On a serious note

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Originally Posted by Mick-Kelly

You are all right of course, I am sure time will prove that. :cool: I base my opinion on my life experience and I would like to think its fairly comprehensive.

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As for not answering questions re mechanical problems. I have several times. I will repeat it again though. If something mechanical fails in a well maintained simple vehicle there is usually a work around or at least you are aware what the problem is.

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As for my opinion being ill informed and wrong according to all of the post tdi defender owners. Money talks, thats why the new defender will not have a place in my driveway. If what passes for a defender now is due to legislative requirements than they should have let the defender die a natural death while it still had its reputation. That is my opinion in relation to the new defenders as requested in the original post.
I do find it very interesting that one of the above posters mentions that selling his County was the most regretted decision he made in the signature. I also find the prices of used 110's from the mid 80's to be very interesting when compared with their rivals. Guess other people are as ill informed as me.

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true but only if you dont break something that tombie pointed out

AND you have enough mechanical knowledge to know what is wrong not everyone is mechanically savvy

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Originally Posted by numpty

I don't think that capability has been affected one iota. Engines are one thing, 4wd system and it's operation is the same.

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Sorry I thought you were talking to me;)

This will lead us into debates about salsbury vs rover diffs, transfer cases, traction control etc.

But you are right...the basic architecture remains consistant with the original design.

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Originally Posted by numpty

I don't think that capability has been affected one iota. Engines are one thing, 4wd system and it's operation is the same.

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When you get into the gnarlier stuff it does. The low down pull of an Isuzu is just stunning to watch and it drags it sorry butt through rough gnarly terrain, where the Tdi just comes off boost and stalls, and of course in the worst possible spot. That also in my opinion is why 30% low range gears transform the Tdi's capability offroad.

Thats just what I see in the bush at least. :D

I have been working on mine,plant equipment for over 10 years now,cat,komatsu,hitachi,lieber etc and I have never changed an ecu yet.These machines work under harder conditions than any 4wd and they are now up to thier eyebrows in electronics and are reliable.For me if bad things happen they happen,would I trust a new defender over my old Tdi?,No I wouldn't but only because I know my old truck like I know my partner.Would I take a new one to remote Oz?hell yeh and before any jap crap,at least it has limp mode and parts can be bought for it.I look at machines like I look at this computer,before I joined this forum I couldn't use a computer,but since being here and playing with it trying to use this site it doesn'y worry me.Electric systems are just a fear of the unknown. Pat

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Originally Posted by Disco44

I like it .On a test drive it performed well but I agree with some posts on 4 cylinder diesel engines. Years ago ( operation iceberg I think it was called ) Solihull dieselised the 3.5 V8 It was scrapped why only the gods know.Can anyone elaborate on "why"

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breaking it down to the simplest point.

the ally block of the v8 couldnt deal with the additional stresses required to make a diesel...

Even now the 4.0 and 4.6 bores are still marginal

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Originally Posted by numpty

I'm not sure of how much, but I recall when the County was introduced (call it a 110 if you like) it was horrendously expensive for its time.

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Pretty sure they were $25-30k back in 1985. :eek:

That's when you could buy a Tojo for about $14k.

No wonder they didn't sell many Countys.

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Originally Posted by Mick-Kelly

Clutch fails - start in gear, limp home
Axle snaps - drive on one
Prop shaft or uni fails - drive on one.
Battery fails - clutch it
Diff fails - drive on one
etc. etc. etc.
ECU goes bye bye - start walking
Remove soundproofing cover from engine and whoops youve voided your warranty

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Gearbox fails, like mine did, and you're walking.

The electronics in mine is about the only part that hasn't broken.

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Originally Posted by Brian Hjelm

I had one of my electronic failures between Davenport and Coorabulka, whilst doing my cousin's mail contract. He was in hospital in Townsville. NO dialysis in Western Qld. NO roadside service either.

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Does the Defender have electronic kidneys?? :eek:

A mates 200 Tdi clutch **** itself on our Hay River trip 2 years ago and he wasn't driving anywhere, as the clutch fell to bits and jammed everything up:eek: Towed to Alice.

Proves nothing though......except....... anything can happen if it wants to.;)