What to look out for

[reeksyofoz]

Hi all

I'm a novice Land Rover purchaser and I'm on the lookout for a 110 TD5 for an extended bush trip.

My budget seems to be throwing up a fair few with 120,000 - 200,000 k's on the clock. I'm used to checking out cars (and maintaining old ones), but I'm not familiar with Defenders so if it's not too much to ask, can anyone give me some guidance as to the kinds of things that should really have been renewed recently? I don't want to buy a lemon and end up stuck in the desert wth a wife saying "we should have bought a Toyota" :eek:

Also, are there any recommendations as to workshop manuals?

... What's that I see on the horizon? Oh yes it's an immense learning curve :D


...oh yeah - i'm based in Melbourne but am looking for a 110 anywhere in Vic or the greater Brisbane - Bundaberg area.

[JDNSW]

Manuals - have a look in Markets, I think it is, for Rave-CDs.

As far as looking for a Defender goes, there are some general things to look out for - mainly rust in the bulkhead and chassis. After this, it depends on which model engine and gearbox mainly - R380 gearboxes for example can have wear on the output gear splines, then there is the TD5 oil pump bolt and grease lubricated wheel bearings and drive flanges.

A search on this site on the terms I mention will start your learning curve, but I suggest that if you are interested in Defenders, reading a good bit of what is on the 90/110/130 Defender County forum would be a worthwhile exercise.

John

[land864]

I totally agree Reeksy.

I am new to the 110 ./ Defender thing also.

I have asked some particular questions and the boys have been great.

If you want to take the tiime and gain some useful insights scroll through all the 110 / County /Defender posts.

There is a huge wealth of information in this forum in particular but across all these forums on this site that jsut can't be gotten anywhere else. IMHO

Pete

[reeksyofoz]

Thanks John and Pete...

I can see I'll be spending some time searching around on here alright!

Drove my first 110 Defender today. Good to discover that the 'controversial' driving position happens to suit me - gorilla style I think an old mate used to call it!

[reeksyofoz]

Bump.

There's not that much around at the moment that I'm inspired by. Mostly bog standard stuff with 'many extras' (dealerspeak for CD player and winch).

So, if I said i'd looked at a 10 year old 200k km 110 that seemed to have a full service history and a list of goodies including apparently professionally fitted: chipped, maxidrive axles and flanges, polybag rear, county front end, wet wheel bearings, long range tank, gas tank, 'corrected' wiring under the rocker, intercooler mods, disco wheels, coolant alarm ... would you think that a bit over $20k was reasonable?

(and if you're the current owner you're not allowed to answer :D )

[spudboy]

Would it perhaps be this one? : Used LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 1999 - Victoria - CarPoint Australia (http://www.carpoint.com.au/used-car/LAND%20ROVER/DEFENDER/Victoria/csn7130314.aspx)

Huge list of extras!!

The early TD5s had a couple of issues which you might want to read up on (Oil pump bolt + oil in loom). Cheap to fix though, if you know about them. If they have done all that work on the car, then these items should already have been attended to.

[reeksyofoz]

Would it perhaps be this one? : Used LAND ROVER DEFENDER 110 1999 - Victoria - CarPoint Australia (http://www.carpoint.com.au/used-car/LAND%20ROVER/DEFENDER/Victoria/csn7130314.aspx)


Erm ... how did you guess? ;)

As far as I can tell the oily issues have been dealt with.

[reeksyofoz]

Well, a deal was done, a deposit paid. Seems I've got my first Defender :cool:

[one_iota]

Congratulations :)

[reeksyofoz]

Cheers looking forward to picking it up and 'blooding' it. Big trips are coming up.

[XSiV]

Well, a deal was done, a deposit paid. Seems I've got my first Defender :cool:

Congratulations, welcome to the club. You find you have a whole lot of new mates waving at you as they pass by now. ;)

[reeksyofoz]

Congratulations, welcome to the club. You find you have a whole lot of new mates waving at you as they pass by now. ;)

Funny that - I've been mentally preparing my waves as I've seen Defenders in the last week. Pick mine up on Saturday (even the wife's getting excited)

[Scallops]

Onya, reeksy - you've joined the only cult worth being a member of. :D You're going to love that truck. :cool:

[XSiV]

Funny that - I've been mentally preparing my waves as I've seen Defenders in the last week. Pick mine up on Saturday (even the wife's getting excited)

My wife loves "Bender" as she affectionately calls it. My daughter is even worse, she won't go in the wife's x-trail if there's the slightest possibility of going in "Bender Truck" as she calls it.

[Tusker]

Like many vehicles, there are a few items that will come up for attention in the 130,000 - 200,000 km window on a TD5 Defender. Perhaps investigate & replace before any big trip.

Things that come to mind are

- fuel pump in the tank
- oil cooler in the radiator (or is it the fuel cooler?)
- Headlight switch
- Fuel regulator

Other stuff like hoses, clutch, shocks, aframe ball joint should be able to be dealt with by either checking physically, or checking service records.

regards
Max P

[reeksyofoz]

Like many vehicles, there are a few items that will come up for attention in the 130,000 - 200,000 km window on a TD5 Defender. Perhaps investigate & replace before any big trip.

Things that come to mind are

- fuel pump in the tank
- oil cooler in the radiator (or is it the fuel cooler?)
- Headlight switch
- Fuel regulator

Other stuff like hoses, clutch, shocks, aframe ball joint should be able to be dealt with by either checking physically, or checking service records.

regards
Max P

Cheers Tusker ... i've bought one now anyway, but pretty much all of that stuff's been covered off as it happens. Searching this site has been invaluable :)