TD5 engine life - discuss

OK I have read every post in this thread.

I have no doubt in my mind that there are issues with the LR TD5 but what I don't get it that with their issues, why you keep supporting them. I only ask as I might be (starting to change my mind now) in the market for one. A passion for a vehicle can only ever go so far. Cracked heads - surely this is unheard of in other cars.

I currently drive an Audi with over 75000ks. I have ever only had one issue. Engines last easy over 250ks.

Thanks a heap to the admins of this site. Without it, I would probably have to learn the hard way.

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Originally Posted by catch-22

OK I have read every post in this thread.

I have no doubt in my mind that there are issues with the LR TD5 but what I don't get it that with their issues, why you keep supporting them. I only ask as I might be (starting to change my mind now) in the market for one. A passion for a vehicle can only ever go so far. Cracked heads - surely this is unheard of in other cars.

I currently drive an Audi with over 75000ks. I have ever only had one issue. Engines last easy over 250ks.

Thanks a heap to the admins of this site. Without it, I would probably have to learn the hard way.

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Actually, Audi s are reknown for killing the water pump, the complex system of cooling and then frying engines if not caught quick enough.

Also reknown for power steering failure, overheating in summer and for leaks from PS and from engine.

Also known for radiator cracking along seam and leaking.

I know I used to supply a repairer friend of mine the parts.

This was on TTs A4s etc...

Any forum such as this will have a whole list of faults.. The NisOta forums have tech sections on busted gearboxes, broken Turbos, destroyed engines, wiring faults, overheating etc...

Example... Nissans Patrol overheats and then shuts the AC down on a 35' day at 100km/h... What a way to travel.

No vehicle is immune... If it makes you feel better... Mines done 120,000 of the nastiest Kms.. Modified, chipped oversize tyres, rock hopping, mud, water all its life (it thinks its a fish) and has no oil leaks, no Loom issues, no fuel regulator issues, no cooling issues... nothing wrong....

I suspect that most (not the oil pump bolt) problems with the TD5 have their roots in poor maintenance, and some of this done by dealers! But granted that, there is still the problem that they seem to be VERY expensive to fix, and very intolerant of poor maintenance or mistreatment compared to earlier Landrover engines. I think, for example, of the 2.25 petrol engine, which will stand years of neglect and even occasionally severe overheating without either completely dying or even being all that expensive to fix.

BUT the TD5 gives you vastly better performance and fuel economy, and a lot longer interval between services, and longer and more reliable engine life (if no disasters) - and you don't get something for nothing. These advantages have come at the expense of an engine that is much more fussy about how it is looked after, and costs a lot more to fix when something does go wrong.

Although I believe that parts costs for modern Landrovers are often ridiculously expensive, partly because the cars are aimed at the luxury market with prices to match, but also because of short production runs compared to older engines - remember a lot of the design of the 300Tdi goes back to 1956, where the TD5 was a completely new engine.

John

Hmmm... I've been meaning to put a bit of a summary of all this together. It would appear that the td5's have some issues

1. Oil pump bolt on earlier engines. Just plain nasty this one.
2. Oil in Loom. Nasty as well. Possibly not fixed even now. Fortunately not to hard to fix.
3. Head/radiator/cooling issues. I've got a hunch that these are tied up with the use of non-oat coolants causing overheating.
4. Electrics. Most problems appear to be around body earth or the throttle position sensor.
5. Fuel sensitivity. They like good clean (non bio) fuel.
6. Exhaust studs. Seems to be just one of those things.

Having listed these off I personally aren't deterred by any of them. Many of them can be avoided with good maintenance. Mostly they can be prevented from causing a Failure To Proceed (FTP) by just keeping an eye on your steed. :)

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Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

6. Exhaust studs. Seems to be just one of those things.

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Do you mean exhaust manifold studs breaking?

If so, this is quite a common item on a lot of alloy diesel engines (alloy head, cast iron manifold, go figure). The Nissan Navara TD series engine are very common for this.

Best regards
DarrenR

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Originally Posted by Captain_Rightfoot

<snip>
3. Head/radiator/cooling issues. I've got a hunch that these are tied up with the use of non-oat coolants causing overheating.
<snip

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I believe the root cause of the destruction of the head on my 99 TD5 was a faulty clamp on the radiator hose at the outlet of the head that allowed coolant to escape. It was a series of subsequent events that should never have happened that eventually led to the destruction of the head. Probably needless to say, I replaced the hose clamps on my current TD5 just before the end of its warranty.

At the risk of tempting fate and having an immediate melt down, I've had my 2002 Defender TD5 since new, now at 102,000 kms and (apart from the dreaded ABS modulator and the obligatory leaks and rattles), had my first engine problem last week with a loose connection to one of the injectors causing me to run on 4 instead of 5 cylinders - easily fixed. Apart from that I've had no engine problems at all, except when the local mechanic didn't do up the sump bolt properly and left a very slow oil leak, fixed in 20 seconds...

Had an S2 Disco TD5 for a while before that and also had no problems, although that one did a lot less kms, so (touching lots of wood) have quite a lot of confidence in the TD5s, but maybe I'm just lucky...

Every vehicle I've ever heard of has had a list of common problems, some worse than others, although LR and Jeep coming in at the bottom of a recent overseas (US, I think) warranty survey (as I recall, about 48% of owners had a warranty claim !) could be cause for some nervousness...

Customer Truck 98 TD5 220`000km on the clock untoucht so far, needs the manefold milled and some new studs in the head, no dramas, runs sweet.

Customer Truck 99 TD5 used for towing traillers up to 3500kg 220000km ok so far but needs a bit of work done to the bodem end of the engine, oiljet, thrustwasher and some other bits let go.

Friends Machine 99 TD5 160000km oil pump **** itself, good thing he stop the engine before any major damage happened.

The list goes on


Customers Truck 97 TDI 480.000km still going strong, second head, second set of injectors, :)

anyone around brisbane got a tdi for sale, let me know, the simple the better,

Richard

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Originally Posted by furianer

anyone around brisbane got a tdi for sale, let me know, the simple the better,

Richard

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Richard,
Off topic but..
I spent about 6 months looking for a low km TDi, found one in Sydney (97 with 90,000km's on the clock), flew down there (flights are cheap), drove it back about 1500km's.

Prices seem to be a bit lower at the moment, a good time to buy, I looked online at these sites;
autoweb.drive.com.au
carpoint.com.au
carsales.com.au
carsguide.com.au
drive.com.au
motorpoint.com.au
tradingpost.com.au
ebay.com.au

Best regards
DarrenR

tombraider (or is it Tom Braider :) )

Thanks for the info. You raise a good point. I am a member of two Audi clubs and I have never heard of any of the issues you raised. Not even on the ozaudi.com forum. In any case, it got me thinking about forums in general. Most people will, if they have experianced problems, post something up. That's more then likely the reason some of these issues seem amplified.

I am told that things changed in the '03 and '04 models (or was that '02 ??) and that there are less issues with these models. Not sure if this applies to the motors, however.

So which is the more refined model? from '02 or from '03?