Breakdown in Timor - Help needed!

[sveinnb]

As per moderator ask this is reposted from the Terretory chat. Hope you can help.

Dear fellow LR owners

After driving 37.000 km from Iceland since August 2009 with my wife and two year old daugther our Land Rover 90 2,5 diesel turbo year 1988 broke down in West Timor. We managed to get it towed all the way to Dili in East Timor and it is being prepared to be shipped to Darwin with Perkins on Tuesday March 16th.

Not only did this famous engine give up on us but the gearbox has been ratteling very bad for the past few days so Im left with the only option of total engine and gearbox replacement. I will propably have to opt for the 200 tdi engine since it has the same mounts and almost the same gearbox.

Now my life depends on the few people in Darwin that can save our family and our travels by helping us with:


Finding a used 200tdi and a lt77s gearbox at a resonable price.
Help me fit it in also at a resonable price so we can continue our journey.
I know the NT is a Toyota territory but who whould be able to help me out in this desperate situation?

All information and support is highly appreciated.

Best regards,
Sveinn Benediktsson and family
mobile: +354-8660210
email: sveinnb (at) live . com
www.twitter.com/gmsrtw (http://www.twitter.com/gmsrtw)

[Sleepy]

G'day sveinnb,
Depending on your situation it may be easier to ship an engine up from the southern states. I am not sure Darwin will have a plentiful supply of 200tdi and lt77.
Anyway, if someone here can help I am sure they will. We do have a few members in the Darwin area.

I know you may not feel like it at the moment, given your dilema, but there would be lots of us here that would love to hear more about your adventure.:angel:

Good Luck.

Post again if you need more help from us southerners.

[banjo]

YEP what he ^^^^^^ said.

[V8Ian]

A 300 tdi would be easier to locate I believe.

[HBWC]

and with the 300tdi you'll only have to weld in 1 engine mount

[Sleepy]

Here's a 300tdi on ebay

Landrover Defender 300tdi engine - eBay Engine Parts, Engines, Components, Car Parts, Accessories, Cars, Bikes, Boats. (end time 17-Mar-10 01:53:18 AEDST) (http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Landrover-Defender-300tdi-engine_W0QQitemZ320499295860QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_ Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item4a9f3f2674)

It's in perth though :(

AU $4500 starting price.

[roverspec]

carla

[Blknight.aus]

hang on you'r in Timor?

head over to the UN vehicle graveyard.

[lewy]

There you go,and i perhaps would look at buying the old engine and box for spares,and whats left over from the other vehicle as well.As stated 200 tdi is hard to find here.

[Hardchina]

You drove 37000 klm in a freakin 90 with a kid and a woman :eek: wow

Normally only people from the english race would be dumb enough to do that.

God luck and just chuck a V8 in

[dmdigital]

There's a member on here doing Land Rover repairs in Darwin, forgotten their username though:(

There's nothing over this side of the Territory in spares and I would suggest the quickest way to get going again if you are shipping to Darwin would be to make contact with the following and see what they have available or know about:
Triumph Rover Spares in Adelaide, Land Rover wrecker for years
British Offroad in Southern Queensland, also a long time Land Rover wrecker.
Sutton Motors in Alice Springs, Land Rover dealer and good to deal with

I wouldn't bother with the Darwin Land Rover dealer as they don't have the knowledge to deal with an older vehicles (won't go into their knowledge of newer ones;)).

[lewy]

pm sent

[sveinnb]

Dear all

Thanks for your replies. I know Im crazy but: One life. Live it. :)

I have gotten some contacts in PM that I will contact next week once I get there.

It is possible that only the head gasket is gone on the 2,5 engine and that might be an easier and cheaper operation. However the gearbox is on its lats miles (already missing gear 1,3 and 5 :D). For the past 1000km I have been driving in 4th and double clutching between high and low. So I definetly need a used LT77 gearbox now matter what.

Once I get to Darwin I would need some assistance in removing the head and inspect damage. If it is only the gasket then I will get that fixed. At the same time I need to start to get the old LT77 gearbox out and order a used one from some scrapyard.

For those interested in the journey then we started in Iceland in early August 2009 and the route so far has been:

Iceland, Faroe Island, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China (Tibet), Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, East Timor and now Australia.

I driving with my wife and our 2 year old daughter named Maria. We have a rooftent and stay around 70% the time in it. Except when the car is in a garage :p. The plan is to stay in Australia for around 2 months and then if time and funds permit ship the vehicle to South America to drive back home to Iceland just in time when the economy has recovered :cool:.

Keep the suggestions coming.

Best regards,
Sveinn and family

[eddie_tdi]

gosh thats a few countries! :)

i hope you have photos, or a dedicated journal style website with photos etc

best of luck with the engine and gearbox repairs

-eddie

[Sleepy]

Sveinn,
Thanks for the update.
You've done the right thing coming to aulro. This would be the best Land Rover resource in Australia :) (OR THE WORLD:twisted:)

I hope you get your vehicle up and running ASAP and , fingers crossed, it is only the head gasket. I am sure you'd find an LT77 somewhere, although you may have to get it shipped up from southern population centres.

We have a rule here, "It doesn't happen without pictures" :). So perhaps when you get some downtime in Darwin, you could post up a new thread (with pics :ohyes:) about your travels, and vehicle, for us to be jealous over.:angel::D

Good Luck!

[lambrover]

Ha mate, not good news, I used to live in Darwin and got to know a guy up there who could possibly help he is a mechanic but busy, He is on this site but dosn't get on here much, Larns is his user name. keep the forum posted with your problems and we can see what we can do. good luck

[Tomo]

Hi,
I have told a mate (danthelandyman ) of your problems and he is going to chase up some people in the rual area of darwin who have wrecks and may have the parts you need. He may be able to help you make the repairs. He is on this forum but does not get on the compuiter much ATM.....

Keep us posted and let us know when you arrive in Darwin I woukldn't mind catching up with you and hearing of your adventures and i am sure a few other darwin members would probably like to do the same.

Cheers

[Sleepy]

Onya Tomo. :BigThumb:

[dmdigital]

Yes please post to on the forum when you arrive in Darwin, I'm hoping to get over there for a weekend at least in the coming month.

[sveinnb]

Thank you for your positive and encouraging replies.

I will fly to Darwin on Wednesday morning and get me an Australia SIM card so I can post my phone number once Im there.

I would be happy to share our adventures in person by words and pictures over a pint or two in exchange for some help :D.

After reading for some while on the internet Im getting closer to the decision of not even trying to fix the head gasket but to go straight to fit a 200tdi in with a LT77s in. That is to say if it is available and at a reasonable price. Preferably from a Defender because then it is a very easy swap.

I know that some want me to go for a 300tdi even from a Disco but according to my research that is more work. I had not planned to settle in Darwin for good :p.

I will post back when I get to Darwin.

Cheers,
Sveinn and family

[Blknight.aus]

its not all that much work if you are getting it with a matching gearbox....

but it will probabley require an engineers report

[V8Ian]

its not all that much work if you are getting it with a matching gearbox....

but it will probabley require an engineers report
Not if it's regoed overseas Dave. ;)

[Blknight.aus]

but when you take it back out of australia.........

[roverspec]

Hi,

Between all of us up here we'll be able to replace the head gasket if that all it is.

as for the gear box it will be easier to find another one, we have to see if an r380 can bolt straight up got one of those hear.

carla

[marko66]

Hi All

Sorry but I have nothing that late in diesel or gearbox:( and i was talking to Dantheandymanand he knows of a tdi but it was recently sold for the gearbox.:(:(

From memory the 380 is a lot longer Carla but i hope it fits

The mechanical will be relatively easy but the real battle will be getting it through customs - good luck.:D:)

Regards Mark

[lewy]

spoke to svein yesterday,

The vehicle will be out of customs late next week,it is a 1988 90" 2.5 diesel [not a 200tdi] however does have an aftermarket turbo bolted on.lt77 gearbox,svein reports there was white smoke probably steam coming from the exhaust also a water leak from near the exhaust manifold when re filling.possible welsh plug or head gasket'svein believes that it is not repairable and wants to replace with a 200tdi and another lt77,wants this combination because he has a large baby seat between the front seats and is concerned he will have to change the position of the gearshift.I have only seen 1 200 tdi with lt77 in darwin [mine]does anyone know of another that is for sale,preferably a complete vehicle so he can salvage other bits like the rediator etc,also he is looking for somewere to work on the vehicle at a small cost and will pay for a mechanic when needed.I am thinking pull the 2.5 down and have a look what has happened there first.also will need a tow or car trailer from customs when it clears.I have his mob:number if you pm me i will give it to anyone,

[sveinnb]

Hi all

Dont worry about customs or any engineer reports. I will take care of all that.

I need your help in locating a used 200tdi and a lt77s preferably in a vehicle like and old disco so I can reuse the radiator and some hoses. Its the easiest and simplest conversion and based on all the reviews I dont think I bother fixing the 1988 2,5TD 19J engine. The gearbox is so bad that I also think fixing is not a possibility.

I got myselft a prepaid Telstra mobile number 0457297539. Please call me you know of any engine and gearbox I can use. My email is
sveinnb *a*t* live.com.

Carla has offered my to tow the vehicle to her shed once it gets out of customs on Thursday. It will actually be a joy working on this vehicle since it is clean as new :)

Once Im done with fixing the engine and gearbox I need to get it through vehicle inspection here since that is mandatory for temporary import so the challange is even more exciting.

Any help is greatly appreciated and awared with the pest premium lager in town :)

Hope to hear from you soon.

Best regards,
Sveinn and family

[sveinnb]

Just posted in the General Chat section.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/101185-reykjavik-darwin-pictures-promised-200tdi-lt77s-needed.html

Best regards,
Sveinn

[Bush65]

Sorry I can't help except hope you can get sorted quickly and cheaply.

200Tdi's and the short LT77's for 110's & defenders are not common here so you will be lucky if you get one in NT.

Good luck.

[c.h.i.e.f]

just thought i would let everyone know that i bumped into "sveinnb" in cessnock NSW yesterday and all 3 of them are going great! car is going great with the 300tdi :D just thought i would say thanks to everyone who helped them on there travells because its not everyday you see this type of adventure take place :o
good luck "sveinnb" hope you and your family keep in touch with all of us

[UncleHo]

G'day Sveinnb :)

Glad that you and family are on the road again :) if you keep us posted on your upcoming travels in Aust. then there could be the opportunity for a good old Aussie B-B-Q somewhere :D


cheers

[Distortion]

woops mis post

[Dinty]

G'day All, I spent an enjoyable 1 1/2 hours with Sveinnb last evening, LHD Land Rovers sure look different from RHD, he is a great young man, if only I had his adventurous spirit LOL.:(:p
We discussed and looked at the 90 and how/what/why of it all, the only thing that I would have really loved was a quick squirt around the block behind the wheel, but I didn't ask as it's their only transport, methinks he enjoyed looking at older Series Land Rovers as well, they are heading off to Sydney this morning for a few days, then up to the Blue Mtns >>> South to Victoria from there the rest of the world, anyway great young fella all the best to you and yours Sveinnb, cheers Dennis:angel:

[lewy]

this is from sveinn's facebook page, this is the same landy that larns repaired in darwin in march,what a drive.stay safe mate.

Finally parked the car in Buenos Aires after driving from Vancouver British Colombia through Washington, Oregon, California, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecudador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and to Argentina. Will be home in 10 days.