Thread: Preferred td5 models

Originally Posted by ATH

"If you keep your TD5 serviced properly it'll be reliable and wont break down".
Have you tried getting a Throttle Potentiometer fixed anywhere outside of a metro area?
Have you tried to drive with a faulty one?
No I thought not.
They are one of those thing that will stuff up and will stop you and they ain't serviceable either.

Actually no, I haven't. And thats because they so rarely break down. Anything and everything can break, and that is a so very rare problem on the Discovery.

Have you tried getting a broken Tdi head fixed anywhere outside of the metropolitan area? Have you tried to drive with a faulty one? No. I thought not.

My two bobs worth.

I have a 99 TD5 Auto and my father has the same.
Mine now has 170k and my fathers 185k.
Both have been reliable and have impressed the Toyota Men on our respective trips.
Both have to tow 5mt and 6 mt boats and do this more economically than my previous diesel patrol or my dads tojo.
The last trip up the Gibb River I went from Derby to Kununurra and only required a 20 lt top up to do this. That was towing a heavily laden trailer and stop starting as my vehicle was support for a charity ride I was involved in.
I regularly have to drive a 130 Tdi for the Fire Brigade and I find the motor to be prone to bad turbo lag when changing gears and you really have to rev it to overcome it. The Tdi leaves alot to be desired offroad as it lacks any low down torque and you really have to ride the clutch to get it moving on fire breaks from start off.

My Uncle has a 96 Disco Tdi Auto this has been very reliable however it is not as spacious and drives harsher than mine. If you intend touring try putting a 40lt Engel in the back of a pre TD5 Disco!!

As for the oil pump bolt I have raised my concerns with Southern Landrover in Bunbury and my neighbour who used to be the mechanic at Barbagello Landrover. Both have only seen 3 between them in 8 years. The biggest problems seem to be people allowing their services to be done using the wrong oils and coolants. As most mechanics treat the TD5 as if it is a Tojo or Nissan oil burner.