Thread: Info about Defender 130. 2002-2004

I own one, a 2002 model. What do you want to know.

Cheers, Mick.

What's you opinion one the car what troubles have you had

Hi and welcome.

2002 onwards will have a 5cyl td5 engine. Its a very capable engine and maintained correctly will do 500000 kms without too many hassles.
Engine wise check to see if the oil pump bolt has been checked and loctited. Check for oil in the engine loom at the ecu plug. Not a major but can make the engine run rough. See if the head has been removed and the plastic dowels replaced with steel ones.

Gearbox is an R380 and suits that engine only.
Strong enough and will last a few hundred thousand kms until you drive the car like its stolen. They dont handle abuse very well

Transfer case is an LT230. Shared amoung many Land rover models and is strong. However they are prone to leaking from the intermediate shaft seal. The housing can be sleeved and this will fix the leaking issue.

Diffs. The rear will either be a P38 diff or the very strong salisbury type diff. From memory 2002 was about the change over from salisbury to P38. P38 diff is okay but the Salisbury is very strong.
Front diff is the same from 1994 to 2005 I think. I may get corrected here.

As for the vehicle its fantastic. I have a 130 and the whole family love it. Ive had a large range of brand new vehicles in the last 20 years and wish I got the 1996 defender earlier.

Cheers
Michael.

[QUOTE=Pacemaker;2341130]Hi and welcome.

2002 onwards will have a 5cyl td5 engine. Its a very capable engine and maintained correctly will do 500000 kms without too many hassles.
Engine wise check to see if the oil pump bolt has been checked and loctited. Check for oil in the engine loom at the ecu plug. Not a major but can make the engine run rough. See if the head has been removed and the plastic dowels replaced with steel ones.

Gearbox is an R380 and suits that engine only.
Strong enough and will last a few hundred thousand kms until you drive the car like its stolen. They dont handle abuse very well

Transfer case is an LT230. Shared amoung many Land rover models and is strong. However they are prone to leaking from the intermediate shaft seal. The housing can be sleeved and this will fix the leaking issue.

Diffs. The rear will either be a P38 diff or the very strong salisbury type diff. From memory 2002 was about the change over from salisbury to P38. P38 diff is okay but the Salisbury is very strong.
Front diff is the same from 1994 to 2005 I think. I may get corrected here.

As for the vehicle its fantastic. I have a 130 and the whole family love it. Ive had a large range of brand new vehicles in the last 20 years and wish I got the 1996 defender earlier.

Cheers
Michael.[/QUOTE


So would you rate the pre 2002 models higher than the post 2002 models

I think Pacemaker has summed it up pretty well. Mine has done 350,000 kms now, the gearbox and the transfer case have both been rebuilt, engine is largely untouched apart from having to change the injector seals twice. The engine is starting to use a little coolant, so it is probably due to have the head gasket replaced. The front diff on mine had the crown wheel bolts work loose and shear off a couple, that was at about 300,000.
We are very happy with the vehicle, my wife loves driving it, she use it on a daily basis. There is room for a family of four to travel comfortably and heaps of room in tub for all your stuff.
We have had ours for six years now, it had 120,000 on it when we got it, it was previously owned by a pastoral company in Northern NSW, and there was plenty of evidence that it had been worked hard in that time.
As for which year is best, that is a matter of opinion, but if you want a TD5 I think you can't go past one that has the steel dowels in the head and a salisbury diff in the rear. There is a small window around 2002 where this occured, the steel dowels were fitted after a certain engine number, but I don't know what that is off hand.
Hope this helps.
Cheers, Mick.

I have a 2004 dual cab 130 - bought new and now approaching 300K. It was my main work vehicle - has now been retired to lighter duties.


Has been an excellent work vehicle - lots of heavy loads and heavy towing and ordinary roads. Driveline untouched other than replacement of rear axles and drive flanges with heavier duty ones. And the intermediate shaft on the TC leaks but am waiting for more of an excuse to pull the box out to fix it.


The engine needed the oil pump bolt fixed - but got to it before it let go. Other than that nothing more than routine maintenance.


The routine maintenance is important - so look for a good service record.


While many criticise the P38 diff, mine has never given any trouble. Suspect the issue is initial setup in the factory. It has a small click in it now and more backlash than I would like but after nearly 300k of heavy work I am not complaining. I have a spare sitting in the shed.


Main word of caution (other than the oil pump bolt) is that the engines have zero tolerance for overheating. I have always had a temp watchdog on mine and know it has never overheated - which is probably why it has got 300K without head problems. Fixing an engine that has recently overheated would be expensive.


130's - if overloaded or if the tray mounting is wrong - can crack the chassis. It is an easy fix. I plead guilty.


Door frames, catches and trim have given some trouble but are not hard to fix.


Must have been fairly happy with it since I bought a new one last year.

So would you rate the pre 2002 models higher than the post 2002 models[/QUOTE]

No i wouldnt rate them better. They do have very different engines though.

1994 - 1998 is the 300tdi engine. Mechanical injection. No electricery to go wrong. Very simple and if maintained very reliable. In standard form with no injector pump tweaks if you do much highway driving power is borderline. 300tdis do come to life with a bit of inexpensive tweeking of the pump. Dont expect miracles though.

1999-2006? TD5 engine. Computer controls injection therefore electrical sensors on the engine and wiring looms that can cause engine problems. Saying this ive had 3 td5s and only once did i have a "real" electrical issue. The solder on the eprom inside the ecu cracked and the car would not start or run. The eprom (chip) was fitted by a reputable company in South Aust. They happily repaired it and charged me for their privilege.
The electrical circuit on on td5 is quite simple and reliable. I wouldnt let it bother you. TD5 is easy to get extra power out of. They respond very well to reprogramming or chipping the ecu.

Otherwise the cars are very similar apart from the rear diff. You probably need to drive both to make a decision. I wouldnt let factors of either car sway me one way or the other regarding reliability. I chose the earlier Defender as i didnt want any computers. Just my pure preference at the time. Im still very happy with my decision. Im sure i would be just as happy with another td5 too.

Cheers
Michael.

Cheers all for your info I now know what Iam looking now the waiting game till a gem pops up