Well, that was fun.

[Just A Troll]

With a second hand 4WD, start by replacing drive belts and filters and checking all bushes etc, right?

Filters was easy. Except it turns out that we have a non-stock fuel filter - I need to get hold of a Racor R26T. Wasted the $ on the stock one - should of checked first. Dumb, but now I know ...

Okay, so I'm a "handyman", not a mechanic but changing drive belts used to be an easy 30 minute job, including beer. Even our old TD42 was (relatively) easy.

Not this flaming RD28T! Working out where the various locks, tensioners and pivot bolts were was awkward enough. Actually getting to them all was a pain in the rear.

The low mounted winch covers a couple of holding screws for the bash plate - you know, the one that makes getting to anything from underneath problematic. The shroud (by the book: "undo three screws up the top, pop two clips at the sides, pull it up an off") is held by two extra screws that are not accessible without removing the aforementioned bash plate. Working around the loosened-but-not-removed shroud is a painful and scratchy process but necessary to get to the tensioner pulley lock nut. I got so shat off that I very nearly dropped the winch out. Gonna have to overhaul it before relying on it anyway.

Finally, once everything has been loosened, we get to take the belts off.

Well, nearly all of them.

The doubled main drive belts came off fine (water pump / alternator) and the aircon belt came off just as easy. The power steering pump belt? Not a hope! There was no way it was going to fit between the water pump and camshaft pulleys. Getting it off will require the removal of the water pump pulley, something for when I can get the shroud off (after the winch and bashplate). Back on it went.

Then it turned out that the nice shiny new aircon belt was too short. I tried every which way to get it on, even bypassing the tensioner in the hopes of maybe figuring out how to get it in play later; nope. Back on went the old belt, and I'll find another new one.

In in the end I only actually changed the double belt. Thankfully the old belts are not actually falling apart, I just don't know how old they are and what they have been through. They're certainly not new and I am just being cautious in changing them. Well, trying to.

Oh, and in all the mucking around I forgot to check the timing belt. Bugger. And the bushes for the tie rod (?) - the one that goes from the steering gear to the passenger front wheel - are cracked and need replacing; at least all the others seem to be OK.

Did I mention I'm not a mechanic? Looking into the noisy turbo (it whistles) is starting to look like not being something I want to do anymore ... But I will bash on regardless. Learning how to do for myself is the general idea, and it will give me a better understanding of just how the car's bits work.