Thread: Simpson washup

Originally Posted by jon3950

And, yeah, isn’t the road between Dalhousie and Mt Dare in a shocking state.

the road between Old Andado Station to Mt Dare makes the road from Mt Dare to Dalhousie a German engineered highway. The bull dust was extremely deep and was wallow after wallow of dust holes. I hit one too fast with windows down. I looked across at my wife to apologise for her unimpressed face looking back at me. The dust went over the bonnet and up the wind screen like crossing a deep river does to water over the bonnet.

How can anyone not know about the boost hose issue on puma’s, it’s been so well documented and is generally pretty easy to temporarily repair boost leaks unless they’re at the IC or manifold.
No offence to anyone but if your gonna go and to trips like the Simpson desert and put yourself into remote areas you need to know a little about what your driving and have a few patch kits for various stuff.

Originally Posted by jackdef90

How can anyone not know about the boost hose issue on puma’s, it’s been so well documented and is generally pretty easy to temporarily repair boost leaks unless they’re at the IC or manifold.
No offence to anyone but if your gonna go and to trips like the Simpson desert and put yourself into remote areas you need to know a little about what your driving and have a few patch kits for various stuff.

Thanks for that. Not sure it was the boost hose issue that is so well documented. Might be. My skills and expertise are in other areas. But I'm told the hose replaced was an elbow and so maybe not one of the ones with the notorious issue?

I'm not a mechanic. A mechanic in a proper workshop and his helpers were unable to identify the problem during intermittent stuffing around over a 24 hour period ("its boosting okay"; "I can't see any tears or holes..." etc) before telling me to see if the RACQ would tow it home, so I don't know I'd be any better in the middle of the desert with the best tool kit and spare part collection going.

It really is bit much if the Defender is so unreliable that you have to skill yourself up to diagnose and fix problems that can't be worked out by someone who earns there living as a mechanic.

Without being too defensive: the French line in the Simpson Desert is relatively busy and we knew that to be case before heading off. I also had insurance to cover up to $30,000 for off-road recovery in the event of a mechanical breakdown that required assistance, the vehicle had just had its major 80,000 service, and I had basic tools and rescue tape.

But sure, I'd like to learn a bit more about what I'm driving - you offering?

Originally Posted by plusnq

We had to limp out of the Simpson Desert in July this year in the D4. Went into limp mode a half day into the desert. Used the IID tool but no faults logged. Tried clearing regularly but would drop into limp mode within 50m. Also tried total battery disconnect, wait 30 mins and reconnect. Same event, no faults logged, even though in limp mode. Eventually after many hours of climbing dunes extremely slowly, we were on the flat into Birdsville when the error codes appeared. Took it to the mechanic as we could see nothing obvious. Neither could the three of them, in consultation with an LR specialist in Brisbane. Flatbed home for the D4 and flights for us. Turned out to be a seized CSO valve.

How'd you get up those dunes in limp mode? Must have been a challenge!

What's a IID tool? Is that the same as the Nanacom?

Originally Posted by POD

A code reader is more necessary than a second spare tyre these days for remote travel. Some ability to interpret the reading to locate a problem is also helpful, but mostly the ability to clear a limp mode.
.

Is it possible to clear the fault by locking and unlocking five times?

Originally Posted by jackdef90

How can anyone not know about the boost hose issue on puma’s, it’s been so well documented and is generally pretty easy to temporarily repair boost leaks unless they’re at the IC or manifold.
No offence to anyone but if your gonna go and to trips like the Simpson desert and put yourself into remote areas you need to know a little about what your driving and have a few patch kits for various stuff.

Trouble is, where do you start and where do you stop!
So far on mine (2015 M.Y Puma), Ive had a replacement clutch, replacement rear Diff, output shaft, aircon condensor/thermostat.
Whilst I've always fixed and serviced the vehicles i own(including a Series II, this Defender has been the most unreliable,...............all of these issues with a new car!

Don't get me wrong , I absolutely love the vehicle and how capable it is but when 'she who must be obeyed' wonders if it'll break down again on the next trip ,..........lets just say a trend is emerging!!!

Originally Posted by gng1

Thanks for that. Not sure it was the boost hose issue that is so well documented. Might be. My skills and expertise are in other areas. But I'm told the hose replaced was an elbow and so maybe not one of the ones with the notorious issue?

I'm not a mechanic. A mechanic in a proper workshop and his helpers were unable to identify the problem during intermittent stuffing around over a 24 hour period ("its boosting okay"; "I can't see any tears or holes..." etc) before telling me to see if the RACQ would tow it home, so I don't know I'd be any better in the middle of the desert with the best tool kit and spare part collection going.

It really is bit much if the Defender is so unreliable that you have to skill yourself up to diagnose and fix problems that can't be worked out by someone who earns there living as a mechanic.

Without being too defensive: the French line in the Simpson Desert is relatively busy and we knew that to be case before heading off. I also had insurance to cover up to $30,000 for off-road recovery in the event of a mechanical breakdown that required assistance, the vehicle had just had its major 80,000 service, and I had basic tools and rescue tape.

But sure, I'd like to learn a bit more about what I'm driving - you offering?

Sounds like you did everything reasonable to prepare for the trip.

Originally Posted by gng1

How'd you get up those dunes in limp mode? Must have been a challenge!

What's a IID tool? Is that the same as the Nanacom?

It was an eye opener as to how slow you can go up them. It was a challenge with a couple being driven twice to take a different line as we just ran out of go. Speed was as low as 1kph on the top of some dunes. We just needed one snatch at the top of little red as it was so chopped up. The GAP IID tool is like a nanocom .

Diagnostic tool for Land Rover - Gap Diagnostic

photos, on the hoist in Birdsville, Errors that were eventually thrown, limp mode in the Desert