Puma advice sought

[mark_coffey]

I am looking for some advice, have I got a lemon or is it worth living with? I have a 2008 defender 130, just clocked 76000km and just out of warantee.
In the time I have had it it has been back to the dealer at least once between every scheduled service.
The EGR has been replaced 3 times, MAF air flow out of range, due to snorkle fitted, been there 50000km without an issue??? just had the transfer box to gearbox seal replaced, just out of warantee!! At least 3 pinion seals and kits to keep oil in the rear diff! had to have the ignition barrel replaced, but couldnt get matching keys for the doors, hence two different keys, radio head unit died the first day the heater was used in anger, it cooked it! The fuel rail pressure regulator s**t itself half way up the burwood freeway on a saturday arvo with no help from customer service apart from RACV, who couldnt tell what the problem was as it is a Land rover! The best was the turbo to intercooler hose rubbed through and blown apart in the Adelaide hills with a mates fire truck on the trailer behind, the only help was a tow into the city leaving the trailer on the side of the road!.
The thing that really has left a bad taste has been the indifference to the engine management light being on almost all the time, we will sort it out next time you come down for a service, cant tell what else has gone wrong. It has been on for almost the last 20000km, imperssive life from the globe though!
The truck has never let me down, but has been painfull due to the time I have to waste to get it back to land rover to get sorted.
Unfortunately the reason for getting this truck was to travel with my wife and see the outback, time has not been on my side but I have never been comfortable driving out of mobile phone range due to its unreliability.
Whats your thoughts, is it worth persisting with??
At least my 1970 2A GS and my 1952 S1 dont give me this much hassle!

[Sue]

Wow.. it sounds like that car has put you through hell.. I really can't help with much advice as I have very limited (read nil) mechanical knowledge but I would suggest that you take it to another Land Rover mechanic who may be able to sort your problems once and for all.. you are obviously not getting any joy with the one you are using so you don't really have anything to lose by trying someone else.

and as for the rear pinion seal being replaced three times I am surprised that isn't sorted as mine and I've since heard of many others having the same problem.. in all these cases a new flange has fixed the problem for good.. :)

[08Bender]

Duramax!!!

Normal story, some have no trouble others have nothing but.

Mine broke down 3 times in the first six months and it was new :-(

It's now had a GM engine and transmission for two years, not a problem since.

If you like the Puma, persevere, surly the problems will pass.

Cheers, Tristan

[Marty110]

Hi, perhaps get yourself booked in with Peter Brown in Adelaide - he is an independent LR specialist and drives a 130 Puma himself. He looks after my car and knows most if not all of the problem areas including the intercooler hose rubbing on the steering. Its worth coming down just to see how his 130 is set up!! Persevere, especially if you have spent money setting it up the way you want it.

[centy]

i would expect parts lr have replaced to carry their own warranty.
the flange for example if you can prove it is the cause and have a history then go back to the dealer and tell them they did not fix it right and provide supporting documents on the correct fix.
not all dealers know how to fix stuff. example mack truck with eaton road ranger, when loaded bow would get to 120degrees. fixes tried extra air vents cut synthetic oil, alternate temperature test. request documentation from mack because they said the high temp would not affect seals, check box oil pump is workiing.
no luck.
bail up eaton rep at a feaild day and grill him, five minutes conversation and fow test the trans pump rates is 1ml per rpm, some boxes oil pump say 1lpm at 1000 and still same at 1800 rpm which causes overheat.

at work next day ring mack tell the to order flow tester. a couple weeks later all fixed. internal pump fault.

look if you perserver you will get it sorted just get a second opinion.

[Summiitt]

My 08 110 puma, over it's 130,000km life had nearly all of the faults you mentioned bar the turbo hose blowing, it never let me stranded though, all faults were fixed at service intervals. I did a lot of hard 4wd work in that vehicle and a lot of remote area traveling, I just kept hammering land rover dealers to fix it right. My new 2010 130 single cab now has 85,000km on it and aside from a the ignition barrel issue, it has had no problems whatsoever.
In my opinion, if you loose faith in a vehicles reliability, sell it. That's why you bought it in the first place,to get out bush. it seems the build quality and upgrades from 2010my onwards ironed out some of the issues of previous pumas. Either way I hope you sort your ute out,good luck.

[mark_coffey]

thanks, will persist for a bit longer, maybe enough time to get my phd in land rover!:)

[digger]

Mark,
wish Id known that trailer was sitting there in the hills with that cargo...:eek:

wouldve been there in a shot!!!:twisted:

(sorry wayne!)

maybe talk to SOVERIGN AUTO -- theyre at kent town now I think, straight shooter when I had a defender and always helpful.

Its a bugger being up there (whyalla) when they wont act to assist, maybe talk to the service manager and ask exactly what page the advice to Keep driving with engine management light on until service actually appears on?:o

Maybe he may reconsider his abandoning what has happened (all the extra work etc I would also consider should have extra warranty? ) and at least try to get things sorted...

Is the mob you are dealing with a mob that sells lots of flash cars as well up past Unley?

Good luck, persevere!

[mark_coffey]

Digger,
Unfortunately the crowd I was dealing with is the last dealer heading towards the Western Australia boarder, did have dealings with a crowd down near Keswick with the first replacement EGR, a bigger pain in the a**e due to having to make two trips to sort the issue and replace it! just a cool 1600km round trip plus accommodation!
Yes having Wayne with me made it a little difficult to leave his newest pride and joy laying on the side of the road.
Surprising how gutless and noisy the ford engine is without a turbo.
Thank god for a gentelmen with a series 1 and the lowtech sleeve the bugger approach.
had a good look under the bonnet after that trip, there is virtually no support for any of the hoses in the engine bay, you could see where the hoses rub on themselves and everything else.
A big call but I thought it was only Belarus that only give you a product that worked if it was made on a good day!

[mark_coffey]

well its been a year since and touch wood, this truck has become a reliable every day workhorse.
It hasn't missed a beat in over a year and it has just clocked over 100000kms, still the thing that amazes me is the engine warning light, its the only light on the truck I haven't had to replace and its on more than any other light on the truck!
I still wont replace it, still makes me grin when driving down the road!

[marko66]

Hi All

Mark I am glad to hear that its all been good for a year now :):D and I hope that it stays that way

Regards Mark

[portafilter]

well its been a year since and touch wood, this truck has become a reliable every day workhorse.
It hasn't missed a beat in over a year and it has just clocked over 100000kms, still the thing that amazes me is the engine warning light, its the only light on the truck I haven't had to replace and its on more than any other light on the truck!
I still wont replace it, still makes me grin when driving down the road!

It's a LED that's why

[mark_coffey]

that explains everything!;)