The "new" TD5

[Barra1]

A lot has been said about the TD5 and it's problems etc and usually not many positive comments are made.:(

It was interesting to read Tombie2's comments regarding the ECU and just how well developed the TD5 was. He knows his stuff regarding the TD5.

And that is why I reckon I have a "new" TD5.:D

Grover (Ivan Clarke) and I drove the Defender from Albury to Whyalla a couple of weeks ago to have a chat to Tombie2 about the magic he performs.

And magic he did perform.:D

The vehicle goes. It really does get up and go:D:D

What a wonderful experience to zip past a Prado and how do I express the pleasure of sitting behind a 100 Series - waiting (yes Ladies and Gentlemen - a TD5 Defender waiting) for an overtaking lane so I could overtake the said 100 Series.:D:D:D:D:D

Fuel? 20% better on the return trip:eek:

Tombie2 (Mike) suggested posting the ECU but I wanted to meet the bloke before he performed "heart surgery" on the Defender and I'm glad I made the effort.

Pleasure to meet him and Mrs Tombie2 and a pleasure to introduce the Defender to his magic.:D

Thanks Tombie2 - I do have one problem now - I just don't want to get out of the bloody Defender.:(

[x-box]

It's ok mate - hopefully you'll get used to it......

Nothing wrong with falling in love with the 'fender all over again :D

We know they are the BEST4X4XFAR :cool:

[dmdigital]

Put a bigger intercooler in it as well, then you will be laughing:D

[PAT303]

I was going to start a thread on the Td5 as I don't think the engine has any major failings that can't be addressed.The one big problem they have is head,head gasket related but so does the Tdi and slipped liners in the V8's but I don't think it is the engines as I have been on top of the cooling system in both mine and have never had any problems.I think if people took more advice from people that do know about these things we would see alot less problems,the worst thing about cooling in any vehicle is that they don't overheat until a hot day comes along or they need to tow something,people don't service the system because it gives no reason too,that is until it's too late. Pat

[discowhite]

exactly pat!!
its only the wingers that have never owned/ever maintained their TD5's that ever seam to have major problems!
i still maintain the any landrover is only ever suited tto the caring tinkering type:D not the she'll be right type.

the TD5 is a top motor!

cheers phil

[PAT303]

Sorry phil but I disagree.LR's aren't for tinkerer's,it's tinkering with a perfectly useable vehicle that causes trouble.Like the saying goes people haven't got the time to do the job right but they have to do it over.If I had a dollar for every time I've had to fix a job that someones made worse trying to fix it themselves. Pat

[Barra1]

Sorry phil but I disagree.LR's aren't for tinkerer's,it's tinkering with a perfectly useable vehicle that causes trouble.Like the saying goes people haven't got the time to do the job right but they have to do it over.If I had a dollar for every time I've had to fix a job that someones made worse trying to fix it themselves. Pat

Pat you can say that again.;)

With a vehicle like the TD5 and dare I say the Puma, tinkering is not the go.:(

That's why I do what I do best and leave the tinkering to Ivan.

Yep, I muck around with superficial stuff - and love it - like putting in storage compartments, removing the back seat and fitting a false floor - that type of stuff but the important, get it right or else, work goes to the blokes who know best.;)

[discowhite]

Sorry phil but I disagree.LR's aren't for tinkerer's,it's tinkering with a perfectly useable vehicle that causes trouble.Like the saying goes people haven't got the time to do the job right but they have to do it over.If I had a dollar for every time I've had to fix a job that someones made worse trying to fix it themselves. Pat

and most LR owners do tinker the right way. theres bugger all people on here with issues caused by themselves, usually by people who dont know what they are doing. ive tinkered ALOT with my TD5 and i wouldnt say that ive caused any trouble.. its all been tinkered with correctly...

cheers phil

[Redback]

I'd have to agree on the comments about the TD5, apart from my hicup with the head it's been a great engine, I think that was my fault though, NOT MAINTAINING it as well as I should have.

No way in the world would I buy a new Puma Defender, after reading about all the engine replacements in the UK and the problems here, a shame realy as I realy wanted a new Fender, guess a second hand D3 will be our next chariot.

Baz.

[George130]

My woes have been previous damage and things done wrong. I have and do tinker. The engine is a great motor as long as you maintain it and do things properly. Tinkering is fine just don't be silly like any newer engine.

The chip mod is amazing.

[B92 8NW]

Fair enough with the preventative maintenance call, but there are engines out there that can withstand a lot of neglect without expensive failures.

[PAT303]

I don't know any engine that will run with a blocked radiator or stuck thermostat. Pat

[dullbird]

I don't know any engine that will run with a blocked radiator or stuck thermostat. Pat


actually my disco did......had a bllocked radiator 20% internal 100% external ran normally only way I knew was pushing it up the steep hill to the blue mountians! and when I got to the top we decided to not go out for the day and return home car ran normally all the way hom at normal temp range on the guage......

I would certainly not recomend it, but had I not of pushed the car up that hill I probably wouldn't of realised!.......it was blocked with mud obviously and although I washed my radiator, at least I thought I did after playing in the mud some weeks previous the car kept chugging along as normal:o

[BilboBoggles]

I think that a TD5 is actually one of the best engineered proper Land Rover engines, and unfortunately one of the last. I agree maintenance is critical - for example replace the radiator and water pump at 100,000k intervals might be a good ideal. Seems to me a lot of the ancillery components are now much more disposable than in the past - ie you can't really rod out a TD5 radiator reliably because of the plastic tanks.

Vehicle wise I think the PUMA is better engineered than the TD5 - the body and electricals have lots of the niggling faults on the TD5 fixed. (There are many many subtle changes in the construction.)

Perhaps the only negative is that based on the way it's mounted in the Defender, the PUMA motor is not as good a purpose built engineered solution as the TD5 engine.

I also worry that the PUMA motor is only used in the Defender - and that in 10 years time will there be any support for parts? For example will the 3rd party suppliers even bother to stock TD4ci parts? There's only a small number of Defenders on the road compared to the way the TD5 was used in the disco etc....

So my ideal would be a PUMA body - with a proper land rover motor, that fits a bit better.

[dullbird]

I think that a TD5 is actually one of the best engineered proper Land Rover engines, and unfortunately one of the last. I agree maintenance is critical - for example replace the radiator and water pump at 100,000k intervals might be a good ideal. Seems to me a lot of the ancillery components are now much more disposable than in the past - ie you can't really rod out a TD5 radiator reliably because of the plastic tanks.

Vehicle wise I think the PUMA is better engineered than the TD5 - the body and electricals have lots of the niggling faults on the TD5 fixed. (There are many many subtle changes in the construction.)

Perhaps the only negative is that based on the way it's mounted in the Defender, the PUMA motor is not as good a purpose built engineered solution as the TD5 engine.

I also worry that the PUMA motor is only used in the Defender - and that in 10 years time will there be any support for parts? For example will the 3rd party suppliers even bother to stock TD4ci parts?
There's only a small number of Defenders on the road compared to the way the TD5 was used in the disco etc....
So my ideal would be a PUMA body - with a proper land rover motor, that fits a bit better.

only here though bilbo there are plenty on the roads in the uk and europe......they still stock P38 stuff dont they:D:wasntme:


any how landrover have only used this for the defender but the engine is in other fords so although some parts are landrover parts should still be able to get parts I would of thought

[one_iota]

I'd have to agree on the comments about the TD5, apart from my hicup with the head it's been a great engine, I think that was my fault though, NOT MAINTAINING it as well as I should have.

No way in the world would I buy a new Puma Defender, after reading about all the engine replacements in the UK and the problems here, a shame realy as I realy wanted a new Fender, guess a second hand D3 will be our next chariot.

Baz.

I don't wish to hijack the thread.

There is no doubt that the TD5 is a good motor conditional on what has been said above.

I think that the TDV6 is probably better so the D3 is is a good choice if the rest of the package is right.

The Puma engine has been much criticised (and with some justification) but my limited 6 month and 14,000km experience has been positive in performance, reliabilty and servicing. Out of the box it suits the Defender very well and over 12 months of beta testing in the real world has ironed out a lot of the initial bugs. No rocket but not a slug either. The Defender suits my needs well where as the D3 didn't.

Do I feel the need to tinker with it....no because I don't have the need, the time, the inclination or the expertise.

If I did I would be up to my weekend armpits in grease tinkering with the 300 Tdi Disco not seeing the country and gaining minimal return in performance for the effort.

[PAT303]

The problem with the Td5 is that no sooner had it matured into a very good engine it was replaced.That seems to be the problem with LR,they don't have things long enough to iron out the bugs. Pat

[defmec]

how many rwkws does a chipped td5 produce ?

[Tombie]

how many rwkws does a chipped td5 produce ?

I have never RW a TD5 always 4W them.

It depends on tune, mods etc... And if Auto, then limited by Transmission.

Stock - around 48kw at all 4
Basic chipping - around 80-90kw at all corners...

Others I've mapped make over 100kw on the corners... Discowhites should be close to that.


As a basic tool - Experience has shown that Landies lose around 50-55% in driveline losses as opposed to around 30-35% for most road cars.

[PAT303]

I've dynoed my Tdi twice and agree with Tombie,it takes alot of power to turn all that running gear. Pat

[discowhite]

I have never RW a TD5 always 4W them.

It depends on tune, mods etc... And if Auto, then limited by Transmission.

Stock - around 48kw at all 4
Basic chipping - around 80-90kw at all corners...

Others I've mapped make over 100kw on the corners... Discowhites should be close to that.


As a basic tool - Experience has shown that Landies lose around 50-55% in driveline losses as opposed to around 30-35% for most road cars.

good O! i did some maths the other day and i came up with 100kw/wheel also!
this year at some stage its going on a dyno.....

cheers phil

[Redback]

I don't wish to hijack the thread.

There is no doubt that the TD5 is a good motor conditional on what has been said above.

I think that the TDV6 is probably better so the D3 is is a good choice if the rest of the package is right.

The Puma engine has been much criticised (and with some justification) but my limited 6 month and 14,000km experience has been positive in performance, reliabilty and servicing. Out of the box it suits the Defender very well and over 12 months of beta testing in the real world has ironed out a lot of the initial bugs. No rocket but not a slug either. The Defender suits my needs well where as the D3 didn't.

Do I feel the need to tinker with it....no because I don't have the need, the time, the inclination or the expertise.

If I did I would be up to my weekend armpits in grease tinkering with the 300 Tdi Disco not seeing the country and gaining minimal return in performance for the effort.

I agree Mahn and I realy think the Fender is a more suitable vehicle for us, because of the space it has for gear, minimal modifications to be done to it for touring, It's a manual which we all love and I just like them, I realy feel that the D3 is only our choice because I'm not sure the Puma will tow our camper and all our gear in it's current form AND it's reliability issues it currently has, our Disco II only just tows our camper now and it's chipped, I wish I could see if it could though.

We will be keeping an eye on them for a while yet, so hopefully they do get better over time.

Baz.

[dullbird]

you should talk to derek as the PUMA carried his camper with ease!!!!
and he has a Top of the range Kimberley which I believe is very heavy.......

I also dont think that the reliablity is an issue if you think a TD5 is reliable then there should be no reason why you shouldn't feel the same about a PUMA......yes we have had problems we were unlucky if you look at how many people have them on here that have had only the most minor of problems and you look at the ones that have had to have there car towed the minors out weigh the towed ones!! also I reckon if you look back the ones that have had the most probs have been the ones that were brought early to late07.
I think if you brought an 09 model you shouldn't really have any probs as most wrinkles would have been ironed out..

personally barry I dont think the PUMA would have any problem pulling your trailer but you will never know until you do it......so my advice to you would be bring it around and we will hook it up behind ours and lets take it for a drive and seee how it does!

only issue we have is we still got to get the trailer loom for our tow bar for the electrics....so you can either weight for that or we take it somewhere quiet where your happy to drive it without!

EDIT: oh dont forget the PUMA can also be chipped ;)

[dullbird]

Take it your not interested then barry:D