Thread: 3l D4 Starter Motor Failure

Gee Bob your not half right in being lucky but what it shows is where LR needs to improve here in Australia if the brand is to grow, as much as it hurts me to say it this is where Toyota excel and the reason so many others choose Toyota over other brands. I personally wouldn't change as there is no other vehicle that gives me the joy my LR does but I only wish they provided this sort of service, if they did and people compared LR to other vehicles it would be game over!

Cheers
Julian

I just had my main muffler replaced with another OE one.
They had just the one in the country as well!
They are stainless steel so I guess they don't get replaced often.

Rich,

How do you find your BD LR fuel tank? I have one too and find it is just a little bit low so it keeps getting bashed on rocks etc. It seems to cope with the bashes OK but I wonder about the longer term. Has yours survived OK?

Bob

Off topic, but yes they can take a fair bit of abuse!
Not mine as yet but I've seen a quite bent one up on the hoist at my mechanics. Looks like it would take 10 / 15 ltrs less than straight one.
I've only got a small reshape under the bottom of mine.

I have the 2.7 D4 but my starter motor failed in Bamaga after driving it up along the old tele track. Luckily I had just been to the tip the day before and was about to drive south. As it was under warranty land rover shipped it back to cairns where after taking it apart the starter was (allegedly) full of mud and water. Like you it is something that I need to look at before my next big trip as I don't want it failing in the middle of the Simpson!

The water-proofing of the 3.0 starter could be better than the 2.7 starter because LR's specs for the 3.0 starter had much more stringent submerged operation requirements. However at least 1 company declined to tender due to what they considered impossible conditions that would result in continual warranty claims. My understanding is that there were no changes to the starter used in the 2.7 D4 from previous models.

I reckon I first noticed my starter motor being a bit slower than normal at Seisia, soon after completing the portion of the Telegraph track that we attempted. The deepest water we did was on the telegraph track at Elliot Falls. We didn't do Nolans due to the depth of water at the moment.

Southerns reckoned there wasn't any water and maybe some dust inside. They showed it to me and everything looked pristine, apart from melted wires on the stationary windings at the gear end. I suspect that the water crossings must have done something due to the timing of the symptoms but I guess dust from the thousands of km or dusty roads we did may also have contributed. Otherwise, it might just have been due to fail and the timing had nothing to do with the trip. Unfortunately, Southern had no clear answer as to the reason for the failure but I will look into dustproofing the breather hose I think.

We are also doing the Simpson Desert next year and a starter motor failure in an auto car is terminal out in the bush. Funny thing is that the 200 series driver and I discussed starter motor failure before we did the Telegraph track and were both concerned that water might cause a failure that would stop us in our tracks. He was paranoid and tried not to go through any deep water but I was not too worried. His car failed with a power steering pipe fracture whereas mine got home and then the starter failed. Funny how things turn out.

Bob

Thanks for the info BobD. Always good to know what can fail. I read / heard somewhere that the starter replacement is a body off job, is that correct?