Thread: Puma engine Problems

Originally Posted by one_iota

What about the .............................. vacuum pump,................... .

A very interesting thread.

I was/am considering buying a 130 for outback travelling but this thread has seriously put the willies up me.
A friend has a late model transit and is now on his 3rd vacuum pump (all under warranty). The engine now needs replacing, something to do with the vacuum pump failure, lack of oil or contamination of some sort he has been told and is unsure if this will be covered by warranty.
My question is...............is this engine a piece of crap to be avoided at all costs?, should I look at a second hand TD5 version, wait and see if the Indians come up with something better or leave well alone?
I've had several Landys over the years, both petrol and diesel but know nothing of the current Defenders.
Any and all advice gratefully accepted.

ATTN MODS, MIGHT CONSIDER MOVING THIS TO .....THINKING OF GETTING A CURRENT DEFENDER, SORRY, DONT KNOW HOW TO QUOTE BETWEEN THREADS, DeanoH

Deano

Had my puma at auto elecs today getting a hid upgrade kit put into my drivers..... Near new hilux twin cab there alternator shorted or something and fried every fuse on the rug.......Thai Crap ????? Maybe we are just as well off with our Pommy Chariots??

All the makes seem to be having a few issues, maybe the tritons are the only ones that aren't, I never seem to see issues with them, but there butt ugly!!

Originally Posted by pc3

All the makes seem to be having a few issues, maybe the tritons are the only ones that aren't, I never seem to see issues with them, but there butt ugly!!

Might have spoken too soon there pc3.....

Mitsubishi Broken Chassis

(Although it looks like the accessories fitted didn't help)

Having been through exactly the same issue on my new PUMA, here's some things you might want to consider,.

1 - Where is the fuel tank breather on your puma? Is it located in a place that can pick up road spray?
2- There are two possible ways of water getting into your tank. From the fuel source, and from water leaking in. Mine was caused by a poorly located fuel breather sucking in water into the tank.
3- Check with the service stations you bought fuel from, have they had similar reports. Contaminated fuel from service stations is not common, and they would know if they have an issue, and if they have then may volunteer to fix it. Official Shell service stations are apparently quite good at owning up to issues and covering them.
4- DON'T panic. If it's a bad dump of fuel from the service station, then you're insurance company will cover the cost. They will claim from the service station for you. BUT don't lodge the claim until you have ruled out a faulty fuel breather or filler cap, otherwise your insurance rates will mysteriously raise the next year even if you cancel the claim.....

Land rover only need to find 40cc of water in the fuel filter to claim it's water contamination. Ask for a sample of this water. 40cc is really not a lot of water, and anything more than that and apparently it will overwhelm the factory filter. MY main argument is that Land rover have removed the ability to self service the fule filter on the PUMA, as you need a special tool to reprime the fuel system. They have also removed the water contamination warning light that would indicated a flooded filter. Therefore they must believe the filter is capable of surviving average Australian fuel conditions over the period between services. IF you look at the water standards for the fuel supply in Australia, I think you will find you can actually have more than 40cc of water in good diesel over 10,000k's. So therefore the vehicle is not fit for the purpose it was sold, ie the driving in Australia.....

All this is very interesting. It’s a pity that the likes of ‘Dieseldog’ and I do believe ‘Dullbird’ (and probably others) had to find this out the hard and very expensive way that there seems to be an inherent floor in the Puma fuel system as far as water contamination is concerned.
My thoughts are, and something I will pursue before my beloved Puma falls victim to the same fate. Is the addition of an extra fuel filter with a heave sediment/water catchment bowl on the bottom, with possibly a fuel priming pump incorporated in the filter head. Right now I have no idea if any of this is possible let alone practical. But from my experience with engines I cant see why not. Any thoughts and or experiences with trying something similar?

Cheers
Craig

http://www.mylocalvanhire.co.uk/vanblog/ar...omment-993
The above link is from the Defender2 site in the U.K. Seeks a lot of people are having bother with the new fuel Shell have developed.

Originally Posted by Nera Donna

...
My thoughts are, and something I will pursue before my beloved Puma falls victim to the same fate. Is the addition of an extra fuel filter with a heave sediment/water catchment bowl on the bottom, with possibly a fuel priming pump incorporated in the filter head. Right now I have no idea if any of this is possible let alone practical. But from my experience with engines I cant see why not. Any thoughts and or experiences with trying something similar?
Cheers
Craig

Sounds like a great idea... BUT you would have no warranty on the fuel system etc.
No way would LRA cover you if something went wrong due to fuel.

OK if LRA installed it for you. I have already expressed my concern and asked about additional filtering system - I was told it is not needed and no way would they do it. This was verbal from a dealer by the way.


.

Originally Posted by Nera Donna

All this is very interesting. It’s a pity that the likes of ‘Dieseldog’ and I do believe ‘Dullbird’ (and probably others) had to find this out the hard and very expensive way that there seems to be an inherent floor in the Puma fuel system as far as water contamination is concerned.
My thoughts are, and something I will pursue before my beloved Puma falls victim to the same fate. Is the addition of an extra fuel filter with a heave sediment/water catchment bowl on the bottom, with possibly a fuel priming pump incorporated in the filter head. Right now I have no idea if any of this is possible let alone practical. But from my experience with engines I cant see why not. Any thoughts and or experiences with trying something similar?

Cheers
Craig

Yes has anyone managed to put in /adapt a extra say Racor fuel filter into the Puma fuel line as a extra insurance policy against the dirty fuel?