things to look for when buyin a 1998 300TDi Land Rover Defender

[SpikeJones]

gday guys

im looking at buying a 1998 300TDi defender

this is the information the bloke has already given me, is there anything else i should ask him

I use the defender to travel to the coal mines every week. It has not let me down and is a strong runner. It has long range tanks total of 150L. Swing out rear wheel carrier, uhf, cargo barrier, winch ARB bull bar, spotlights. This year I have fitted a reco injector pump, timing belt kit,front crank seal, new spill rail, front steering ball joints, rear discs and pads. I know the previous owner and he had the turbo and steering box recoed, he told me the head was replaced at around 200,000km. It is also fitted with a low coolant alarm which is a must with these motors. It does have a few dings but being aluminium bodied they all do. It also has a slight oil leak from the manifold gasket which is common, and a minor leak from the rear diff pinion seal, these are both minor but will be fixed prior to sale. Overall she is a good wagon

solid axle, coils all round, disc brakes all round, salisbury rear diff stronger than the newer defender diffs. will have 5 mths rego about $600 per year. uses about 9 - 10l per 100 km which is pretty good. stuff that was fixed just wear and tear.

when i do go to check it out, what are the things i should check for like common problems and known rust/corrosion areas etc.

by the way he is asking 11500 for it, i was thinking of offering around 9-10k how does that sound?

thanks a lot

Spike

[Jock The Rock]

How many kms on it?

Check the P-gasket for leaks (located between the block and the aluminium support housing for the waterpump/alternator, you'll see a white stain running down the block). No a big job to fix but it's time consuming

Check the intermediate shaft o-ring on the tranfer case for leaks (look at the front of the transfer case between the CDL itself and where the gearbox mounts to the transfer case) if its leaking with the sort of kms you've mentioned; theres a strong chance the housing could be worn and it may not just be a case of a new o-ring

Check for drips of oil out of the wading plug hole, this could be rear main seal also check for a leaking sump particularly at the rear of the sump. Strong chance this could be the T seals on the rear main bearing cap

Lift up the floor mats and the pull the rubber under the floor mat behind the pedals and check how bad the rust is in the bulkhead

Check to see if it still has standard drive flanges, if it does and if you can park the car on a flat area, pull on the handbrake, jack up one rear wheel and check for the amount of slop in the flange. There will be a bit in the diff which is nothing to much to worry about

Pull the handbrake on and have someone rock the car, look at the 3 bolt bushes (the front ones on the rear draglinks) and A-frame ball joint. Check for excessive wear, this will be the cause on the "Defender clunk" they don't all do it, they can be fixed.

Check to see if the plastic plugs in the thermostat housing have been replaced with decent brass ones, this will give a good indication if a mechanic with Landrover experience has been looking after the car

Ask him when the valve clearances were last checked (should be at least every 20,000km for a 300 Tdi)

Without looking at the Landy in the flesh $11000 for a '98 Defender seems fairly reasonable. If you can get it for less good on you :)

[wally]

Re. rust, also check the door bottoms and rear cross member. Stick your head inside the engine bay and look into the front corners of the firewall up under the guards. Take a torch.

[Didge]

Rust, rust, rust. Footwells, pull out ALL the mats and check the bottom of all doors. It'll leak like a sieve through the front vents, front door seals where the rounded section is, probably through one of the alpine windows, through the screw at the bottom of the dividing mullion in the rear sliding windows (easy fix with silicon). Everything Jock said, if brakes are weak, the vacumnn servo and pump. Seized front and rear propshafts = less axle travel and a bit of vibration when cornering. :)

[Bush Wacker]

Rust in primary and secondary components more specifically the door sills where the B pillar joins under the vehicle, the alpine windows, the floor pan at the front, windscreen area and engine bay weld seams. If there is advanced or extreme rust on any primary component it can't legally have a safety certificate which means the vehicle is only good for scrap unless you want to do a full restoration.
Look for oil leaks from anywhere as this will need to be rectified, some repairs are cheap but a few leaks are a pain in the arse to fix so will be expensive due to labour costs. Check that the Diff doesnt whine at 100km/h and all boot seals on the joints are in good condition. Make sure the steering damper is not the lowest point between the wheels and is angled so that contamination doesn't sit in the damper. Most important, get a land rover specialist with many years experience to check it out...I had a 300TDi checked a few days ago that had a current safety certificate and found it was only good for scrap...if that. If you find a 300TDi thats in good condition it is a very nice truck. If the vehicle has done some very very hard work the outriggers will be slightly pulled away from the sides and most people don't notice it.
Price should be around $4000-$6000 for a good one, don't ever pay more than that. $9000 is far too much.

[Bush Wacker]

Rust in primary and secondary components more specifically the door sills where the B pillar joins under the vehicle, the alpine windows, the floor pan at the front, windscreen area and engine bay weld seams. If there is advanced or extreme rust on any primary component it can't legally have a safety certificate which means the vehicle is only good for scrap unless you want to do a full restoration.
Look for oil leaks from anywhere as this will need to be rectified, some repairs are cheap but a few leaks are a pain in the arse to fix so will be expensive due to labour costs. Check that the Diff doesnt whine at 100km/h and all boot seals on the joints are in good condition. Make sure the steering damper is not the lowest point between the wheels and is angled so that contamination doesn't sit in the damper. Most important, get a land rover specialist with many years experience to check it out...I had a 300TDi checked a few days ago that had a current safety certificate and found it was only good for scrap...if that. If you find a 300TDi thats in good condition it is a very nice truck. If the vehicle has done some very very hard work the outriggers will be slightly pulled away from the sides and most people don't notice it.
Price should be around $4000-$6000 for a good one, don't ever pay more than that. $9000 is far too much.

[Jeff]

Price should be around $4000-$6000 for a good one, don't ever pay more than that. $9000 is far too much.

Guess I wont be selling mine if that is all it's worth then.

Jeff

:rocket:

[Jock The Rock]

Guess I wont be selling mine if that is all it's worth then.

Jeff

:rocket:

I got $19000 for my '95 300 Tdi so not sure how that works either :p

[wally]

Price should be around $4000-$6000 for a good one, don't ever pay more than that. $9000 is far too much.

:eek:

[weeds]

Keep inundate it 13 years old, most things have been covered.

Pending kms it seem pretty sorted and the seller has given pretty good feedback.

I haven't followed prices of late but I reckon what you are going to offer is a good start.

[Didge]

yeah, I noticed prices in WA and SA were lower than Sydney but no where near that low. I paid 13 for mine 3 years ago and reckon I could still sell it for at least that now

[steane]

Price should be around $4000-$6000 for a good one, don't ever pay more than that. $9000 is far too much.

If you find a good one for that money, buy a lottery ticket as well ;)

That sort of money will buy you one that you need to spend $15k on just to make right and a lot of them won't be worth the trouble. I shudder when I think of some of the ones I looked at in that price range.

There is so much that needs replacing, even on a car that someone else (the seller) thinks is in pretty good condition. I know this having just gone through the process of buying a 300TDi Defender and then turning it into something that you can rely on. Expect to replace a LOT of parts unless you score one cheap off someone who has just gone through the process themselves but in my experience you don't see those cars being sold very often.

My insurance company valued a 94 300TDi Hardtop at $17,000 market value in May this year.

[Didge]

Wow, who's your insurer. Both GIO and APIA have valued mine at around $11K (I wanted at least $13K) but you cannot get a decent 96 300TDi for that sort of money in Sydney.

[Michael2]

I'll comment on 2 things, as a lot has already been said ;

(1) PRICE - his price seems fair given the moderate amount of kit on the car and the stated maintenance (fuel pump etc).

(2) DIFF LEAK - this can be fixed with a $10 seal, but at that age it will leak again. Invest in a Flange Kit, I learnt this the hard way, when then gradual mist of oil on 8,000km into my trip led to a front bearing failure. Flange kits should cost you $80 (local) and it's an easy DIY job. Land Rovers price for a flange kit was $550, so shop around.