Land Rover repairs, oil leak and fuel tank leak

I had filled the extended range fuel tank once I got the engine ready to run. That is when I found that it had a leak. It was right in the corner under a gusset added by my welder to convert the tank from RH to LH. We could not tell if it was caused by the MFR or the additional welding.

So I drained the tank and got about 5.5 US gal out when 1/4 tank was showing on the gauge. IF I get 22 mpg that will be 121mi. on the last 1/4 tank or 400 miles per tank. Probably less due to the shape of the tank.

    Then I dropped the tank using a floor jack and made sure it was MT. Next I sealed up the inlet and the hose fittings and using air pressure tested it to find exactly where the leak was. I sprayed Windex on the weld hoping to see bubbles. I had to get the tank up to around 40psi before the bubbles showed up.

   Using Simple Green I cleaned the tank twice and rinsed it 5 times until the smell of Simple Green was stronger than the diesel.

   On Monday it took it down to Arc-Tec, but he wasn't there.......I went down again on Tuesday and Daren was already busy welding on someones aluminum hulled boat. We talked and I left the tank for him to get to when he could. He agreed if he got it done that day that he would meet me in the small town we both live in on his way home that night. Yay! That went off without a hitch, Plus he didn't charge for the repair. Once home I did another pressure check on the tank and it showed no leak, WHEW! I repainted the area where the diesel removed the truckbed liner.

   On Wednesday my neighbor and I went to San Jose where he wanted my expert opinion on making a road bike purchase. (He bought a Fuji). After returning home I installed the tank and put the fuel back in.

Here is the pic of the repaired area;

After the tank was installed I fired up the engine and checked the leak on the water pump stud. I had taken the nut off cleaned the area with brake clean and used Permatex blue under the nut. I tightened it down and left it for 2 days to cure. Another WOOT! WOOT!! No leak;

With all this head removal and oil leaks I have been using the Series crank handle to turn the crank and check/set the valves. The 200TDI does not have the dog on the crank to fit the hand crank so I modified mine. Using a 1/2" x 30mm impact socket I welded it to a 1/2" drive U-joint.

 The end of the crank handle I ground off to fit the 1/2" U-joint.

To use it I have to slide the handle in past the brace I made to fit under the bumper. Then put on the u-joint and fit it to the crank nut.

   The brace was made from a 1 1/4 x 1/8" angle iron. I drilled a hole to fit the crank handle shaft and then dremeled out the slot for the crank handle dog.

I cut at the  corners and bent them over for gussets and welded them in place. Drilled holes for 1/4"  bolts and located it on the underside of the bumper. It is attached with grade 8 bolts.

You can see it lines up with the PTO hole in the front cross member, behind which lies the crank bolt.

    Before doing this the crank handle was difficult to keep in place while turning without the brace. The angle of the crank handle would not let the socket fit straight on. Using the brace kept the crank handle straight but would often fall out of the socket due to the angle(being lower than the crank nut). With the u-joint the socket stays on and the crank handle stays straight making turning the crank on the 200TDI as easy as on the 2.25.