Thread: Highway driving in a Td5

Originally Posted by justinc

Sorry I have to mention this important fact, If you feel a $500 to $600 ECU upgrade is never on the cards due to cost only, then you should rethink buying one of these cars if you are intending paying for repairs and maintenance, and doing none of it yourself.

JC

That's an excellent point - and another point I have been wondering about. I guess I am half-hearted about buying a D2 (although I would love one) for the maintenance/running costs - hence all my questions in the last 2 weeks or so.

Nonetheless, I am okay at repairs, and I am keen to learn more about maintenance I can perform myself, so maybe it is still a viable proposition.

In regards to chipping, the ecu is the PBS type, which apparently ideally needs to be changed to the NNN type, furthermore there seems to further costs involved such as larger intercoolers, engine monitoring systems etc required - these costs seem to endless - hence my reservation about upgrades. Please feel free to convince me how easy and cheap it is, as it sure sound like this needs to be done for what I want the car to do.

Cheers,

Mark

NNN ecu is "flashable" i.e it can be altered with a nanocom or similar, the earlier ECUs need to be physically re-wired.
Do you need to go to larger intercoolers?
Short answer no.
Chipped Td5s tend to warp manifolds more easily, as they tend to knock the EGTs up, so an EGT gauge is a good idea.
Low water alarm/ engine saver such as the one Inc. sells in the shop is basically a must for a Td5, I'm kicking myself for not fitting one after I dumped 5 litres of coolant yesterday.
Main reason I haven't chipped mine is my insurance is already upwards of 2k, performance chip would only sky-rocket it more.

If doing the work yourself, a full set of filters , oil, fuel, air & rotor, aftermarket from the UK, will set you back $24.16 [c] , premium filters, $41.[ Premium being Mahle air & rotor, coopers fuel, Mann air.] 5 litres Valvoline synthetic, 5W/40, from my local LR specialist, $ 59. Most pundits say oil change every 10,000 KM's. If you buy one, essential items are a RAVE DVD, and access to THE GOOD OIL. Cost of running a D2 very much depends on how much you are prepared to do yourself. BEWARE, they are addictive, and can be a real challenge if you don't take the time to find out how they work. Do I like mine , occasionaly , Bob

Even if you go for genuine filters (which I do, filters and oil are cheap), say a service costs you $200.
You'd be paying at least double that to get someone else to do it and it's dead easy.
Cheap insurance IMHO.

Ignoring the old joke about landrovers turning drivers into mechanics, when I bought my D2a I knew very little about how it all worked but info from this site and other LR sites worldwide with "how to's" & photos has been a real $ saver. Urban Panzers site and similar have allowed me to do many maintenance and repair jobs I would never have the confidence & knowledge to do otherwise. Hats off to all these guys. Do some research and you'll save a lot of $'s

I second Justins comment about cost of running.
If a $340 ECU flash is out of the question it may not be the path which to go down.
TD5s are not getting any younger and the early ones are starting to exhibit their traits with plastic dowells and other things.