First Thread- Various Defender Questions

[Kidbeen]

Aulro Forum First Post.


Hello to everyone.


I became the proud owner of a 1995 Defender 130 with a custom built motorhome, mounted to the chassis, late last year. Fortunately, for me, it had a fastidious owner and is in tiptop shape.


Although I am now in my mid sixties I have never been a Land Rover owner. My experience with them was that we had one on a grazing property in central Queensland when I was a kid but I was too young to drive. It was a grey ute with that sharp angular roof at the back and it was probaby in the late 1950's. They made a hardwood crate for it and it carried our two ponies 40 miles to Pony Club events in Taroom and back.
However, most memorable of all was the neighbour's green short wheel based, topless Land Rover that he used to hook onto and help pull fully loaded cattle trucks up the steep creek banks. As a kid, I just stood in awe of the effort of that mighty little Land Rover. It just kept the trucks momentum to get them up the slope.


I assume that both of these vehicles would have been Series 1.


Must say I am envious of the repair skills some of you talk about on the forum. I can pull something apart and put it back together again but I am limited in mechanical and electrical knowledge.


I know for a lot of you guys that Land Rover ownership is addictive. Funnily enough, I too, am showing some signs by cruising the newsagents motoring stands.


I have been getting a window saying I would be deleted from the forum if I did not make my first post by 1/12/2017.


This is my first thread that I have been allowed to start, so I thought I would pick your brains on the following:-


1/. Magazines. Recently, while cruising the Newagent stands, I have come up with these purchases.


(a) DEFENDER workshop (How to improve, repair, maintain, modify - and save £££'s) an annual publication that just recently reached the newsstands over here.
also
(b) Guide to the Defender (Buying, enjoying and improving the icon). This mag was a special edition.


I assume all the magazines come out of the UK. So you fellows must get them by subscription to be sure of getting a copy. Could you give me an idea of what are the best Defender related magazines, and who you subscribe through.


2/. Fuel. What diesel fuel is best? Somewhere I read about BP Ultimate was the go, but then again, more recently, I read Caltex was the best. Why?
My son is an unfortunate Hilux owner. Ha ha! He puts an additive in each time he fills up but I have not read that on Defender forums yet. Do any of you add this additive?Not sure which one he uses.


3/. Radiator. There are a fair few forums about Defenders overheating. Don't think mine has ever been removed but all the standard maintenance has been carried out.


In the short term, I am going to tackle the radiator removal by myself, and have it rodded or a new core, if needed. I trust the advice from my radiator guy 100% and he will guide me when I deliver it to him. Maybe I will also get a Watchdog fitted. The previous owner travelled all over Australia in it and never needed one though. He had that small red light sensor fitted in the cabin.
I read somewhere, if the radiator is out for awhile the water pump seals can dry out; is that fact or fiction?


My other concern is the light steel brackets that are bolted on each side of the radiator. I understand that these have to be bent up to get the radiator out and because the steel has a memory, they never sit down properly when they are re-bent back into position. Fact or fiction?


4/. Gearbox Oil. The previous owner used Valvoline ATF Maxlife. I have been a big Penrite fan since the mid 1980's. Maybe it is not wise to change from Valvoline now.
What do you think? The current gearbox operates fine.


5/.Bullbar. The bullbar is a Land Rover product with Land Rover imprinted in the metal. Is this called an extreme bullbar? Nothing pulled up on the forums about it, they all talk ARB, TJM etc.


6/. Motor. Who made the 300 tdi motor? Someone told me it is an Isuzu. However, while I can find no concrete information about it, I am thinking it is a Land Rover manufactured engine. Who is correct?


7/. Knob. Oh and finally, the rubber bush under my High/ Low range knob disintegrated. My Land Rover dealer had new rubber bushes for a gear lever knob but not for the H/L knob so I bought a replacement knob but is was not the quality of the original one. Having a wood lathe, I decided to make a wooden bush, drill a hole in it and cut a thread. Had some gidgee wood, at home, which I knew could take a thread. Used a 3/8" tap to cut the thread and I glued the new bush in with a cyanoacrylate glue. I also flooded the threads with the glue to give them greater strength. It worked a treat and the old knob is back on again and I am happy.


Looking forward to communicating with all of you.




Gary

[scrambler]

Gary, welcome aboard!

1) I can't help you here. I have bought plenty of unnecessary stuff over time, but magazines ex UK never. The factory manuals and third-party maintenance and repair books I think are worthwhile, but the UK mags will advise stuff that will make no sense (like something to make the radiator work LESS well to allow heating to work better!) and sell you things you don't need. Mind you the Aussie mags will do the same!

2) Fuel- the beauty of the TDI engines is that they will happy run on anything this side of unfiltered chip oil. I don't think any commercial diesel will be an issue. And filter your chip oil before putting it in the tank. Remember - these were made to be used in central Africa, the Middle East and rural India. If its liquid and burnable (but not explosive) they will be fine. As an example - the British Military kept the 300TDI alive when civilian Landies had the TD5 - because the 300TDI will burn anything. Happily.

3) Yeah, the designers did not really have the weather in Oz (or the Sahara) in mind with the radiator design. I go by the temp guage myself, and drive at what the car thinks is a fair speed. Recent drive to Mt Isa and the Territory - 100kph even in the 110 zone because the engine ran warmer than I liked at 110. Cooling would have been even better if I stuck with 80. Mind you, 110 in 38+ degrees was not overheating.

4) Again, really the least of your worries - change when its next due if you want.

5) Throw up a photo and someone will know. Mine has had a bar FOR a Range Rover installed (before I bought it) and that fits but is slightly low for the headlights. I'd change it for a proper one but (1) that would cost money and (2) its welded to the chassis :-S

6) The motor is Land Rover design and build. The 300TDI is the last generation of the 2.3L Diesel/Petrol design from the late Series 1. So a descendant of the motor you remember pulling calves out of creeks. Increased to 2.5L in the 80's (when we in Oz only had the 3.5V8 and the Isuzu 4.3 diesel) and the upgraded further and turboed to become the 200TDI (which is what mine has) and then updated further again to the 300TDI. The later TD5 was an in-house design too, I believe, but the last Defender motors were not. The 4.2 Isuzu is in the Australian Army Land Rovers and some 1980's 110s ("Defenders" if you like) but nothing civilian after 1988.

7) I like it. I have simply wrapped electrical tape and live with the slight migration of the knob.

[Kidbeen]

Does anyone know about those radiator brackets that have to be bent up and if I have the radiator out for a week or so the water pump seals will dry out?

Gary

[numpty]

Gary, welcome aboard!

1) I can't help you here. I have bought plenty of unnecessary stuff over time, but magazines ex UK never. The factory manuals and third-party maintenance and repair books I think are worthwhile, but the UK mags will advise stuff that will make no sense (like something to make the radiator work LESS well to allow heating to work better!) and sell you things you don't need. Mind you the Aussie mags will do the same!

2) Fuel- the beauty of the TDI engines is that they will happy run on anything this side of unfiltered chip oil. I don't think any commercial diesel will be an issue. And filter your chip oil before putting it in the tank. Remember - these were made to be used in central Africa, the Middle East and rural India. If its liquid and burnable (but not explosive) they will be fine. As an example - the British Military kept the 300TDI alive when civilian Landies had the TD5 - because the 300TDI will burn anything. Happily.

3) Yeah, the designers did not really have the weather in Oz (or the Sahara) in mind with the radiator design. I go by the temp guage myself, and drive at what the car thinks is a fair speed. Recent drive to Mt Isa and the Territory - 100kph even in the 110 zone because the engine ran warmer than I liked at 110. Cooling would have been even better if I stuck with 80. Mind you, 110 in 38+ degrees was not overheating.

4) Again, really the least of your worries - change when its next due if you want.

5) Throw up a photo and someone will know. Mine has had a bar FOR a Range Rover installed (before I bought it) and that fits but is slightly low for the headlights. I'd change it for a proper one but (1) that would cost money and (2) its welded to the chassis :-S

6) The motor is Land Rover design and build. The 300TDI is the last generation of the 2.3L Diesel/Petrol design from the late Series 1. So a descendant of the motor you remember pulling calves out of creeks. Increased to 2.5L in the 80's (when we in Oz only had the 3.5V8 and the Isuzu 4.3 diesel) and the upgraded further and turboed to become the 200TDI (which is what mine has) and then updated further again to the 300TDI. The later TD5 was an in-house design too, I believe, but the last Defender motors were not. The 4.2 Isuzu is in the Australian Army Land Rovers and some 1980's 110s ("Defenders" if you like) but nothing civilian after 1988.

7) I like it. I have simply wrapped electrical tape and live with the slight migration of the knob.

Just one correction. The Isuzu motor referred to in Aus Land Rovers (Stage 1's and 110's including Aus Army) is 3.9 litres not 4.2.

[jboot51]

Does anyone know about those radiator brackets that have to be bent up and if I have the radiator out for a week or so the water pump seals will dry out?

Gary

Pull the radiator and intercooler out as 1 unit, then remove the radiator from the frame.
If you have a/c installed, the condensor will be bolted to the frame from the front.
You will also require new orings for the oil cooler pipes upon reinstallation.
The waterpump seals will be fine.
While the intercooler is out, give it a flush with turps/solvent to remove the oil build up.

[87County]

Gary, welcome aboard!

...

6) The motor is Land Rover design and build. The 300TDI is the last generation of the 2.3L Diesel/Petrol design from the late Series 1. So a descendant of the motor you remember pulling calves out of creeks. Increased to 2.5L in the 80's (when we in Oz only had the 3.5V8 and the Isuzu 4.3 diesel) and the upgraded further and turboed to become the 200TDI (which is what mine has) and then updated further again to the 300TDI. The later TD5 was an in-house design too, I believe, but the last Defender motors were not. The 4.2 Isuzu is in the Australian Army Land Rovers and some 1980's 110s ("Defenders" if you like) but nothing civilian after 1988.

...

only a minor point scrambles, the Isuzu 4BD1 is 3.9 (it would be great if it was 4.2) and it was installed in civvie models up to at least 1990, and after that in some of the army mods

I find it interesting that one engine replacement option being used by owners of TD5s and the more recent 110s with the Ford designed engines is to have a 4BD1 installed.

BTW, the radiator/intercooler brackets unbolt