My NT Platinum

[Pickle]

Jeez that's mashed. Glad you got home ok. Damage to mine ,one sidestep and full of dust inside .

[nj swb]

Flashing centre diff light.

So it was my turn for one of these problems, but I didn't get the 20km of driving before it started - mine would come up as soon as I moved the lever from 2H. Green lights would go out, orange centre diff light would flash.

I could hear the transfer actuator driving, but it seemed to do a two-step - drive, brief pause, drive again, flashing centre light. I concluded it was hunting for a switch, and not finding it.

I'd recently had the steering rack replaced, so I figured they had somehow damaged the front actuator (which wouldn't normally trigger an immediate flashing centre light, but that's where I started). Removed the bash plates for a look, and couldn't see any signs of damage. Pulled the boot back, actuator would move smoothly, was spring loaded to one end - all seemed right.

With ignition off, I selected 4LLc & turned back on again - the transfer actuator drove all the way, and all the correct lights appeared on the dash.

When I selected 4HLc (from 4LLc), the problem returned - actuator noise, brief pause, more noise, flashing light. Had to be a switch on the transfer case.

I checked the online manual, and the 4H switch was the likely culprit - only "ON" in 4H & 4HLc (the two modes that weren't working) and "OFF" in 2H and 4LLc (the two modes that were working). Without a MUTT to read switch status it was time to crawl under and test with a multimeter. Fortunately it's one of the three plugs that are accessible from under the vehicle, not one of the two that can't be reached.

In 2H, I found the switch that was supposed to be closed (Black, from memory) - I unplugged all three, and tested for continuity to ground. Plugged them all back in, back to 4LLc, unplugged them again and found the switch that was supposed to be closed in that mode (Brown? - the other outside switch). Plugged them all back in, selected 4H, and everything worked.



Cycled through all positions several times, all the lights behaved properly. No point trying to troubleshoot a fault that's not present, so I called it a day.

Hopefully it was simply a dodgy contact in the (white?) plug on the back of the transfer, that came good after a few unplug / plug cycles, and not a switch on its way out - I guess only time will tell.

[jaffles]

Good to hear as I can do that fix. I guess the first response of any Tech support is have you turned it off at the wall, disconnected all plugs, wait 2 minutes, reconnect, restart. Fixes 99% of glitches. So I hope its sorted and doesn't return.

I accidentally touched my cranker + on the aux - the other day. Lost power to all the accessories. I could find a blown fuse anywhere so after 30 minutes I just reconnected it all again. All working so time to walk away. It did highlight I need to buy some weird looking fuses I don't have though.

[m_and_m]

I hate problems that just go away like that. You just know it will be back, but at the most inconvenient time.

[Pete1000]

I had a similar issue and got a plug for the actuator from the wreckers only give you both extremes llc 2wd h i think but it worked for me after back and forwards it was operating normal again stays in the console now just in case if i get stuck in 4wd low
cheers pete

[Dicko1]

I hate problems that just go away like that. You just know it will be back, but at the most inconvenient time.

I think the worst part of this scenario is that when you leave on a trip you don't have the greatest confidence as you set off.. Always a nagging voice in the back of the head saying.."wait for it, wait".

[nj swb]

Time for another update.

1. LRA Auxiliary fuel tank

I was having a play at Terowie, following twisted32 through a dry creek bed at the bottom of a descent. I watched his rear bumper deform as it scraped on the exit, so I thought I'd try a different line. Down on the right, into the creek, give some throttle as the front started to climb the bank - but there was a rock that I hadn't seen in the path of the right rear wheel. As the nose started lifting, and I added more throttle, the rear wheel dropped off the rock and the corner of the tank hit it properly.
Bent tank.jpg

A loud crunch that caused twisted32 to twist his head around, one mashed in corner of the tank, and a diesel drip.

Fortunately the tank was nearly empty already, so I parked up on another rock to pump out as much as I could, then tried hard not to think about it for the rest of the day.

When I was ready to deal with it I made a few enquiries around town, and ended up talking to Green Welding at Gepps Cross. I took the tank out (not my idea of fun ) and delivered it to them for a quote. In round figures, $400 to fix the corner, or $1000 to re-skin the entire bottom of the tank with a thicker plate. I figured I was up for a minimum of $400 anyway, so another $600 would restore the capacity of the tank, and make it slightly tougher to bend - slightly, I hope...

The new bottom panel definitely made it heavier - which is good, because I have a habit of traveling light... Green Welding also made it look pretty again, with a fresh coat of paint, and said the interior looked good - no sign of rust.

Full marks to Green Welding - I'll happily recommend their service.

More not fun to get it back in, and last time I checked, it wasn't even leaking. From bone dry it took a bit over 83 litres, but that wasn't trying too hard to squeeze in every last drop. The dented bottom was down to about 78 litres useable capacity, vs about 81 when I bought it, so I'll be interested to see how much it takes next fill.

2. Front Diff oil leak

On a simple camping weekend we drove from Alligator Gorge back to camp at Mambray Creek, to be greeted by the ominous smell of gear oil - a leak from the pinion of the front diff.

After a little thought (with a beer in hand) I concluded that, because I'd been in 4H, the pinion had been turning, and I told myself it wasn't too bad - it would leak a lot less in 2H, when the pinion wasn't turning.

Next morning, I crawled under the Paj to check oil levels, to determine if it needed a top up before the drive home - slightly nose down in the campground, oil dribbled from the filler plug, so I figured there was enough there to start heading for home. Stopped several times to check for signs (and smells) of more leaks, and made it home without drama.

Again, I waited a few weeks before deciding to deal with it. Driving around in 2H it showed no signs of continuing to leak.

I did some research on replacing the pinion seal, and decided I was comfortable with the seal being replaced without pulling the diff and doing a full reset of the alignment. While calling around to find somebody to tackle the job (I'm still waiting for Mitsubishi to call me back with a quote ) one business owner offered that the pinion seals never fail, so it must be a blocked breather forcing the oil out.

The breather was definitely blocked - not the easiest thing to prove with the tools I had available, but I convinced myself! That took a bit of fiddling to remedy, but I got there, and managed to restore air flow. The tube in the diff cover plate seemed to be blocked with a fine rust-coloured gritty mud. So it was time to drain the oil to have a look...



Not a pretty sight - so I've filled it with fresh oil to run for a few days, to see if the pinion still leaks, then I'll drop the oil again to have another look. At least it's not making noise!

3. New tyres

My other half has basically been instructed to take some time off work, and wants to check out Uluru - leaving one week tomorrow. The ST Maxx that I bought second hand 30k km back would probably make it there and back, but they were definitely well past their prime - so I thought it was time to pour even more money into this bucket.

Based on previous experience, I wanted something with similar ruggedness, looking at price / depth of tread / weight. I also asked for suggestions from a few retailers, but based on my criteria, I narrowed in on Mickey Thompson ATZ P3s - same carcass as the ST Maxx I've had several times, light weight (for this class of tyre), as much tread depth as anything else I looked at (and more than most).

The Toyo RT attracted some interest, but it weighs more, has less tread, and not sufficiently cheaper to sway me.

I would've happily bought the ST Maxx again, except they're not available and the price (moot point anyway) was over $100 per tyre more.

I did have one dealer refuse to quote over the phone, because he wanted me to visit to see the new Baja Boss AT, which he claims is replacing the ATZ P3. At 4 pounds heavier per tyre, that was a hard pass from me - I need to reduce kerb weight, not increase it!

I was ready to order from a nearby Tyrepower when I realised there was a suggested Mickey T retailer that I hadn't called. That tyre place didn't sell Mickey Thompons, but, to his full credit, he suggested another nearby retailer - who was $30 per tyre better than the price I was about to accept.

The new tyres went on this morning, and I need to listen hard to hear them around town - probably because I'm accustomed to tyre noise anyway.

Another front end check booked in on Monday, and hopefully I can head north for two weeks without too many misgivings.

[pharb]

Re the Toyo RTs - I suspect they have a very heavy and robust construction. No. 2 son fitted a set to his ML, seeking something more aggressive than his Mickey Deagan 38s.
When driving around his inlaw's farm at Dargo he said he rarely had traction issues with the Deagans, but always had issues with the RTs.
I put it down to probably needing to drop the pressures on the Toyos a lot more to overcome the heavier construction.
This would of only been on soft, moist pasture, soil conditions.

No 1 son has now owned this ML for 12 months, doing lots of k's on road, mimimal off road. Hardly show any ware at all.

[nj swb]

Thanks pharb.

Deegans weren't on my list, but the Toyo R/Ts are 3 pounds/tyre lighter than the Toyo M/Ts I've had before. When the Toyos were new, at 40psi, I could feel every tread block as I drove (on smooth bitumen) - nothing like that with the P3s.

Weights (from an American site) for some of the tyres on my list (in 265/70-17)

Nitto Trail Grappler 60.8 lb
Toyo M/T 59 lb
Baja Boss A/T 58 lb
BFG KM3 57.5 lb
Toyo R/T 56 lb
Geolandar X-AT 55.8 lb
ST Maxx 55 lb
ATZ P3 54lb

I noticed an improvement in fuel economy when I went from the Toyo M/T to the ST Maxx. Hopefully the new P3s are similarly "economical" (if "economical" is a word I can use with tyres like these...)

[nj swb]

Warning: Pic Heavy!

Another 6+ months without an update - I am getting slack in my old age!

I'm still happy with my MTZs. Noisy, no doubt about it. To keep tyre temperatures down I need to run some quite high pressures - but that means I'm getting the best fuel economy I can remember! We won't talk about ride quality...

I've now completed a number of trips of varying distances without significant issues.

There was the Red Centre:
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A trip to Arkaroola:
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Blinman Hut (with M_and_M):
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[nj swb]

This year, we did the Vic High Country:




And a weekend at Bendleby:




I think I've been pushing my luck too far, it's time to stop avoiding some bigger preventive maintenance jobs. But I might take the path of least resistance, and pay somebody else to do it...

[nj swb]

Hmmm - not sure what happened to the pics in that last post.

Anyway, time for another rambling update.

Long story short - I spent lots of money, a reasonable amount of time, and shaved about 20kg of weight (more at the moment, but that's temporary).

Long story:

A combination of some good business conditions, a good tax return, and a good mood, so I went on a spending spree for the Paj - with weight reduction in mind. I lashed out on a set of RHS Offroad Engineering bash plates, and a "drop in replacement" iTechworld lithium battery under the bonnet.

Bash Plates:

Because I don't let my NT have an easy life, my bash plates are regularly called upon to do their duty. I want lighter plates, but not at the expense of strength, so I chose the 6.3mm heavy duty aluminium plates from RHS. I couldn't find all the specs for my existing combination of Bushskinz & Boos steel plates, but I guesstimated they would be about 30kg total. The RHS set was listed as 19kg for the set, so about a 10kg weight reduction - plus (hopefully) slightly better cooling of my factory intercooler.

When the time came to unwrap the plates I was quite impressed by the quality, and attention to detail. It's good to find something built to a standard, and not to a price.

Next, weighing the RHS set - on my digital bathroom scales, so don't take these figures as gospel!

Front plate: 4.7 kg
Sump plate: 5.7 kg
Trans plate: 10.1 kg
Bolts: 400 g (electronic kitchen scales)

Total: 20.9 kg. A little more than listed.

Once I had my old plates off, and largely cleaned of the accumulated dirt, they weighed:

Bushskinz Front (with extra holes): 8.1 kg
Bushskinz Sump (early model, with SHS across the front): 7 kg
Boos trans plate: 11.5 kg
Bolts: 350g

Total: 26.9 kg. Not as much as I'd guesstimated.

Bugger! An expensive 6 kg reduction.

They look good!

Bash plates Old + New.jpg

Starting at the rear, the transmission plate didn't fit. At the time, RHS listed that the set didn't fit NX with DPF, as it was thought it was only the NX version that it wouldn't suit. We have now concluded that it's all DPF versions that it won't fit, and the listings have been altered appropriately. The RHS DPF compatible plate is larger, heavier and more expensive - I don't want that. So I'll custom-butcher this plate, and take my chances on the strength front. By the time I'm finished, I doubt that it will offer less protection than the Boos plate that it's replacing, so I'm not uncomfortable.

The sump plate didn't go on much better. The factory brackets supporting the rear of the plate had been bent by the Bushskinz plate doing its job, so things didn't line up quite properly. RHS thought they had a spare crossmember available, so I was planning to replace it - but it transpired that the crossmember had already been sold, so some applied benditude restored the brackets to something resembling factory configuration, and enabled fitment of the plate.

The front plate went on well - almost suggests there's nothing bent out of alignment at the front of my Paj, which I'm struggling to believe.

Battery:

iTechworld were having an EoFY sale, including some nice discounts on their under-bonnet rated "drop-in replacement" Lithium batteries. The 2023 version of the 120X is smaller than earlier versions, with almost identical dimensions to my existing Fullriver DC85-12. Same M8 terminals, in the same corners. Let's do it!

The new battery weighed in a touch over 10 kg. The old battery weighed in at 26 kg. A 16kg weight reduction. Excellent! More nominal capacity, much more useable capacity, much less weight.

It certainly dropped in. But that's where the fun began!

I have customised terminals on top of my auxiliary battery that were cobbled together at short notice about 10 years ago, and haven't given me enough grief to warrant a neater solution.
20230708_120806.jpg

The new battery has the terminals further in from the edges - so my negative cable was a couple of mm too short, and a short chunky interconnection on the +ve terminal was too long. So that took a while to sort out, before discovering that the threaded sockets were not as deep, and my bolts were too long. Because of my custom arrangement, the bolts provided with the battery were far too short. So, after cutting down two bolts, and carefully cleaning up the threads again, I discovered that the moulded boss on the battery, surrounding the terminals, was larger - more cutting, filing & butchering (of my terminal arrangement) with a Dremel.

It's in, it charges, it runs the fridge.

Ride Height:

Without bash plates & battery, my ride heights changed

• + 10mm front left,
• + 6mm front right,
• no change rear left
• - 3mm rear right - it went down as the front left came up.

With the new battery and only 2 of 3 bash plates,

• front left went back down 5mm (net gain 5mm),
• front right went down 1mm (net gain 5 mm ?),
• rear left came up 3mm (net gain 3mm?)
• rear right came up 3mm (no net change).

All of these measurements were made on the same day, before and after, without moving the car. Some of those changes don't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I won't worry about it too much. Probably measurement error...

Some may have noticed I haven't posted absolute heights. The car has a definite list to one side (the side that has the battery and the fridge), so I want to adjust the front left strut, to try to even it up a little, and see what that does. A job for another day.

Driving:

Initial testing, driving around town, could only really test the battery. I have a little custom box on the dash that displays voltage at the main battery and the aux battery, and current in and out of my old Redarc BCDC12-20 charger. Initial thoughts are that the Lithium battery is confusing the (lead acid only) Redarc, causing it to drop to float mode (13.2V) prematurely, preventing the iTechworld BMS from charging the battery fully. But it's charging enough for my purposes, so that's another problem I'll kick down the road. I suspect I'll eventually swap the Redarc for a newer DC-DC charger, probably iTechworld so there's no excuses for things not to work as they should.

More recently, for a weekend away, I was able to do some cruising on the highway and monitor intake temps against ambient. On flat terrain, cruising at 100 km/h, I believe my intercooler is running somewhere between 3 & 5 degrees cooler than with my holey Bushskinz. I was seeing typically 13 - 15 degrees above ambient, where 18 degrees was about the best I used to get with my Bushskinz. So that aspect of the change was definitely worthwhile.

Next:

Some custom booty-fab to the transmission plate, to reduce the weight, and find out what else under my Paj is bent out of shape.

But after I replace the 5 switches on top of the transfer case. That should be fun!

Not...

[vladguan]

Hmmm - not sure what happened to the pics in that last post.

Anyway, time for another rambling update.

Long story short - I spent lots of money, a reasonable amount of time, and shaved about 20kg of weight (more at the moment, but that's temporary).

Long story:

A combination of some good business conditions, a good tax return, and a good mood, so I went on a spending spree for the Paj - with weight reduction in mind. I lashed out on a set of RHS Offroad Engineering bash plates, and a "drop in replacement" iTechworld lithium battery under the bonnet.

Bash Plates:

Because I don't let my NT have an easy life, my bash plates are regularly called upon to do their duty. I want lighter plates, but not at the expense of strength, so I chose the 6.3mm heavy duty aluminium plates from RHS. I couldn't find all the specs for my existing combination of Bushskinz & Boos steel plates, but I guesstimated they would be about 30kg total. The RHS set was listed as 19kg for the set, so about a 10kg weight reduction - plus (hopefully) slightly better cooling of my factory intercooler.

When the time came to unwrap the plates I was quite impressed by the quality, and attention to detail. It's good to find something built to a standard, and not to a price.

Next, weighing the RHS set - on my digital bathroom scales, so don't take these figures as gospel!

Front plate: 4.7 kg
Sump plate: 5.7 kg
Trans plate: 10.1 kg
Bolts: 400 g (electronic kitchen scales)

Total: 20.9 kg. A little more than listed.

Once I had my old plates off, and largely cleaned of the accumulated dirt, they weighed:

Bushskinz Front (with extra holes): 8.1 kg
Bushskinz Sump (early model, with SHS across the front): 7 kg
Boos trans plate: 11.5 kg
Bolts: 350g

Total: 26.9 kg. Not as much as I'd guesstimated.

Bugger! An expensive 6 kg reduction.

They look good!

Bash plates Old + New.jpg

Starting at the rear, the transmission plate didn't fit. At the time, RHS listed that the set didn't fit NX with DPF, as it was thought it was only the NX version that it wouldn't suit. We have now concluded that it's all DPF versions that it won't fit, and the listings have been altered appropriately. The RHS DPF compatible plate is larger, heavier and more expensive - I don't want that. So I'll custom-butcher this plate, and take my chances on the strength front. By the time I'm finished, I doubt that it will offer less protection than the Boos plate that it's replacing, so I'm not uncomfortable.

The sump plate didn't go on much better. The factory brackets supporting the rear of the plate had been bent by the Bushskinz plate doing its job, so things didn't line up quite properly. RHS thought they had a spare crossmember available, so I was planning to replace it - but it transpired that the crossmember had already been sold, so some applied benditude restored the brackets to something resembling factory configuration, and enabled fitment of the plate.

The front plate went on well - almost suggests there's nothing bent out of alignment at the front of my Paj, which I'm struggling to believe.

Battery:

iTechworld were having an EoFY sale, including some nice discounts on their under-bonnet rated "drop-in replacement" Lithium batteries. The 2023 version of the 120X is smaller than earlier versions, with almost identical dimensions to my existing Fullriver DC85-12. Same M8 terminals, in the same corners. Let's do it!

The new battery weighed in a touch over 10 kg. The old battery weighed in at 26 kg. A 16kg weight reduction. Excellent! More nominal capacity, much more useable capacity, much less weight.

It certainly dropped in. But that's where the fun began!

I have customised terminals on top of my auxiliary battery that were cobbled together at short notice about 10 years ago, and haven't given me enough grief to warrant a neater solution.
20230708_120806.jpg

The new battery has the terminals further in from the edges - so my negative cable was a couple of mm too short, and a short chunky interconnection on the +ve terminal was too long. So that took a while to sort out, before discovering that the threaded sockets were not as deep, and my bolts were too long. Because of my custom arrangement, the bolts provided with the battery were far too short. So, after cutting down two bolts, and carefully cleaning up the threads again, I discovered that the moulded boss on the battery, surrounding the terminals, was larger - more cutting, filing & butchering (of my terminal arrangement) with a Dremel.

It's in, it charges, it runs the fridge.

Ride Height:

Without bash plates & battery, my ride heights changed

• + 10mm front left,
• + 6mm front right,
• no change rear left
• - 3mm rear right - it went down as the front left came up.

With the new battery and only 2 of 3 bash plates,

• front left went back down 5mm (net gain 5mm),
• front right went down 1mm (net gain 5 mm ?),
• rear left came up 3mm (net gain 3mm?)
• rear right came up 3mm (no net change).

All of these measurements were made on the same day, before and after, without moving the car. Some of those changes don't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I won't worry about it too much. Probably measurement error...

Some may have noticed I haven't posted absolute heights. The car has a definite list to one side (the side that has the battery and the fridge), so I want to adjust the front left strut, to try to even it up a little, and see what that does. A job for another day.

Driving:

Initial testing, driving around town, could only really test the battery. I have a little custom box on the dash that displays voltage at the main battery and the aux battery, and current in and out of my old Redarc BCDC12-20 charger. Initial thoughts are that the Lithium battery is confusing the (lead acid only) Redarc, causing it to drop to float mode (13.2V) prematurely, preventing the iTechworld BMS from charging the battery fully. But it's charging enough for my purposes, so that's another problem I'll kick down the road. I suspect I'll eventually swap the Redarc for a newer DC-DC charger, probably iTechworld so there's no excuses for things not to work as they should.

More recently, for a weekend away, I was able to do some cruising on the highway and monitor intake temps against ambient. On flat terrain, cruising at 100 km/h, I believe my intercooler is running somewhere between 3 & 5 degrees cooler than with my holey Bushskinz. I was seeing typically 13 - 15 degrees above ambient, where 18 degrees was about the best I used to get with my Bushskinz. So that aspect of the change was definitely worthwhile.

Next:

Some custom booty-fab to the transmission plate, to reduce the weight, and find out what else under my Paj is bent out of shape.

But after I replace the 5 switches on top of the transfer case. That should be fun!

Not...

How much are they compared to bushskinz 6mm alloy plates?

[nj swb]

How much are they compared to bushskinz 6mm alloy plates?

The set I bought is currently listing at $900. I didn't look at the Bushskinz set - I went with the RHS partly for better airflow through the intercooler, partly because I think it looks pretty.

[nj swb]

Replacing transfer case switches.

Five transfer case switches replaced, and it was not fun doing it on the garage floor - too many times climbing in & out under my Paj, I'm getting too old for this stuff! It might have been not so bad if all 6 wheels on my garage creeper still worked properly, but I discovered that mine wasn't designed to be driven over by a Pajero - and it doesn't work so well with 4.x wheels.

In case it helps anybody else, some semi-random ramblings:

If you're planning to keep the vehicle, replace all five switches. If one has failed, I reckon it's likely that the others will soon. For the mucking around to get to the switches, spend the extra money, take the extra time, so you don't need to go through the hassle again any time soon. I ordered a full set of replacement switches from Amayama or Partsouq - I don't recall which, but they arrived pretty quickly - about $250 delivered?

On the day, I jacked up the rear a little, and put it on axle stands. I would do that again.

I removed the rear prop shaft at the rear diff, because this is what m_and_m did in his write-up. I'm not sure it was required to drop the transmission cross-member, but better safe than sorry!

I too had all sorts of problems to get the flange to separate, but I didn't try m_and_m's trick. Spraying with WD40, I could see that it easily penetrated through to the bolt holes, so I proceeded with other steps while it soaked for a bit. Then much beating with a hammer (as hard as this office-worker could, lying on his back under the car), then I used an old kitchen knife to hammer into the gap and gradually force the two to separate. Once the knife began to wedge far enough into the gap to jam, I resorted to beating with a hammer, and got them apart. At this stage, I re-applied the permanent marker alignment marks, as they were washed away by the WD 40.

As noted by m_and_m, DO NOT beat the drive shaft - it's a fragile beast designed to be light weight, hitting it with a hammer is likely to destroy it. Only beat the metal part flange that bolts to the diff flange.

I strung up a simple luggage strap between trailing arms to catch the driveshaft before it fell, and support it during the rest of the operation. I think that worked well.

I've had a few transfer cases out, and have a few photos, so I had some idea of what was on top of the transfer case. Which was good, because seeing up there was a stretch of my abilities.

Dropping the cross-member will only drop the transfer so far before a retaining strap begins to do its job. At this point, there's room for hands, but I struggled to get my phone up there to see the switches in "selfie mode". I broke out my inspection camera to see if that helped - it was only really useful to confirm what was in my photos, and that I had managed to clean away most of the dirt.

Cleaning away the dirt: a jeweller's screwdriver to break it up, fingers, a small paint brush, a banister brush, a duster gun attached to my compressor. I need a better solution for a duster gun - probably starting with a better chuck for the end of my hose. Anyway, job done (ish) - eventually.

Looking at the new switches, how they mount to their metal tabs, I cut up an old hacksaw blade to make a prise tool. As it turned out, for the three accessible at the rear of the transfer case, even my pocket knife popped those off reasonably well. The other two were more frustrating - the mounting tab has a small dog leg in the way, making it difficult to insert any form of rigid prising tool. Bending the tab enabled me to release the brown switch with my pocket knife, but I couldn't get the black one - in the end, I butchered the little locking tab to get it off.

I replaced the switches one at a time. I used a 22mm socket on my breaker bar to "crack" them, as I couldn't apply enough force with my ring spanner - and, as I later discovered, I couldn't get my ring spanner on the last two anyway.

By feel, I followed the switch wires up & over the transfer case, unfolding retaining clips as required. By removing only one switch at a time, I ensured I was putting the new switch into the correct hole, and used the other switch wires to ensure I routed the new switch wire properly.

I tested each switch on the bench - the old switch as it came out, and the new switch as it went in. I compared old with new side by side on the bench to ensure the correct selection. Only one of five old switches worked reliably on the bench - I have a new respect for the robustness of the system. All new switches are closed when fully extended, and open when the plunger is depressed. Only one of the old switches behaved the same - the other four would occasionally get the multimeter to buzz when ever so slightly depressed, but not reliably.

Getting the new switches back into the hole, with the washer in place, tested my coordination - but that's not saying a lot. Eventually, all the new switches were installed, the retaining dohickeys bent back down, and the vehicle restored to a road-going state. And the transfer case works properly.

I'm planning to never need to do that again.