Thread: 2007 Defender 130 - General queries

I just did foil and foam in my '08 90, in the back over the wheel panels, rear door cover etc, and also the across the 3 sections under the front seats and cubby/tray. I have a full TF straight pipe from turbo back (going to heat wrap after reading this is a good idea from the section from the turbo). I used cheap foam foil and foam (no logos!) from Aliexpress and it worked well, definite improvement. I've order a Dynamat bonnet kit and I think that will help although reviews seem to be both hit and miss. I bought the soundproofing tape too and it is black so just tidies up the edging so no foil peeking out.

Howdy all,

Going to keep this one as a running thread. Thanks for your replies.

I've been playing with the heat reduction and come up with an actively-cooled heat shield which does work, but the tunnel still needs work. I am going to try piping some cool air into that to if i can break it up.

Just replaced the SCV as had issues on starting and seemed to be lower power.

MAJOR issue at the moment though is, the car feels and smells 'sooty'. If I drive the thing home from work, my missus can smell 'Defender'. I think its coming through the aircon. Any culprit areas to look? I need to test with aircon on and off but its definitely NOT good.

Originally Posted by DFender

Howdy all,

Going to keep this one as a running thread. Thanks for your replies.

I've been playing with the heat reduction and come up with an actively-cooled heat shield which does work, but the tunnel still needs work. I am going to try piping some cool air into that to if i can break it up.

Just replaced the SCV as had issues on starting and seemed to be lower power.

MAJOR issue at the moment though is, the car feels and smells 'sooty'. If I drive the thing home from work, my missus can smell 'Defender'. I think its coming through the aircon. Any culprit areas to look? I need to test with aircon on and off but its definitely NOT good.

RE defender smell:
*if defender smell you mean coolant, passenger side engine bay the heater valve assembly is very prone to failures and leaking.
*coolant fumes are not a good thing for your health.
*check underside, between gearbox and transfer case for oil leaks dripping onto exhaust
RE lack of power:
*was the CVC, FCV ... whatever, was it calibrated when installed.
*how many km's? being a 2.4, about 150 ish is about the limit life for injectors.

*doing a ceramic first part of the exhaust is one of the best heat reductions for the Defender TDCi (2007 - 2016)

Originally Posted by DFender

Following up - STILL cant get the handbrake light to work.
Not a big issue - but is now ****ting me because I cant actually figure it out.

*there is a small simplistic switch on the handbrake assembly behind the handbrake boot, check that out, they do fail.

*more often than not the handbrake light has the opposite fault, as in it stays on

Originally Posted by DFender

and was PUMPING hot air in.

I have a D1 that does that. Funny how it never seems to do it on a cold day......

Howdy all,

Apologies for the late replies - a newborn in the house definitely puts additional constraints on your time.

@Dazza:
- Not coolant, its a 'sooty' smell. If i pull the flap off the bottom of the passengers side dash and rub my finger in there on the aircon, its covered in a fine layer of black dust.
- Been underneath - no real oil leaks to speak of there.

I'm thinking it has everything to do with THIS -> Ventilation piping gap Puma Defender

There is an appreciable gap there. It also seems to do it when the car is on recirculate though.

RE handbrake light. I pulled the little hatch up underneath the cubby and found a broken cable

SCV was replaced and had absolutely no dramas. Runs perfectly. Noted on the injector life. I've got 273k on it at the moment.


Got a few questions for the knowledgable amongst us about towing (5.8m plate alloy boat)
- Is it OK to tow in 6th?
- Gearbox/transmission coolers
Can you get them? are they recommend for alot of towing?