Thread: Is it a lemon? Or the "character" of a defender?

Originally Posted by dm_td5

Tried that and again and again and.... oh well it's a Defender thing.

Agree wholeheartedly. I have been told that if you can remove and refit the handles in the 9 o clock position it will help this. The reason being that the handle has to travel upwards before the window moves. Have not tried it yet, besides I always check them as the two younger members of the family have a habit of opening them and not closing them all the way.
Regarding the bad luck with the Puma, I found that owing to high charges many main dealers do not get much hands on work with vehicles and just do servicing work. A lot of them would be at a loss to rebuild a gearbox (correctly) as no-one will get it done there owing to the expensive rates charged. Independents generally get a lot more hands on time with Land Rovers, stripping and rebuilding etc. As the Puma is under warranty this route is not an option. You can persevere and be a nuisance. They do not take kindly to you standing on the footpath outside their premises telling potential customers your tale of woe regarding how they failed to rectify your Puma.
There must be some dealer that people on this site have used who knows their stuff. Your Puma has the potential to be a fine vehicle. From what you say a lot of the trouble can be cured by time and physical labour. The engine seems to be an engine management thing.
A lot of people on this site (dm_td5 included) go places and do things in their vehicles us lesser mortals only dream off. This demands faith in the vehicle and no doubt a little mechanical knowledge. The Puma is basically a sound unit but let down by bad quality in the construction of some bought in preassembled components and some sloppy assembly work.
Hope you get sorted and get the enjoyment that this vehicle is capable of giving.

RE the EML, Have a look under your driver side rear wheel box. Is there a black plastic tube in the shape of a hook just free floating in mid air loosley taped to the fuel lines? The O9MY PUMA's have their breather located in this position. I found on mine that in wet weather it sucked in water into the fuel tank. A lot of water, and enough to damage the fuel system. The EML was in my case caused by this water. Land Rover relocated the breather with a pipe extension, and I get the fuel filter checked every 5000k's. It's not had any water in the fuel since.

When I bought my first Defender , a TD5 many years ago, I took it back to the local dealer nearly 10 times for water leaks. In the process of fixing these leaks, they broke vent flap hinges, dented wings, etc. (Some of those 10 times were to fix prior damage...). It was off the road for nearly 6 months in the first year I had it!! In the end I drove to the main dealer in the city. 1 Visit, and they booked it into a Land Rover panel shop for a strip and rebuild. No more water leaks. It's worth shopping around for a new dealer. Especially if you let them know you are shopping around, the dealers get paid good money for warranty fixes by Land Rover, and are keen to take your business. (or at least they should be...)

That leak from the a/c in the passenger side footwell is an age old problem. My 95 Def has rust from the inside out right under the condensate line. No rust visible from under the vehicle, but plenty inside. Also, check out the mats they install, they absorb and hold water like a towel

I guess it's a Defender thing.....

My 09 Puma is in the shop at the moment. It went in for it's 10,000km service, and a list of things to look at including:
* Whining rear diff,
* Crunch between 3rd and 4th,
* Low Range not staying engaged,
* Door handles loose,
* Door's all out of alignment (causing rear door to not be able to be opened sometimes..),
* Water leak near rear door,
* Terrible window tinting,
* Rusty bits under the vehicle,
* Paint starting to peel off on roof.

The whining diff is keeping it in the shop for at least a week while it goes offsite to be repaired. They are looking at some options with the rusty bits underneath, and they can't get the low range to not engage. They were taking off all the doors, and tightening everything up, so that'll be good.

The paint on the roof is a bit of a concern - all along the join above the front doors the paint is flaking off. It looks terrible, and I know it won't rust, but I'm a bit worried about water getting into the roof.

This vehicle has been off the road for 3 weeks in it's first 6 months of life - the first two weeks were to replace a whole heap of bits around the injectors. What annoys me is that it went in for a service for a day, maybe two, so I didn't ask for a loan car. That was almost a week ago... Same thing happened the first time too, so I jumped up and down and demanded a loan car for the second week.

The long and the short of it is there is a long list of things wrong with the car, but nothing that won't be sorted out soon (within warranty), and nothing that would stop it operating. Even when there was diesal leaking everywhere with the first problem, the vehicle still ran (albeit in limp home mode...). Once it's all sorted, It'll be a great car.

There's something about owning a Defender and being an eternal optimist....

Originally Posted by spudboy

There's something about owning a Defender and being an eternal optimist....

Yes. Yes, there is......

there is a known problem with the whining diffs in the rear of these defenders...you speak to most and most have been through 2-3 fixes/diffs

Originally Posted by chumpion

I guess it's a Defender thing.....


The paint on the roof is a bit of a concern - all along the join above the front doors the paint is flaking off. It looks terrible, and I know it won't rust, but I'm a bit worried about water getting into the roof.

.

Why won't it rust ?