Thread: 09 PUMA... With water in fuel

Originally Posted by Declan

Has anybody got a puma and not had a problem with it ,if so how are they finding their defender is there any niggle points they want to pass onto someone that had there heart set on buying one but at the moment is in limbo on his decision.

Thanks for the replies Declan.

Mine is fine.

I won't pass on any niggle points because all of those can be read here.

Echoing Dullbird's thoughts: in 1997 I bought a nearly 3 year old 300 Tdi Disco. That was before AULRO existed. If AULRO had been around then I'd be using public transport because of the fear of major mechanical failure.

I had over ten years of largely trouble free motoring with the Disco.

I'm one year into the three year warranty and apart from the faulty clutch and a couple of sensors all replaced without quibble she's going strong.

Even though juniors had a few build quality issues... nothing has failed mechanically .... only done 3700kms though

Just one more thing with the Defender....if your heart is in it but you are not made of stern stuff then don't buy one. It's a gamble so you have to take responsibility for the decision you make. If not buy a push bike.

Originally Posted by one_iota

Just one more thing with the Defender....if your heart is in it but you are not made of stern stuff then don't buy one. It's a gamble so you have to take responsibility for the decision you make. If not buy a push bike.

Or make sure you have easy access to a sturdy brick wall to bang you head against as necessary, (i.e. often).

Tim

Originally Posted by Declan

Has anybody got a puma and not had a problem with it ,if so how are they finding their defender is there any niggle points they want to pass onto someone that had there heart set on buying one but at the moment is in limbo on his decision.

Thanks for the replies Declan.

Most products covered in forums like AuLRO, whether they're cameras or computers or cars, will look like lemmons ... because you hear ALL the bad stories and only a sprinkling of the good ones. I'm heavily involved in photography, and if I went by the scary stories on the various forums I frequent, I would still not own a camera or lens.

So to add my success story here, I've had a trouble-free run (well mostly ... discounting some questions about the alarm) with my new Puma ... all 208km so far

Don't get me wrong, I love the puma. And I've already ridden a td5 through the roller coaster of a new land rover purchase. But I think the issue with this water dirt is a time bomb. The dealer has said that this is a poor design for the breather, it faces forwards and catches dust and dirt. I'm annoyed because they've refuse to cover this under warranty.

The problem for me is that without modification you will have no idea if your fuel tank has already sucked in an inch of sludge, and if the next corner you take will cause a dose of sludge to go through the engine and cause thousands of damage.

At least the td5 would self prime so you could do the filter yourself, but now you need a special tool for this.

Originally Posted by Declan

Has anybody got a puma and not had a problem with it ,if so how are they finding their defender is there any niggle points they want to pass onto someone that had there heart set on buying one but at the moment is in limbo on his decision.

Thanks for the replies Declan.

Mine has been completely trouble free, but I have learned a lot from reading other's posts (esp. DullBird's) and I have re-routed my breather hose on the fuel tank. Down in SA we hardly get any rain, so whilst I spent the first year driving around with the unmodified breather, it was during a drought.

Mine has mainly done beach and farm work. I got it in Dec 07, and the only issue has been a recall on the sump which was no dramas because I got to drive round in a V8 Range Rover Diesel for a day whilst they swapped mine over.

I'd say go for it. Fantastic car.

HTH
David

If you are talking about priming after changing the diesel filter just fill the new one with diesel before putting it on. Pulls through no bother.

Originally Posted by BilboBoggles

Don't get me wrong, I love the puma. And I've already ridden a td5 through the roller coaster of a new land rover purchase. But I think the issue with this water dirt is a time bomb. The dealer has said that this is a poor design for the breather, it faces forwards and catches dust and dirt. I'm annoyed because they've refuse to cover this under warranty.

The problem for me is that without modification you will have no idea if your fuel tank has already sucked in an inch of sludge, and if the next corner you take will cause a dose of sludge to go through the engine and cause thousands of damage.

At least the td5 would self prime so you could do the filter yourself, but now you need a special tool for this.