Thread: Disappointed in the D5 / waiting for the Defender

Originally Posted by tact

The 2.2l defenders have an electric fuel pump in the tank. The ECU has code in labelled “run dry prevention strategy” which pulls a series of stunts to ensure that pump never runs dry and needs priming (first the low fuel sound/lamp operates, then as fuel level reaches another lower preset volume the ECU fakes an engine “miss fire”, and if fuel goes much lower it tosses a “reduced output” phase and eventually will shut the engine down)

no laptop or scantool needed

Having a pump in-tank at all, and the smarts it’s wrapped in, is of course just another electrickery gizmo thing to go wrong and completely not user serviceable. Oh progress! Why do you hate humanity so and inflict these things upon us!?

Yes, i've experienced the stage two simulated misfire, it's very effective. You only have about 30km from fuel warning lamp on to misfire. It's a great system, but one day out bush when the tank pump fails, there's no gravity feeding the donk with a funnel and hose like a 300tdi.

Originally Posted by rammypluge

I once heard a statement that if you cant realistically afford to buy a vehicle new then you cant realistically afford to buy it secondhand.

I think its a very interesting statement.

I imagine it more so applies to situations where the owner doesnt do their own mechanical work.

You need to apply a dollar value to your time to reflect a true economic cost. The opportunity cost of lost earnings whilst doing your own mechanical work is not usually accounted for by those who want to do their own work. That’s the true economics of the situation. Most of us who enjoy working on our vehicles don’t record that cost in the ledger.

Originally Posted by plusnq

You need to apply a dollar value to your time to reflect a true economic cost. The opportunity cost of lost earnings whilst doing your own mechanical work is not usually accounted for by those who want to do their own work. That’s the true economics of the situation. Most of us who enjoy working on our vehicles don’t record that cost in the ledger.

Where that falls down is when your 'hourly rate' is significantly less than a mechanics hourly charge rate. Even if it's only $120 hr, that equates to a salary of $237,000 year. ...if I earned that much 😳 my opportunity cost would be on par. ...unfortunately when it takes 3-4 hours (average wage) to earn the mechanics hourly rate (which is higher in many cases) it's definitely a lot cheaper for me to do my own oil changes! 👍 ...but probably not to gain the knowledge over many years to efficiently diagnose and repair major issues.

Originally Posted by tact

The 2.2l defenders have an electric fuel pump in the tank. The ECU has code in labelled “run dry prevention strategy” which pulls a series of stunts to ensure that pump never runs dry and needs priming (first the low fuel sound/lamp operates, then as fuel level reaches another lower preset volume the ECU fakes an engine “miss fire”, and if fuel goes much lower it tosses a “reduced output” phase and eventually will shut the engine down)

no laptop or scantool needed

Having a pump in-tank at all, and the smarts it’s wrapped in, is of course just another electrickery gizmo thing to go wrong and completely not user serviceable. Oh progress! Why do you hate humanity so and inflict these things upon us!?

TD5 Defender and maybe D2 had a pretty notorious in tank pump. Many did a floor access mod and kept a spare in the car on trips as that was a show stopper.

Originally Posted by Zeros

Where that falls down is when your 'hourly rate' is significantly less than a mechanics hourly charge rate. Even if it's only $120 hr, that equates to a salary of $237,000 year. ...if I earned that much my opportunity cost would be on par. ...unfortunately when it takes 3-4 hours (average wage) to earn the mechanics hourly rate (which is higher in many cases) it's definitely a lot cheaper for me to do my own oil changes!

Yep, most mechanics make $237k a year

Originally Posted by Vern

Yep, most mechanics make $237k a year

How did I know someone was going to say that? Nice one.

Obviously not, but that's the opportunity cost for the home mechanic.

Originally Posted by rar110

TD5 Defender and maybe D2 had a pretty notorious in tank pump. Many did a floor access mod and kept a spare in the car on trips as that was a show stopper.

Oh - ok then I have to take the bit back about the in-tank pump not being user servicable (it was tongue-in-cheek anyway).

Its just back to the basics like "carry appropriate spares." (Though a luddite will still not agree - "its electrickery", because its not a funnel and a flagon of fuel on the bonnet)

I once heard a statement that if you cant realistically afford to buy a vehicle new then you cant realistically afford to buy it secondhand.

I imagine that many doctors, lawyers and other high income earners would tend to agree with that But for the rest of us Not so much