Thread: Which engine in Defender 130 for the big trip?

as everyone else has said...

If your staying within cooee of support, can guarentee top quality fuel and can afford the potential spare parts you'll need go the td5 you cant go past it once youve gotten it chipped.

If you cant go the tdi.

the money you save on a TDI will probably be spent on extra fuel and the more frequent maintenance of the TDI but almost any diesel mech can fix it and theres enough of them around that you can usually scrounge for parts and get away with it.

i have 130 td5 with a slide on camper of GVM 3.5 tons great on hills just done the kimberley 16000 km round trip did not miss a beat

Your issue here isnt so much power but speed and gearing.

There is nothing wrong with the power of a 300Tdi in low range, it will just take a long time to get anywhere.

As long as your willing to take a bit of time to get places then the Tdi would be your choice and throw in som 4:11 diff gears when you put the lockers in that you will also be wanting.

This will over come any issues of lack of power but your top speed will be diminished but with 1200kgs on board and coil spring suspention, maybe that wont be so much a big deal.

If you really think you need the power I would go the Isuzu in turbo form before a TD5 as no matter what the TD5 owners say, they rely on power to make them run and all the electronics cant be said to be anywhere near as reliable or as easilly repairable as nuts and bolts.

Unless you are great with electrics and have no fear of programing etc then stay clear of the TD5 for something like this, too many gremlins.

I think you will find that most of the generic Isuzu parts will be found on just about any Isuzu truck (such as injectors, filters, belts, pulleys etc etc) and any 4BD1 powered Isuzu (FSR I think is the most common) will carry everything else other than the 12v stuff.

This means seems Isuzu trucks are sold in just about every country in the world and 4BD1's are also sold as stationary engines as well you should be able to access parts for Isuzu stuff just about anywhere.

The 300TDI should be available just about anywhere as well so that would still be my pick.

Good luck on your trip and I hope this helps in some way

PS, If you go meet up with Rovercare, take lots of Melbourne Bitter (or a good bottle of port) so you can get some sense out of him lol

I'd buy the 300Tdi - reasons :

lower initial price
simplicity
3rd world parts availability
more water proof (ie ECU)

Someone I know, last year drove a Defender from Vladivostok to London and chose a 200Tdi for the sake of mechanical simplicity - no timing belt issues like the 300Tdi. Being an Australian Land Rover (not exposed to salt roads) it sold immediately in London. He put it on ebay with a Buy it Now price and it was sold within a couple of days.

The Tdi's according to LRO Magazine, are holding their value really well in the UK, though that applies mainly to wagons, and the 130 may have Tax issues in London, being a commercial vehicle.

Well, sounds like TDI is the way to go!

Thanks everyone for the responses, I feel overwhelmed getting so 14 replies in 2 hours on a Sunday night, what a great community this is…

I was looking at a '98 model today, has been on a farm for 10 years, only done 85K, so been banging around in a paddock for most of it's life… not sure if this is a good or a bad thing… the engine's probably done a lot of hours in low gear, i wonder what problems i can expect with it, low gears might be a bit tired?

There's another one in Adelaide, '99 model, 95K, probably similar history, and those are the only 130 tdi's available at the moment…

What ever you buy make sure to post some pics of the 130 and also when you have the camper on the back.

Also another vote for 300tdi but Ive never driven a Td5 so I cant say anything bad against them.

Also if you intend on buying either of the defenders in your last post first thing you should get done is the timing belt if it hasnt been done already.

Goodluck with everything and hope you enjoy your trip.

Thanks Azza, will certainly post some pix once i'm the proud owner of one…

There's only ONE 130 tdi for sale in oz at the moment, it's a '98 that's been banging around on a farm for most of it's life… only done 85K, but probably lots of hours in a paddock… not sure if that's a bad thing?

Can anyone give me any thoughts on this please?

Asking price is $28K, has a bit of rust on the hinges, a tiny bit of corrosion on bottom edges of doors, clean underbody, good rubbers on bonnet, and quite a few smallish to medium sized dents in doors in body… ie, not fantastic presentation, but seems structurally sound…

Could i get the price down much? It's at a dealer. Or should i stay away from a farm truck?

Id probably stay away if it looks rough. Does it have a full service history? cant imagine it has been looked after properly if the panels are stoved in.. Also 28k is a fair amount of cash. At that money I would definetley want a newer / better condition one.

Going back to the tdi/td5 vs Isuzu argument, I would be pretty confident which ever one you got, if you did have problems, you wouldnt have the parts with you anyway, and would need to get them shipped out. You can only carry so much, and if you have it as a spare the likely hood is that it wont break!

Isuzu engine may well harm resale in the UK.

Last thing, however simple it is it can still break down, ie alternator failing will have you stopped fairly quickly, and with teh TD5 electronics, there are only about 4 sensors that will stop them running, and every one of them is easier to change than a cambelt.

I would definetley have someone at home that can have stuff shipped to you if needed.

good luck!!