New owner of D3 HSE TDV6

Check out the condition of the radiator also, in particular blocked cooling fins. I think this led to the demise of my TDV6.

Hi Andy and your la de da HSE [biggrin] My 2005 SE missed the H

Just went over 350,000km in mine so yours must have had a very nice life. MT tires for our very cool mountains make our D3s almost unstoppable and my winch almost rusty. I have a spare set on BMW rims with the other set road friendly ATs on for daily driving. Nice Mechanics is the key to my longevity. Rittas (my best mates) or AMV in Ringwood are both great options IMO but if I don't add MRL a mate would kick me.

Have fun and Welcome

Our 1995 Discovery series 1 V8 petrol, slipped a cylinder liner at Beachport SA in Dec 2016.. Pulling a small caravan with a planned 4000k holiday (Bendigo - Adelaide - Canberra - Mos Vale - Bendigo and 440,000 on the clock), I was aware of that possibility.. We could abort and it would have got us home.. but..

The local shopkeeper put an internet add on the desk for a 2008 D3 1 owner 195K $23k just 1 km away.. It was an ex company vehicle with service history some surface rust on exposed heavy under chassis parts but otherwise all good condition.. We got it for $20K, finished the holiday in style then got it back to Ritters in Melbourne (spent $5.5K) for transmission service (steel underpan) front lower wishbones, alignment, a tyre, other bits and Vic roadworthy.

To top this off.. The motor had been replaced with one with just 2.5K on it at 185K after catastrophic engine failure due to failure of the timing belt (Is that the one at the front).. The receipt showed $19079 for the motor replacement.. given the situation for me.. it was a gift from God..

Just now trying to understand the electrics in regard to running a couple of fridges in the caravan.. anyway nice to talk to D3 owners..

I had converted all the lights on my 1970's Viscount single axle caravan to LED's before we bought the D3 Dec 2016. All the caravan electrics, LED lights, electric brakes etc worked straight off when I got it.. thankfully because we were miles from anywhere.

I now find there has been this big discussion about mods to the D3 towing wiring.. I found mine had been fitted with the official LD H22-15R555-AA modified towing loom so I knew nothing about the problem.

FIRST QUESTION: Does anybody know how this is wired to the 12N and 12S sockets on the D3?

ALSO SPECIFICALLY: What happens to the two 12v 15 amp direct battery (both are not ignition switched) lines (blue wires) fuses 2 & 3 on the tow hitch fuse box?

With 2 WACO 40 Litre fridges in the caravan [fridge(4C) + freezer(-14C)] I did have some problems with the service battery in the caravan being discharged while driving. I have a Jaycar 400 amp isolator switch between the D3 12v and the service battery all on the standard wiring. When the engine starts the LED on the isolator goes ON which should indicate power from the D3 is running things but the battery is definitely discharging.

LAST QUESTION: Is the alternator on the D3 a SMART type that drops voltage to 12.5 if the car battery is fully charged? I thought if the caravan was drawing say 10 amps it should hold the voltage sensed by the alternator down enough to keep it charging. What happens as the caravan load increases in say warm weather..?

Thanks all for very helpful stuff..