Want a defender.. what to look for?

[Felix]

Hey guys, I've recently decided that my old beloved rangie 2 door has to go and I now want a defender to be my daily and offroad toy.

Basically I'm coming from a rangie on 35s, locked with all the fruit so I want something which will be almost as capable but not as impractical. Looking for either a 300tdi or td5 but not sure what to look for on these models as their production period was so long! E.g do they rust? Are there any horrible leaks I should know about (not the normal landy oil leaks that's a given)? Engine problems I should look out for? Are there years to avoid?

Basically anything I should be looking at while inspecting one. I'm an ex BMW technician so I know which way to turn a ratchet, but I'm just unfamiliar with the defender platform.

Any help appreciated :)

[GuyG]

If you can get the defender for the daily drive but keep the rangie for the offroad because its already setup, or look at the option of transferring the gear across to the defender. The rangie should almost be able to be put on club rego which will reduce the rego cost. Yes Defenders do rust as most cars do, however I think a lot of it comes down to previous ownership and what kind of work they have done in the past.

The 110 is a fairly good daily driver apart from its shocking turning circle but its advantage outway that, can carry lots, excellent fuel economy and reasonably comfortable to drive (the rangie is nicer:)). They also seem to maintain there value quite well.

I'm fairly new to Defenders but they do come up at the right price occasionally (which is how I got mine), think the best I have seen is a TD5 110 for $4500 - it didn't last long.

[Felix]

Well however awesome the Rangie is to drive, I just don't have space for a second car anymore (or the time). Would rather just one car and a defender fits in pretty well with the criteria!

I thought about moving some of the stuff across to a defender.. I have 3" springs which may be a bit tall for what I want, and 35s are way too big for what I want the truck for.. though they could be a 'fun' set of tyres... hmm. I have a locker I was going to put in the front, do they share the same front axle housings (obviously unless its a sals front)?

I went and test drove a 1995 110 2 door over the weekend. It was a very honest and original truck with 200,000 on the clock but a big gap in service history and I did find some rust beginning to appear at the base of the firewall. Are most of them like this? Are the TD5s much better in this respect? I hate rust. 300tdi was a bit slow and not much down low so.. not sure if it needed a good service or if they're just like that either. Otherwise I really enjoyed the experience!

[MLD]

Hi Felix,

I have a '99 TD5 110.

As for rust, that is usually a reflection of the love and care of previous owners. The majority of old defers i know have rust in the door frames incl the rear door and firewall around the window. The 300 Tdi and TD5 will likely suffer from cracked rear door frame from the weight of the spare. I welded my rear door frame with reinforcing and put checker plate to strengthen it. I also put the spare on a carrier.

As for leaks, easier to list were it doesn't leak from. The most inconvenient is a leak from the A pillar to somewhere under the dash directly onto your accelerator foot. In torrential rain wear gum boots or barefoot.

I know of a few defers that have leak problems where the roof mounts to the A pillar on the front leading edge. The silicon cracks, I suspect from flex. If you buy a defer that has spent time crossed up check out that area. A little silicon and bob's your uncle.

Engine wows. I don't know much about the 300 tdi but a common complaint is the timing belt. As far as I know it's a good honest and reliable engine that plugs on year on year out. Compared to the TD5 it's cheap to service and repair.

The TD5 is a good engine IMO. Easy to tune to get more ponies. A plethora of aftermarket bits and bobs. Things to look out for:

- alloy head is intolerant to overheating. A local replacement is upward of $3k + labour. There is conflicting discussion about whether its serviceable. The weight of opinion is on the yes side of the ledger. An option is to buy a Turner Engineering head which will be cheaper than a local sourced unit and about the same as a serviced recon head.
- alloy head is prone to cracking at the injector journals leading to diesel in the sump and potential run on if ignored. The Turner eng head is a better design and construction and resolves that problem.
- injectors are about $1500 a pop but rarely fail or certainly not all at the same time. Again there is conflicting discussion if they are serviceable.
- oil in the injector harness. Through poor design oil migrates up the injector harness to the ECU and if sufficient oil is present it can affect the ECU output. A miss on acceleration, poor tune or rough idle are tell tale signs. $100 repair and some spanner work under the rocket cover. i stripped back the black wire to the ECU and allow the oil to bleed out before it gets into the ECU.
- early TD5's were build with plastic dowels to locate the head. They slip over time and cause blown head gaskets, and possibly unhelpfully advance other head complaints. There are replacement metal dowels should you need a head removal.
- oil pump bolt. The bolt holding the oil pump compressor works loose over time. There are mixed experiences from owners. Some were loctited in the factory, others not. There is no consistency between the disco or defender TD5's nor date of production. If the bolt comes loose you lose oil pressure and have a bolt floating around in the bottom end. 1.5 hrs of labour to remove the sump, clean, loctite and tighten the bolt. Do it with your next service for peace of mind.
- fuel pump doesn't like being run dry. Not really a robinson crusoe problem.

With the TD5 it's about knowledge of the problems and pre-empting catastrophe by being on top of servicing. Don't be scared off by the list. Mine has 360,000 kms on the odo and going strong with original engine, gearbox and TFC.

The TD5 will manage the gearing change of 33" tyres better than the 300 tdi. A complaint I have with the TD5 (mine is chipped) is that at low RPM crawl speed its sluggish almost wanting to stall, then in a woosh the turbo boosts up and you are off like a bride's nightie. Not so good when you are negotiating rock steps and technical stuff. Could be the tune, could be my lack of confidence that there is sufficient torque at low RPM. My 33" tyres don't help.

It might be a brick on wheels but the 110 holds a heap of stuff for camping. The rear seats are a chiropractor's wet dream. They are sensationally uncomfortable for anything other than a trip to the shops or a ride from the pub after a belly full.

Both the 300 tdi and TD5 do not suffer from the problems some Pumas have after a lift. It's safe to lift them +2" without associated driveline and steering problems. IMO the perfect set up (which is where I'm heading after i win lotto) is long travel suspension, 2" lift, 33" muddies with lockers front and rear. With that set up there won't be much that will stop her (maybe my enthusiasm and stupidity).

happy hunting. there are some bargains out there but like the elusive blue whale there are not many about. The Military auctions are on at the moment. Contact Pickles Auctions for details. You might pick up a low mileage TD5. The last round of auctions they were selling for circa $17,000.

MLD

[Felix]

Wow thanks for the detailed reply MLD :) Much appreciated. Is there much difference chassis wise between the TD5 and the 300TDI? Also, do all defenders have the opening flaps below the windscreen? I like them..

How do you find your TD5 on the freeway with 33s? Does it keep up with the rest of the traffic? My rangie on 35s keeps up on the flat/downhill but hills are public enemy no. 1!

Can't wait to find a good one!

[fonfe]

**IF WANTED** galvy firewall and door frames can be bought from the uk ;)
I like the td5, quite reliable and not so rattly as the tdi. + loads of go for minor mods :D would slip one in my RRC if I had the money.
(+ can be easily made to make a nice turbo chatter for the inner hoon in some of us) :D

[2stroke]

The body work and drivelines are mostly the same between both the tdi and td5 models. The engines are the same 2.5 capacity but that's where the similarity ends. Both engines have their good points and is a case of which good points you prefer. td5 is a little more powerful stock, though the only one I've driven was worse off idle than my tdi. The td5 seems pretty good mechanically aside from the points that MLD mentioned. The tdi that I own has been good to me for the last 10.5 years, the timing belt needs doing at least every 80k km, not such a bad thing, I get the radiator cleaned out then while it's out. Legend is they blow a head gasket between 250 and 350k km, I actually bought a Turner head for mine (including head bolts, gaskets and timing belt for $1000) but mine seemed perfect at 253k km.
I went to a Defender from a 2 door Rangie (a worn out one) and really noted the improved reliability, economy and carrying capacity, but also the suspension travel wasn't as good- if you want to carry a load- and the driving position is no match for the rangie. Another thing is a rangie fits in an underground carpark, sometimes a Defender does.

[Felix]

$1000 for head and all things to do the job? Sounds pretty good to me.

Km wise, do they start requiring other work around the 250-300 mark? Eg injector pump, turbo, bottom end etc?

I noticed the driving position wasn't as good as my rangie, though I haven't driven many cars which have a better/ as good as position than it does, so I guess thats acceptable haha. Does the fitment of recaro seats make much difference? I have two recaros sitting under my house needing a retrim- are rails available?

Thanks for your help guys :)

[MLD]

Hi Felix,

The 33" tyres, according to the Ashtrans ratio calculator, puts the defender smack on 2700 rpm at 110 km which is ideal. The defender on 235/85's is 5 km/h inaccurate at 100 km/h. The 33" corrects the speedo.

In real life driving, I find the TD5 (chipped) pulls like a freight train when in the torque band and makes no difference if you are going up, down or flat. Mountains of torque. If you drop out of the torque band you start looking for the gear lever.

You can buy rails for aftermarket seats. I find the seats comfortable but many don't. The cabin seems to be suitable to those above 5'7" and shorter than 6'1". Outside those parameters you might not feel comfortable.

With +2" lift and 33" tyres you will struggle to get into most covered carparks. I'm at 2.2m without racks.

The '99 to '02 TD5 shared may cabin parts with the 300 tdi. The second gen TD5 from late '02 received a cabin face lift. Gearbox and TFC are common between the 2 models. The '99 to '02 TD5 was the salisbury rear axle, the sec gen had the P38. The salisbury is the stronger diff assembly.

cheers MLD

[redrovertdi]

I went from a late 89 RR to a 95 300tdi 110, driving the 110 home to Brisbane from Canberra[purchased] i thought i had made the biggest F-up, it was slow and noisy but incredibly light on fuel compared to the RR and every other series or defender waved, by the time i got home i loved it, very low maintenance compared to the RR. I ended up selling my work dunnydore ute and use the 110 for everything, i replaced the original engine at 383000ks with a fresh one i built up slowly just for the sake of new, I also fitted a zf4hp22 auto 2 years ago which was the best thing i ever did for it.
Richard

[Felix]

Excellent to hear of decent reliability with both the 300tdi and TD5. I'm always a bit uncertain with high kms coming from a bmw background but this seems to be boosting my confidence a little! Obviously if the service intervals have been kept up a higher km example would be 'better' than a lower one without.

I was driving my RR around all day today. However much fun it is to drive, the noise it makes and the absolutely superb driving position, the fuel consumption, constant maintenance and impracticality of a truck with 6" of lift and 35s has me very over it. I even pulled a stump out with it today!

I might enquire about that one on carsales if no body else has beat me to it.. high kms but its cheap.........