Thread: Opinions Please; 4x4 diesel needed

I currently own a 300tdi disco, never had a problem with it (touch wood). IMO so long as your aware of the common problems that may occur and prepare the car to eliminate these you shouldn't have a problem. Many enthusiasts have already made their discos reliable and built them up like a tank. For 10k you should be able to find a great 4x4. With seats folded I have so much cargo area, better yet i would recommend removing back seats and installing a cage so you can stack high.

Originally Posted by AndrewGJones

Hi,

Firstly I would love to get another early /mid defender, or a diesel series III, but fund are tight and I realise one must plan for a fair bit of replacing of bits when ones tastes are for the classics.

Practically speaking, all I need it a reliable diesel 4x4 to head bush in to begin sampling on tenements I am about to hold rights to out back of kalgoorlie.

So it not pleasure so much, but getting there and back and pushing through a fair bit of bush (without getting silly as one might in convoy!)

At the moment I'm leaning towards a Rodeo (with the isuzu diesel donk), but don't have the experience with these, except for the respect I have for isuzu diesels.

i haven't ruled out a discovery except to say that I don't think they have the cargo area, though i guess everything folds down in the back right?

My budget is $10K (ish) with all preventative medicine administered!.

Opinions?

cheers

Andrew

Don't know if we are talking the same donk, but my son had no end of trouble with his (3? litre TD)- and it was an ex gov't well maintained one. He ended up with a replacement engine, and that still had problems. Eventually he cut his losses and got rid of it.

I have had quite a few and the one I miss the most and proved to be the best was my 300tdi discovery, I did just shy of 300000km in it and it only gave me grief once and that was because I gave in to my wife and let someone else do work on it.
Best parts
Mechanical injection so if you do go through water as mine did no electrics to fry.
No computer, nuff said

As a matter of fact when I am better and get back into the real world again I will be going to a 300tdi discovery again.

Let me start by saying that I have a:
1968 IIA 109" ute with 2.25D
1997 D1 300tdi
1987 110 with 3.9L Isuzu diesel

As much as I love driving the IIA (and have driven it from coast-coast), driving it from PER-KAL regularly would get old very quickly.

The discovery on the other hand is very convenient and comfortable on the highway, and the seats fold down so it has a reasonable load space if only 1-2 people. You can pick up one like mine starting at around $4k if you shop around.
For your intended use, make sure the head hasket and timing belt have been done, and fit an aftermarket temp guage and low coolant alarm.

An isuzu powered 110 wagon or 120 ute would be the best (LR) option imho though. However a good one would cost your whole budget, and may still have a tatty interior and superficial rust - e.g. in the door frames...

If you are buying a rodeo, the best option would be a 2.8L diesel. They are simple, reliable and easy to maintain.

Ok, where is the thank button? ! ?

That was exactly what I was hoping for, thanks to all of you for replying.

I've been searching the forum and the 300tdi (which I had in my defender) always had me worried with it's timing belt, but after reading about a few of the failures it seems I've been worrying about nothing. sound like if I had some spare rockers and push rods, and of course I timing belt kit, I could get things back up and running out in the bush. that and making sure I know when it was last changed, and the fuel was leaking in there, and it was properly adjusted and .... Ok, still maybe not over my phobia yet!

If I could get an auto discovery 300 tdi and run down the check lists on what to look for, then that's basically what I need. I must admit I've been shying away from the 300 tdi thinking that a belt failure was basically bye-bye engine, but it seems that I was worried for nothing. The isuzu 4BD1 engine sure gets a great wrap though.

that really helps.

cheers

Originally Posted by yannpiat

I currently own a 300tdi disco, never had a problem with it (touch wood). IMO so long as your aware of the common problems that may occur and prepare the car to eliminate these you shouldn't have a problem. Many enthusiasts have already made their discos reliable and built them up like a tank. For 10k you should be able to find a great 4x4. With seats folded I have so much cargo area, better yet i would recommend removing back seats and installing a cage so you can stack high.

I too have a 300TDI and have kept it fully maintained.Yes take the rear seats out and install a Milford cargo barrier right behind the front seats they are made to do that.You will find you heaps of room then .It is not a hard job at all to put everything back and vice versa.
John.

cheers,

Sounds like a plan. Having a ball reading the forum, plenty of my other questions being answered all over the place.

So my plan then is to find a '98 300tdi disco with around 200K at the most on the clock, stilll up in the air about transmission but I'm sure I'll find some info on that around the place. I'm leaning toward auto as I've been driving autos for the last couple of years and got lazy, and previously had a clutch go on the defender (lazing along in traffic, nothing heroic), so I'm sort of thing that it's one less thing to worry about.

Then I'll take the seats out, put the cargo barrier in, see what bar work I can afford .

thanks

Andrew

There is a lot of folklore and mythology about how discos break down and fall apart. I owned a 200TDi for 4 years and have driven a TD5 for 6. Sure they have had some faults but the only stoppers I have had were a failed clutch on the 200TDi and a clutch master cylinder on the TD5. With 4 kids and a dog a Smart Car isn't going to hack it. My next car WILL be a discovery - end of.

....unless I can find a an 88" series III and fit it with 200TDi engine and gearbox and some parabolic springs....