Thread: rev/power/smoothness characteristics of D2 Td5 Manual

td5 defender 90, when it was standard it would easily get to 4300rpm...
now with the chip it gets there quite easily, but rarley goes past 3000rpm. it dosnt like going past 4000rpm.

something dont sound right if it struggles to get past 2000rpm.

cheers phil

Originally Posted by feraldisco

Hi - have had my Disco now for 18 months and finally got around to getting an upgraded ECU from TRS. Previously the motor was very smooth, excellent economy, but wouldn't freely rev beyond about 2000 rpm. LR specialist suggested it wasn't getting enough fuel and that an ECU upgrade was required. This has now happened, but I'm a bit disappointed with the result. The dyno printout is impressive - 85kw at the wheels (max power at 60kph, 3rd gear, around 2500rpm), and I was told that the TRS ECU normally results in 70-75kw at the wheels. This is a 50% increase on standard but it actually feels more like a 15% increase on standard. It will now rev to 4000 if I nail the throttle but it get quite coarse above 2500 rpm and it doesn't wind out as freely as I would have expected from this sort of power output (which is theoretically the same as a D3 TDV6). I'm curious to hear from other Td5 manual owners - do your engines also get coarse over 2500 rpm? In reality I would rarely go over 2500 rpm in any case, but it doesn't have as much oomph down low as I would expect from then new torque and power curves - less than a current TD Hilux in standard form. Am I expecting too much?

I hate to say it, there must be some other underlying problem still existing. When you find what it is and fix it, you will be very pleased with the ECM upgrade. At the moment, the ECM upgrade is treating the previously existing "poor reving" symptoms. Get another LR specialist to look at it. I know you don't have too many choices where you are.....

Originally Posted by feraldisco

it get quite coarse above 2500 rpm

My 2003 had a long-term harshness (perhaps since the ecu upgrade) starting at 2500 rpm which was only recently cured by the combination of replacing the bellows type flex joint in the exhaust with a wire type and removing the harmonic balancer which was wobling slightly. New engine mounts, new exhaust hangers and new main muffler did nothing for the problem, removing the HB made a significant improvement but the exhaust flex was the biggest culprit. The flex joint had been stretched and was sitting on its internal limit stop. The limit stop also restricts air-flow by almost 50% (stretched or not).

Originally Posted by Graeme

My 2003 had a long-term harshness (perhaps since the ecu upgrade) starting at 2500 rpm which was only recently cured by the combination of replacing the bellows type flex joint in the exhaust with a wire type and removing the harmonic balancer which was wobling slightly. New engine mounts, new exhaust hangers and new main muffler did nothing for the problem, removing the HB made a significant improvement but the exhaust flex was the biggest culprit. The flex joint had been stretched and was sitting on its internal limit stop. The limit stop also restricts air-flow by almost 50% (stretched or not).

mine's a 99 D2 so it's already got the wire flex joint. I also think the harshness is related to the engine itself. The max power output is fine (in fact above average apparently) - it's getting there that's the problem and it seems to be starving for fuel over 2500rpm. A diesel tuning place suggested injector timing issue but I would have thought the new ECU would have resolved that. Wondering if it might be a fuel pump issue or even a partial fuel line blockage somewhere? Given that it's very smooth up until 2500rpm, I can't imagine that it's a problem with an individual injector and it's not starving for air (new filter, snorkel, enlarged inner guard hole etc) - running out of fuel delivery to injectors at higher revs is all I can think of???