Well, after a couple of frightful years out of the landy game, I'm back! I let my 99 TD5 go in August 2020, after putting in an order for a new dual cab 79 series. Didnt like it, sold it. Got a BT50, sold that, and am now full circle having just picked up a 2007 Defender 130. Feels like home again! Never thought I'd say this, but it's sort of good to be back on the tools, I've kind of missed tinkering!
Overall, everything is in pretty decent shape and just going over the whole thing, getting a lay of the land and sorting out some niggly issues. The main aim is trying to get the cabin as comfortable as possible so the missus will be more inclined to get out for some trips away. Don't get me wrong, she loves the landy, but does not enjoy some of the rougher edges of Defender'ing, mainly cabin heat. More on that below.
I've assembled a list of to-dos and some queries I have so far. If I have missed anything to put on the list or if there is any feedback/help - would be greatly appreciated. The car has been inspected by 2 separate independant landy specialist so mechanically I am pretty happy that everything is sound there.
To-Do - Check if headlight wiring mod completed
- Aircon seems to occasionally smell like the engine bay?
- Fresh air/recycle is stuck to 'fresh'
Rust
Overall - the car is in pretty good shape. There is some beginning rust in the footwell area, so the plan was to get in, sand it out, rust convert and then paint over the top? My doors are also in good shape for the first time ever - what's the best way to keep them that way?!
Cabin Heat/Insulation Heat issues
Similar to my old TD5, I just forgot how HOT the cabin in these things get and looking to reduce this further. DECAT pipe has been wrapped and installed, and the rest of the pipe wrapped till back of the cab. This has definitely made the issue alot better but there is still alot of heat that seems to be coming from the gearbox/transfer case. Is the peel and stick heatshield from carbuilders the go to here to try and stop this heat from getting in in the first place? Adhesive Heat Shields - Peel and Stick Heat Shield to Keep Your Ride Cool
I've also been told about the 78 degree thermostat - does this make much difference? Is it worth doing or is it just BS? Any effects on engine life/oil/etc with this change?
Trim
The interior trim was absolute garbage and falling apart, which seems to be par for the course for these. I am looking at the Exmoor Trim molded setup to replace it, as everything I have read has said this is the way to go. If i go this route, do I need to bother with the sound deadening (ie Carbuilders kit), or just stick with the Exmoor?
Windows Passengers front window does not wind all the way, dropping around 20mm from the top of the window. The drivers window goes all the way up, but it is pretty clunky and if you hold the up button, also keeps trying to jam the window into the top of the door frame? Is there a limit switch or something here that needs fixing?
Handbrake/ABS Warning Light I have no handbrake or brake warning lights. From my testing - the 'bulb check' on first power up does not work at all. I've done some googling and need a bit more info on how to trace this whole thing back and find where the actual problem is. I've read a fair bit and just managed to confuse myself more. Has anyone got a really simple step-by-step? I cant even seem to find the relay for this thing. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated here.
Exhaust I've got a nice smattering of soot along the towball etc - I dont remember this happening before. Can I just move the pipe to stop this? Not a huge concern but it's bloody filthy.
LED headlights instead of a HD wiring harness. Less drain on the circuit
AC sucks in all defenders. Best of luck.
Insulation and matting. My factory matting fell apart. i went to the effort of fitting butyl and alloy sheets (sound deadening) to all the surfaces in the cabin bar the trans tunnel and i fitted the exmoor trim HD butyl matt throughout. I also have sound deadening on the external against the fire wall and beginning of the trans tunnel (to the removable tunnel section). On balance it makes not a brass razoo of a difference. the heat soak is the same, the road noise is the same. the heat from the trans tunnel in particular where the foam pad is for the gear shifter is the main source and you can't remedy that unless you find another solution. i read where a chap put a second layer of foam there and it messed with his gear shifts. For what it is worth, the exmoor trim is quality and worth the money
thermostat - IMO there is no point. it will open the thermostat earlier and your operating range will (if your cooling system is healthy) will sit in the 78 to 88 range. OEM is 86-96. if the engine is going to overheat, opening at 78 will make not a brass razoo of a difference to stop it overheating. if you are overheating, its a problem with the cooling system not being effective.
windows - the slide mechanism, in particular the pivot for the cross arms is prone to coming apart. there are your tube vids who to replace the cross arm mechanism. they are relatively cheap and i did mine in 20 min. make sure you secure the window in the up position with about 1" from the top. i used suction cups that rested on the door top to hold the glass in place. While you are in the door, pull the wires for the central locking and electric window back into the cabin and solder in an extension to each wire. the harness is too short and the wires tend to break in the rubber conduit between the A pillar and door.
handbrake light. the Puma is an LED display for the handbrake (all warning lights) and the power on light up is probably coming from a control wire not the handbrake. the handbrake warning is an earth loop and the switch is on the handle next to your leg. The RAVE wiring schematics are pretty easy to read.
2007 130 does not have ABS. 130's got ABS in 2015 for the last 6 months of production. Last 130 rolled off the production line in or about October 2015. My MY11 130 does not illuminate the ABS on start up.
MLD
Current: (Diggy) MY10 D130 ute, locked F&R, air suspension and rolling on 35's.
Current: (but in need of TLC) 200tdi 110 ute & a 300tdi 110 ute.
Current: (Steed) MY11 Audi RS5 phantom black (the daily driver)
Gone: (Dorothy) MY99 TD5 D110
Noted on aircon (its better than I thought), thermostat etc. So in you're opinion its not worth doing the trim for any other reason than to pretty everything up? Minor sound deadening and heat protection at best?
Will pull the door skins and check out the window situation
Interesting on ABS! Thanks for that! I wonder if it could just be the switch itself is completely dead? I can find it in the manual provided (cheers, SUPER thorough) but where the hell is that actual connector!?! Im really hoping not inside the dash....
This thread's about noise insulation but some of the ideas would work for heat insulation. Someone has used the Exmoor trim mat and foil covered butyl pads and seems pretty happy with the results.
2007 model, so it is a 2.4? i only ask as it could be a last TD5 thats reg'd 2007. A TD5 and 2.4 TDCi (puma) are quite different beasts.
Assuming it is a 2.4 TDCi
coolant smell - engine bay, passenger side, heater valve are prone to failure, the genuine ones seem to have got better, cheap ones wont last long, and I've had no success with others from a renault van etc. Also there is a coolant line that connects to the engine oil cooler (the oil filter cap screws on it) often they leak on the plastic connection to the side of this.
thermostat - fitting a 82 deg C will assist if you are having running temp issues, fitting either a longer spigot to the viscous fan or fitting a later 2.2 viscous fan, both thus pushing the fan into the cowling more.
a/c - its the first Defender to actually have a heater and air con that pretty well works most of the time, almost to say works all the time. but they can suffer from the control panel dials / fan control not working, as in cold doesnt go cold, fan sometimes works, recir to fresh etc, its rare the fan resistor fails.
I agree with the LED globes or whatever takes your fancy, less load and brighter.
heat from floor - as the first part of exhaust crosses over basically the floor is above the exhaust, as you say *cough* a decat reduces huge amounts of heat, but I do a ceramic coated first exhaust section, makes a massive difference.
windo reg - passenger side? they often seem to fail on that side.
You're spot on, its TDCi 2.4. It's had a slight remap (so I'm told) and I'd believe it. The 6th gear in this thing is what my old '99 was begging for!
I know you couldnt do it with the TD5 as the OBD/CAN wasn't standard - but is it possible to get a dash display to read out various bits of info. Ideally any temps available, but fuel economy etc would be tops as well. Am I dreaming?
Onto the issues:
Coolant/something smell - Turns out I just boiling an crazy old battery under the seat. Pulled that out and no longer a problem [bigrolf]
Thermostat/AC/Cabin Heat - engine seems to be completely ok temp wise, I'm just trying to cut the cabin heat down a bit. The AC is actually working very well. I think I have an issue with the aircon intake though - I feel 'dusty' after having it on. I suspect the fresh air intake cowling in the engine bay isn't quite sealed properly and fixing this might make things even cooler as well. Exhaust has been 'fixed' and wrapped.Major differences there, but I suspect still a tonne of heat from the gearbox tunnel itself. I'm up in the NT - so trying to cool things down as much as possible is VERY high on my list of things to do.
Headlights - so just replace with LED's and skip the wiring correction all together?
Window Reg - both sides. The window mechanism on the passenger physically just doesnt go all the way up. Drivers side goes all the way up, but just keeps on going haha
I've had annoying cabin heat problems in mine, I put some heat reflective / insulating material under the footwells and the tunnel, also as far as I could reach up the firewall, some small improvement. The flat metal panel under the cubby box was not sealed, having a window open even slightly would draw in hot air from there and make the cabin like a fan-forced oven, took ages to figure out where that air was coming from. Having no a/c for a few years made this a major pain on hot days. Directing the a/c into the footwell seems best on these vehicles. I'm contemplating the fancy moulded matting from exmoor but spending too much elsewhere at present.
My fresh / recirc lever was jammed for several years before I got around to taking the control panel off and tracing the control cables, don't recall exactly what the problem was but it was an easy fix, did it while camping as we had got sick of the jammed controls on an outback trip.
Thanks POD. Going to get stuck into it this afternoon with a beer or two will take the dash out and check it out.
My seatboxes get bloody hot. Cubby box is out at the moment and the plate there seems ok. I think I found a major source as well after I ripped the old floor/trim out - the big rubber boot for the gears and transfer selectors didnt seem to be completely fitted over, and was PUMPING hot air in.
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will take the dash out and check it out. 
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