Thread: What to look for/ask when looking at FL td4

Originally Posted by rabbitohs123

I'm going to look at a FL TD4 '02 in a few days.
Is there anything specific I should check out/ask/look for when test driving?

Look for any warning lights on the dash - ABS faults are common. Check the VCU - the TD4's do still fail - srive it on full lock in reverse and see if it feels like it binds up. Listen for clunks from the rear diff, look for leaky or soft turbo / intake hoses, make sure it starts first time every time, listen for noisy / faltering fuel pumps with the key on & engine off (it has 3 pumps!), check that it comes on boost at about 1900rpm and it should feel strong to about 3500 rpm, look for a dropped hood lining and make sure all seat belts work (centre rear can fail). Most of these faults can be resolved but it depends on how much you want to muck around with it. Use any of the above faults to bargain the price down. If you pay someone to fix them it will be costly. If you DIY parts can be had quite reasonably via specialist suppliers or ebay.

Pros are - the TD4 is a sweet little engine - gutsy and economical, they are fairly well appointed and not too bad to drive. Make sure you swap the oil breather filter for the updated BMW part, clean the MAF every so often, get the EGR and manifold cleaned out of all of the soot / oil gunk that will be there from the EGR and then block it off. But they are otherwise a reliable motor.

Pat

P.S. - our "bargain" TD4 had most of the above issues.

Originally Posted by psproule

Look for any warning lights on the dash - ABS faults are common. Check the VCU - the TD4's do still fail - srive it on full lock in reverse and see if it feels like it binds up. Listen for clunks from the rear diff, look for leaky or soft turbo / intake hoses, make sure it starts first time every time, listen for noisy / faltering fuel pumps with the key on & engine off (it has 3 pumps!), check that it comes on boost at about 1900rpm and it should feel strong to about 3500 rpm, look for a dropped hood lining and make sure all seat belts work (centre rear can fail). Most of these faults can be resolved but it depends on how much you want to muck around with it. Use any of the above faults to bargain the price down. If you pay someone to fix them it will be costly. If you DIY parts can be had quite reasonably via specialist suppliers or ebay.

Pros are - the TD4 is a sweet little engine - gutsy and economical, they are fairly well appointed and not too bad to drive. Make sure you swap the oil breather filter for the updated BMW part, clean the MAF every so often, get the EGR and manifold cleaned out of all of the soot / oil gunk that will be there from the EGR and then block it off. But they are otherwise a reliable motor.

Pat

P.S. - our "bargain" TD4 had most of the above issues.

Wow thanks for that. Reading your post originally it looked bad but when you break it down it doesnt seem too bad.
I was most worried about the engine blowing up after a few months.
How long have you had yours and what have you spent money on for it?

look for a defender

[QUOTE=rabbitohs123;1666811]
I was most worried about the engine blowing up after a few months[/QUOTE
Dont worry about a TD4 blowing up, my brothers TD4 has 270000km uses no oil, blows no smoke, runs smooth with no noises and still gets over 800km out of a tank. only other thing that hasnt been mentioned is autos are expensive to repair and need regular oil changes. so make sure they change smooth and no flaring between gears. also torque converter goes into lock up. Water pump leaking is common also

Originally Posted by barney

look for a defender

They're nice but way too expensive for me

Originally Posted by rabbitohs123

Wow thanks for that. Reading your post originally it looked bad but when you break it down it doesnt seem too bad.
I was most worried about the engine blowing up after a few months.
How long have you had yours and what have you spent money on for it?

The TD4 isn't known for blowing up like the petrol ones are. THe L series diesel is ok too but the TD4 is the one to get in a series one.

It should be stated upfront that I have a nice workshop and enjoy tinkering with cars so the vehicle was bought as a tidy up for the wife project. It had 168,000km on it and we have had it about 18 months.

Before we bought it the previous owner (of all of 6 months) had put a new clutch in ($2900) and a new window regulator ($295).

Well, the first problem was a crook cam angle sensor that meant it randomly refused to start. Didn't take long with the help of this forum to diagnose and $70 worth of sensor fixed it.

I then put on fresh filters ($80) and oil ($40), blocked the EGR ($30), removed and cleaned out the manifold (it was blocked to 1/2 it's normal diameter with soot / oil), replaced the oil breather filter with the BMW part ($80), replaced broken rear diff mounts that were clunking ($120) and started chasing the three ABS warning lights (3 Amigos). Later it burst a turbo hose so I replaced a couple of these ($120). We noticed that the VCU was getting tighter so currently I have dropped the tailshaft out to avoid IRD damage until I can be bothered putting another VCU in (it will be around $1,000). We also modified the fuel burning heater which never seemed to want to start despite how cold it was (probably the temp sensor) - now the wife has a switch on the dash for cold winter mornings. Still chasing the 3 Amigos so bought a brake light switch & full set of wheel speed sensors ($200) after ruling most other things out. Still no good. Replaced a couple of faulty relays - Horn and ABS ($40) but still no good with the 3 Amigos. Then bought in a Hawkeye ECU code reader to help chase the 3 amigos ($465 from the UK and a brilliant bit of gear for working on these) which lead me to believe I had a faulty ABS ECU. So I bought in a second hand one for $395 but still had a problem. Discovered then that one of the new ABS wheel speed sensors was crook and was causing most of the 3 amigos faults. Right now though I still have random G Sensor faults. We just replaced the dropped hood lining ($340) and I need to buy a new center rear seatbelt as this ones mechanism has failed ($120)

Thinks I need to do - replace the split rear tailgate handle ($295), replace the VCU (above - $1000), heat the sun faded bumpers to bring their colour back and probably replace the MAF with an updated one ($300). I hate to think what all of the above would have cost if I was paying for labour at $200 an hour.

Perhaps to contrast - I have a 2006 Mitsubishi NP Pajero diesel as my daily driver, ski boat tug, and our off-road adventure mobile. It has 160,000km of hard driving and lots of off-road under it's belt and in that time the only fault of mention has been a faulty engine speed sensor on the diesel pump. We have spent lots of money on modifications and regular servicing but no other faults or breakages to speak of. The Td4 only cost $7500 though.

Cheers - Pat

Turned out that this FL was actually a petrol and was listed on car sales as a td4. Lucky I called to confirm before driving 2 hours. Would a diesel discovery be more reliable than a diesel FL?