler neck as they are attached to the frame that the radiator sits between (unless it is completely different to a diesel but I don't think so) which all stays in the car. The one advantage when doing the same job on the V8 is the top part of the cowl clips on so that can be unclipped and the viscous removed with it all still in place. A water pump can be replaced with the engine and cowling still in place.

He can but it won't cool very well, it needs to water to conduct the heat.

My mate did exactly the same with his Classic only his drain was much higher. He'd had the radio out to sort out an intermittent connection and the soft dash Classic has a button on the dash just below the radio to switch the interior lights on and he'd pushed it in while putting the radio back in its slot. As the car was outside in the sunshine, he hadn't noticed that they were on, or at the times he had noticed, he had a door open anyway.

That's right, if you remember when you first got it, you put in two codes, one for the engine type and one for the other P38 systems. When you go to the first screen you tell it what engine licence you have and that affects what options are shown. For example, if you have a Thor licence, it will only give you Wabco D as the option for ABS, a GEMS will only give you Wabco C but if you have the EDC diesel licence, it will give you both as you may be looking at an early car or a later one. There's different options for SRS too as that changed with year and market.

Depends what you buy, some will be marked as Coolant, and is already 50/50 water, others, usually only slightly more expensive, will be marked as Concentrate which you add your own water to. You just need to read the label carefully to see what you are getting.