Symptoms were – sometimes stalling at idle (gradually getting more frequent), poor fuel consumption, bit more noisier/rougher/sluggish than usual, and occasional loss of power.
Time to swap out the VCV.
I’d heard it was a bit of a PITA* job due to lack of access to the bolts that secure it.
Fortunately, as is usual, someone’s already been there and I found some good advice over at defender2.net.
So, the way I did it –
1) unclip the wiring harness.
2) remove the brake vacuum pipe (easy – just push the metal sleeve bit to the left while pulling out the black pipe towards the right).
3) using a range of 5mm Allen keys (probably leftovers from IKEA home assembly flat pack furniture :-)) remove the bolts most of the way and the rest by hand.
4) pull out the old VCV and then remove the connector.
5) fitting the new one is just the reverse, remembering the new O-ring and gasket.
And the verdict is a big thumbs up 😎
*PITA = Pain in the Ar$e!