300tdi defender towing woes...

[Intrepid]

G'day all,
I'm towing short but 1.8t pop-top caravan with the 110 300tdi defender. Had a few small problems, but after 3 weeks the five of us are still mobile.

I have couple of questions! Speed... Ha! Well in fourth I can achieve 80km/h indicated, but both gps say 71 and she's revving hard to achieve that. Im not happy at these speeds, nor revving her guts out. I hear there's a conversion one can do to the transfer case from a disco to get a better speed in 4th. Is this worth considering? Are there other ways to get more speed? I've just bought michelins, so I'm keen to keep tyres as they are.

Second, my motor sounded 'different' the other day, so having done 5000 I changed the oil. It made little diff. So yesterday I checked valve clearances and despite being done a month Ago by a pro, I thought they were WAY out. I adjusted them and the motor sounds much better. Now she's been driven pretty hard for the last 1500km, but is this sort of wear normal?

I now also have a coolant leak from behind the pump, but with water, I'm keeping on top of that one until i get to the sunny coast in a few days.

If you have any suggestions on any of the above woes, please share!

Catchas

[goingbush]

I feel your pain. 71 in 4th , are you holding back or is that on the governor

once the tappets are set, they should be done for 50,000kms I'd have thought, no matter how hard you drive it. So much for getting it professionaly done !!

What speed will it sustain in 5th ?? if it wont go any faster in 5th then no point putting Disco transfer gears in. The other problem with Disco high range is your 1st gear will be higher so you might have probs taking off on an incline, (unless you use low range).

I also am towing a 1.8t 13'6" poptop van , but with a Defender Td5 110 , 4 months on the road and the gearbox has just decided to fall over.
I'm having to tow in 4th now until I get my new Ashcroft box with heavy duty rear support bearings ( then tow in 5th to my hearts content)

In 4th the Td5 will easily do 90kmh (on GPS) @ 3000rpm and the only thing going faster is the speed at which the fuel needle is going down.

[MR LR]

Put it in 5th gear... It's only a 300Tdi and the trailer is less than 2t!!!

Never had an R380 fail on us towing ~3 tons of Veteran car around!

[schuy1]

Thoise figures seem a little slow compared to my '96 10 towing. I have never really found it a problem achieving 100 gps kms with 2-3 ton except when it sees a hill! However with that load 80-90 is better safety wise I have found. The box has done 310000ks and I only use 4th with a load, 5th is an OVERDRIVE! Want to tow faster? Get a F350!
Clearances I check at 40k and rarely need to adjust so I assume yours were not done properly at the service. I have found it does pay to check them twice if any adjustment is done, dunno why but second foll over always finds the 1 you did loose or tight. No prob as that is how I was taught to do valves.

[Intrepid]

Thanks for the replies. Well, I don't have a tachometer so I'm not sure how many revs she's doing, except to say that I'm doing a bit more than when I'd normally shift up a gear...if that makes sense?

I've spoken to a few people who drive a 300tdi and tow, and they seem happy to tow in 5th come what may. I have also spoken to mechanics who in turn advise against it!? So I'm taking the conservative approach. I reckon she'd pull okay in 5th, but I really don't want to shag it either... I need to load 5th up to get some speed up.

Oh and I just went to the local IGA and found the water pump gave up some more, so it looks like ill be spending a few more days in Theodore!

And fwiw, I run 235/85r16s.

Yay.

[schuy1]

Theodore , QLD? Just a rock throw away from me
and yes dont ignore that water leak, the little buggers can suddenly catch you out. And the alloy heads dont like heat I run the same tyre size and I find the indicated speed is always 10kms faster than gps speed. Good for scaring the passengers(Hey look at that ,140kmh in a landrover! )

Cheers Scott

[wally]

Thanks for the replies. Well, I don't have a tachometer so I'm not sure how many revs she's doing, except to say that I'm doing a bit more than when I'd normally shift up a gear...if that makes sense?

I've spoken to a few people who drive a 300tdi and tow, and they seem happy to tow in 5th come what may. I have also spoken to mechanics who in turn advise against it!? So I'm taking the conservative approach. I reckon she'd pull okay in 5th, but I really don't want to shag it either... I need to load 5th up to get some speed up.

Oh and I just went to the local IGA and found the water pump gave up some more, so it looks like ill be spending a few more days in Theodore!

And fwiw, I run 235/85r16s.


Yay.

I've towed some huge loads over long distances with 300Tdis, and I could always manage 100km/h on the flat if I wanted to (often, though 90km/h was enough). With only 1.8t there should be no reason why you can't get along at 100km/h most of the time, and I wouldn't be too concerned about using 5th with that load- just be ready to change down on the inclines. The coolant leak sounds like the "p" gasket.

[Intrepid]

Theodore , QLD? Just a rock throw away from me
and yes dont ignore that water leak, the little buggers can suddenly catch you out. And the alloy heads dont like heat I run the same tyre size and I find the indicated speed is always 10kms faster than gps speed. Good for scaring the passengers(Hey look at that ,140kmh in a landrover! )

Cheers Scott

Yep, the very same. Eidsvold will likely be our next stop unless the kids permit further travels so keep an eye out.

I adjusted the tappers twice and yep, made further corrections the 2nd time around. I estimate some of the gaps to have twice what they should have been, even more perhaps.

So just to get a better synopsis, should I just rev harder in fourth or put her in fifth and ease the speed up? Turbo works pretty hard as it is...

Viva la slow Defender!

[Intrepid]

I've towed some huge loads over long distances with 300Tdis, and I could always manage 100km/h on the flat if I wanted to (often, though 90km/h was enough). With only 1.8t there should be no reason why you can't get along at 100km/h most of the time, and I wouldn't be too concerned about using 5th with that load- just be ready to change down on the inclines. The coolant leak sounds like the "p" gasket.

Thanks for the reply. I'll have a better go in 5th then. On the odd occasion I use it on down hill runs though it sounds like it Can do it.

The mechanic here had a look at the Coolant leak and we traced it to from behind the pulley. Its running down the exhaust side of the block behind the alternator area. It's also starting to make noise, so he's advised to replace to pump. It's potentially overkill, but there's not much choice out here, so I'll take what I can get.

[marting]

The other option is to fit an overdrive (the roverdrive seems to be the best). This way you can tow in fourth and use the overdive to give approximately the same gearing as you would have in fifth, but the box is towing through 4th.
Martin