Thread: D3 breakdown. What do you do?

Maybe you need to start by comparing the same apples...ie D3 and 200 series landcruiser, and I think you would find ( as I have seen personally with a 200 series cruiser at drysdale river station in the Kimberley's ) that not any bush mechanic can work on late model cars of any sort that are so heavily relient on electrics.

I am sure a Defender of the same year as an 80 series cruiser could easily be worked on by any bush mechanic.

There are aids such as Faultmate, hawkeye, and im sure a few others that allow you to access and clear fault codes.

Seems strange you feel that some magic line has now been crossed that the warrentee has expired, and the D3 will now just fail in the middle of nowhere.

Cheers Ean

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

Seems strange you feel that some magic line has now been crossed that the warrentee has expired, and the D3 will now just fail in the middle of nowhere.

I know I'm a newbie here, and maybe speaking out of turn, but thats not what he said. "What would happen if something craps itself out there on my out of warrantee D3?"
For vehicles under warranty, don't LR have their roadside assist service, whereby they suggest they might be able to repair it there, or tow it to a repairer.
When not under warranty, this could become rather expensive to do that, and not all bush mechanics have access to tools to be able to diagnose a fault. If the OP can take a gimzo or two, it could aid him *if* the unforeseen occurred.

The NRMA has premium road side assist, from memory they will pay for upto $3000 in tow fees or something like that. I would imagine most State based road side assist organisations have similar plans. That will often get you at least most of the way to a service centre without further expence

I have a Hawkeye so can diagnose and clear most issues. You can buy one of these pretty cheap on ebay from the UK.

If you have a look at Gordon's website GOE Australia - Land Rover D3 (LR3), D4 (LR4),FL2 and Range Rover Sport Training and info he has a EAS kit that will assist if you have a compressor or bag failure, it should at least get you back moving in most cases even though it more than likely will be at normal road height. That is also providing you have a good compressor for your tyres.

Sure there are potentially plenty of mechanical issues that might stop you out in the middle of no where but that can happen with any vehicle. At least with a well set up D3 chances are you won't get stuck somewhere because your 4x4 isn't that good off road, in fact a D3/4 will usually make a pretty average driver look like they know what they are doing when the going gets hard.

cheers,
Terry

I had a similar fear when I first got my D3 (secondhand and well out of warranty). Firstly, when I purchased it I made sure it came with a 3 year warranty, just in case. I then invested in a $600 electronic screwdriver (Faultmate MSV2). The warranty paid for itself when the alternator went. The vehicle did not stop but got all sorts of messages, one new alternator later and it's all sorted. I recently had problems with my compressor, when I tried to lower the vehicle it thought it was stuck on something and went into extended mode. Thanks to help form Disco3.co.uk the problem was identified (blocked drier/exhaust) and I fixed it. The thing is, even though the vehicle had problems, it kept going. I could have got myself to help if need be. Maybe a bit slower than normal but I would not have been stuck anywhere. I also have RACQ ultracare which will be upgraded before a big trip.
If I am going on a long trip to the middle of nowhere I will first have the car thoroughly checked over. Anything that looks like it may fail will be replaced. I will also notify people of what I intend to do and arrange a contact schedule. That way if I do get stuck in the middle of nowhere, sopmeone will know (due to the missed contact) and inform the authorities. If a fault starts to appear I will head back to the nearest population centre and try and fix the fault, if I can't, then that's what the breakdown is for.

HTH

Ivan

Just a word of caution about these motoring organisations/clubs break down policies. I am with RACV and have their top cover roadside assist/breakdown/recovery policy which is Total Care but it has limitations built into it. Any provided road side assist is dependent on the broken down vehicle being within access of a two wheel drive recovery vehicle. At least this is what they tell me on the telephone but I can not see this in their policy book.

Maybe someone else can provide clarification here.

.

I wouldn't worry about it as it more than likely won't happen.

Originally Posted by stray dingo

I know I'm a newbie here, and maybe speaking out of turn, but thats not what he said. "What would happen if something craps itself out there on my out of warrantee D3?"
For vehicles under warranty, don't LR have their roadside assist service, whereby they suggest they might be able to repair it there, or tow it to a repairer.
When not under warranty, this could become rather expensive to do that, and not all bush mechanics have access to tools to be able to diagnose a fault. If the OP can take a gimzo or two, it could aid him *if* the unforeseen occurred.

If you read my post,I did tell the OP that aids such as faultmate and hawkeye can read and clear faults..

Cheers Ean

Originally Posted by Disco3QLD

Is there any gizmos to analyze most breakdowns?

Yes, as stated by others but better if one also understands what can cause such faults and what the repercussions are if the faults are ignored. EG wheels badly out of alignment can cause 1 or more ABS faults which will then cause suspension faults, so I have painted alignment marks on the adjustment bolts in case a wheel is at an unusual angle to allow make-shift adjustments which will be near enough to prevent faults. Another is knowing which fuse to remove to disable the suspension system to prevent automatic lowering to the bump-stops if this only occurs after having sucessfully set the vehicle to normal height. Knowing how to operate the EPB emergency release and how to release the gearbox from Park without the engine running could also be useful although these don't require a diagnostic tool.