Thread: TD5 Long Lived?

First a qualifier - mine only has 152,000km on the clock. Other members would have more, so I can't speak from experience on the TD5. Obviously, less kms and a good service history is better than either of these not being in place.

That being said, the TD5 engine is a modern design with direct injection, with a centifugal oil filter to get rid of most of the carbon that builds up in the oil, as well as a standard bypass filter. Japanese engines of the same era tend to gunk up, as they are indirect injection - when you change the oil in a Jap diesel engine and check it after the initial start, it will usually be very black due to the carbon left in the engine; in a TD5 engine it will be clean. The oil in the Jap engine is doing its job and ripping the carbon out, which is why, according to the service books, you need to replace the oil every 5000km in a Jap engine; 20,000 in a TD5 (less kms in both types of engine if under severe conditions, down to 2000km for Jap, 5000km for TD5.). BTW The carbon causes the piston rings to not work as effectively, as well as additional wear, bore glazing, causing power loss etc. There are some products that help reverse this - flushing oil concentrate from cost effective solutions is brilliant. I've used it in a neglected Hilux diesel and its now the best since we've had it. This design is something you need to be aware of in most Jap diesels until they became generation 2 or generation 3 diesels - some new ones are still generation 2, same as the TD5 was back in 1999.

Generation 1 - indirect injection, mechanical fuel control - Tdi Disco 1
Generation 2 - direction injection, electro mechanical fuel control, multiple injections per cycle - TD5 Disco 2 (uses hydraulic pressure, rather than a common rail)
Generation 3 - direction injection, piezo electric, high pressure common rail - TDv6 2.7l - Disco 3
Generation 4 - higher rail pressures ??

The only diesel engines that came from Japan etc at the same time that are somewhat comparable would be the 3.2 litre common rail diesels in a Pajero or the 4JX1 diesel in the Jackaroo are on a similar level to the TD5. Any debate on this?

Reading the posts, it appears that some members have freshened their engines up with 250,000 to 300,000 on the clock - appears to be more for their peace of mind rather than any major issues, others (see http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...ty-issues.html - 322,000km and counting) have lots of kms and not a problem with the base engine.

Also, have a look at this post on TD5 rebuilds. (http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-...5-rebuild.html)

not as long as the 300tdi

Drove one last week with 330000 on the clock and its on the original head gasket.
Have no interest in the 300 TDI vs TD5 debate as they both have thier issues.
I think if the head has been done on a TD5 at the 200k mark and are well maintained they should last to 500k
There are many cases where they have done this

Thanks. I figure for what I do (driven once every week or 2) it will Ok. As mentioned I was looking at V8's as they are cheaper but to be honest if I buy a V8 for $8k and it slips a liner then you are way over what a TD5 costs. I love the V8's dearly and had a great run from my 4.6 Vitesse 1991 Vogue, the 3.9 in my 1995 Soft dash Classic and the 3.5 in my current 2 door but those 4.0's seem very much one for the too hard basket.

I thought that I'd read 500,000km, but I have just read an LRO article from a while back that suggest Rover diesels are capable of 250,000 miles (400,000km) if properly maintained but that there is no reason why the TD5 shouldn't last well beyond that with the design/machining that has been used in it.

Originally Posted by Slunnie

I thought that I'd read 500,000km, but I have just read an LRO article from a while back that suggest Rover diesels are capable of 250,000 miles (400,000km) if properly maintained but that there is no reason why the TD5 shouldn't last well beyond that with the design/machining that has been used in it.

i haven't yet seen a worn out one.

JC

271,000km and counting (bought at 175,000km).
no major issues and replacing tired parts (pulleys,shocks,etc) as funds and time allows. no head work that i know of.
will be keeping this one for a while yet.

Originally Posted by justinc

i haven't yet seen a worn out one.

JC

Thats what I had thought too JC when asking previously. Was Cal's old one an exception? Whats even more surprising is that they don't seem to "dust" despite the leaky airboxs.