Thread: What to buy a 300tdi or a Toyota?

Well thats the thing,the TDCi doesn't do head gaskets unlike the Tdi and Td5,they have proven to be very reliable except for the adapter shaft and flanges,the flanges are a problem in the earlier models also.It's hard to find a pattern to the TDCi as far as problems go because there isn't any,they are no more expensive to repair than the Tdi. Pat

Maybe a read through this thread will give you a bit of a (tilted) view of the kinds of problems TDCi owners have faced.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/90-110-130...ur-issues.html

I say a "tilted view" not because anyone is misrepresenting facts. But because of the simple facts that:
1. Forums of any kind tend to attract more "this has broken" posts than "this hasn't broken" posts.
2. This particular thread appeals to people with problems to please come and post here.

But it does provide a view of a slew of problems. Are they specific to TDCi's or even particularly prevalent in TDCi's?

I think PAT303 said it well, it's hard to find a pattern.

So I fall back on my statement earlier: You'll get a good one, or a bad one right from the showroom floor. The bad bits get fixed under warranty in the first year. After that seems to be a good run.

Or you can buy something that looks good, has years/decades behind it and hundreds of thousands of kilometers on it. No warranty. And anything that breaks you can fix yourself. (Hopefully that, fixing stuff, won't tie up too much of your time)

Looking at that thread you only read about backlash and changing diffs,both issue's are mostly caused by the adapter shaft and axle flanges,the early ones had clutch springs that came loose but for a long time the poor old P38 was blamed when it wasn't at fault,history has born that out.The TDCi has not had any where near the issue's that plagued the Tdi and Td5 and to me it's the best. Pat

Yep. When you filter out the problems that are:
- likely driver unfamiliarity with features (engine revs holding up between gear changes)
- not specific to Puma's (all transfer case, drive flanges, and diff issues, door seals and water dripping on your foot)
- has been fixed in recall actions and newer models (turbo hoses, radiator hoses, intercooler hoses)

There's not a lot left that has any kind of pattern that you could say " oh yeah this always fails on TDCi's but not on other Defenders"

There ARE some specific differences that need to be noted about TDCi's and understood how it works:
- totally different gearbox
- totally different engine (very specific oils needed)
- different fuel pump and how it behaves when fuel is low, needs to be understood/learned!
- "idle jack" needs to be learned too or you'll be caught out in low range first some day by surprise.
- managed throttle (rev flare between gear changes)
- different throttle map in low range

These are things drivers of older defenders never dealt with.

What needs to be learned about the fuel pump?,I've run mine out of fuel twice and it started straight away.It was just another one of the ''problems'' non TDCi owners made up because they couldn't find any real issue's to complain about. Pat

hey PAT303, interested to know a little more detail about your two fuel runout events.

I haven't experienced running out in my TDCi so all I know is from some posts on the topic and reading the manual. What drops from those sources is something like this:
- the TDCi apparently does not have an in-tank fuel pre-pump, or priming pump and so it's a bother if air gets into the line when changing filters or running out of fuel.
- so a bit of care needed when changing fuel filter
- and from documents the TDCi tries to avoid complete fuel out situations by a series of escalating computer controlled steps:
- First the warning light and beep warning low fuel at a preset level.
- Then at a lower preset level a computer induced "misfire" effect that's supposed to get you to really take notice
- then it will go into limp mode and eventually shut down the engine.
- at first you can restart and travel a short distance still in limp mode but eventually total engine shut down.

All apparently with the view to NOT letting you completely run out and have to face other problems bleeding fuel lines etc

(edit: to be clear the notes about not having an in-tank pump doesn't apply to the 2.2 TDCis. There is definitely one there in 2.2 TDCi but still the computer initiated sequence to avoid fuel run out is still in 2.2 models)

(From the workshop manual for MY2013 2.2l TDCi on topix)
The run-dry strategy is used to maintain the systems fuel prime at fuel run out. It ensures the minimum amount of fuel is always left in the swirl pot.

The instrument cluster activates the yellow low fuel warning light (next to the fuel gauge) with 17% of fuel remaining in the tank. The fuel gauge will indicate empty with 12% of fuel left in the tank.

With 6 liters left in the tank the run-dry strategy will be invoked. An engine mis-fire will be induced for approximately 1 mile after which the engine will be shut down. The engine can be re-started in mis-fire mode and will continue to run for a further mile until the engine shuts down again. This can be repeated until the fuel suction port in the tank is uncovered and causes engine fuel starvation and loss of prime. Re-starts after run-dry shut down are not recommended.

Originally Posted by tact

(From the workshop manual for MY2013 2.2l TDCi on topix)
The run-dry strategy is used to maintain the systems fuel prime at fuel run out. It ensures the minimum amount of fuel is always left in the swirl pot.

The instrument cluster activates the yellow low fuel warning light (next to the fuel gauge) with 17% of fuel remaining in the tank. The fuel gauge will indicate empty with 12% of fuel left in the tank.

With 6 liters left in the tank the run-dry strategy will be invoked. An engine mis-fire will be induced for approximately 1 mile after which the engine will be shut down. The engine can be re-started in mis-fire mode and will continue to run for a further mile until the engine shuts down again. This can be repeated until the fuel suction port in the tank is uncovered and causes engine fuel starvation and loss of prime. Re-starts after run-dry shut down are not recommended.

So does the TDCI not have a primer pump?
Chris