Thread: Eny meny miney mo which diesel motors the go

Originally Posted by uninformed

now since you want to defend the track rod as well, get one, put one end in a vise, grab the other end with ONE hand and pull....now do you think that the track rod may see more forces than you can apply, in normal everyday, non abusive driving???

Serg

They don't bend that easy............................oh, that's right, they do

Originally Posted by PAT303

Mate you have taking what I have written the wrong way,you have used your defender and only your defender for your work,you must realise that I have used just about all types of vehicles and they all fall to pieces.As regards to vehicles used in that way they will get more wear,and don't confuse wear with under engineered in a year than most privare vehicles get in three.I replace...... Pat

I do not take it the wrong at all, I appreciate you and everyones contribution to this thread it has been very informative and I had no idea it would be such a debatable topic on starting it. I agree with you bits do wear out and certainly quicker on vehicles used commercially. I too am starting to replace minor components like door latches, repair door frames that have fatige fractures in them, shockers, springs, clutches and alike. It is something that I except of an ageing vehicle. Yes I know there is no fountain of youth for our ailing Defenders except upkeep and maintaining them. For me it about trying to reduce and enhace the vehicles longevity because whats new out there does not raise the bench mark that far above what I have now and if I am going to have to put effort in maintaining it then it makes sense for me to improve it were possible (hence this thread) So thanks to all.
Garry

yeah my bad on that, I didnt delineate the line of modern diesels very well, The TDi isnt really a modern diesel, its just more modern than a series.

IME the tie rods and drag links are just what they need to be Ive only ever bent 2 and both were because I tried to push the planet around with them If they'd been any stronger they would have either broken other things or I wouldnt have been able to straighten them

heres the last one I bent. ok, I cant find the thread but the last one was down at dobbos and it was easily straightened using a dog, a chain and the mattock handle. The one on the series had to be removed and I used the tow ball and vice grips to straighten it.

the reason the documents arent provided with the vehicle is for a variety of reasons, heres 3.

1. They cost money to publish and are propriety so even putting them on a CDrom costs.
2. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.
3. it keeps unknowing people going to stealers.

I totally disagree with the concepts behind 1+3 but I can live with number 2.

Personally I think that if you buy a shed class landrover you should get the manual that will let you rebuild it from scratch, not only that but they should also come with the schematics and blueprints of every part so if you need to you can just get a local fabrication shop to make up or repair a part thats broken. Ive got the books on series II's III's all the raves the manuals for the perenties (which covers some of the county and deefer stuff as its all the same parts) and with the exception of the Rave's Im happy to pass the info on for nix, the RAVES I expect you to buy from incisor. I dont think its as critical for the non shed landies as they aren't really pitched at the type of people who will want to use it to carry them on a trip where a vehicle failure could leave you in a position to get easily dead.

Heres the deal with the EGT's... first lets seperate the turbo from the engine, lets use 650 degrees as the limit. That limit is for the turbocharger, going over that puts you at risk of blowing the seal, softening and warping the turbine wheel and if you get really really serious about it you can even expand the turbine housing and it just gets worse from there.

assuming that the engine is in good order and standard what you see when you labour it up in too tall a gear is roughly this... the engine is slowing down and working harder, thats a given but what your doing is pushing more heat out the exhaust and less into the engine the gasses are exiting hot and slow, therefor the EGT's rise but as the engine is slowing down eventually the boost drops off, the aneroid takes over and backs the fuel down and everything slows down.. the total amount of fuel injected is still the original amount of fuel so the total heat energy can only be X its just your seeing more of it at the exhaust. its when you start adding more fuel and air that you tip the balance back the exhaust temperature comes down because the gasses are moving faster but your putting more heat in the combustion chamber.

The damage that you wind up doing is from the labouring of the engine it takes out bearings, valves, scrapes the thrust side of the piston and bore, kills rings, yada yada yada. Then because the EGT's are higher than the turbo is rated for you kill the turbo, it makes less boost so your more likely to labour the engine earlier on by working it up to a higher speed and hanging onto the gears on the way down. Its still long term bad, its just a different bad.


The landy has a lot of idiosyncrasies and having to do the lo hi shuffle or plan your routes carefully and look a long way ahead is just one of them. Do I think its a good idea, no not really BUT its a trade off thing, how many other vehicles out there can shift nearly 7 tons around and pull off 10ishL/100K as a daily driver.?

I get the whole point of the wanting a stronger drag link and tie rod and if thats for you then goodo but what would you rather, your vehicle stopped requiring a simple recovery and a couple of hours on the side of the road while you beat a bar back to shape or your vehicle disabled, out of coms range in 45 degree heat because the sector shaft snapped? On a play vehicle no dramas Ive upped the tie rod by means of welding 2 chunks of 6mm wall angle iron along the length of it before today.

And yes Im well aware of the arguments for the strenghting of the rods on the perenties... They always move well supported over serviced and over inspected (thats part of my real job) so IMHO theres no reason why it couldnt have the beefed up rods. The reason it didnt was a dollars thing. Trust me there was a lot of ill will between the ADF and LRA over some of the things that were done with the perenties and LRA took the brunt of it.

Yes I do servicing and mods, but due to my normal work I cant guarantee when I can do them so I don't advertise for it. A lot of people don't like the level that I'll pick a vehicle to on a scheduled service but dealers like it even less. Im always willing to answer questions tho and when I dont know the answer I'll either know where to find it or where to find someone who should know, IMHO the information should all be free to public knowledge.



I also dont think you managed to look dumb during the progress of the thread bright people with bad info can get the wrong conclusions and bad things happen just like dumb people who have good info can make the same bad decisions cause they didn't understand. People only ever get to be really dumb in typically 2 circumstances the first is if they dont learn from an experience or situation and the second if they ignore what they learnt and do something the same way with the same bad result based on the fact that "thats the way I do it" or similar.

Im Ex Cav and when it comes to vehicles they have a saying that dates back to the days of horses and that is "The Horse, The saddle, The man" Today it infers that first you keep the vehicle top notch, then you keep the gear it carries well maintained and then if you still have time you look after yourself.

The other way to look at is this.

If you're injured you will heal if left alone, your vehicle if injured will not heal and will often deteriorate if you leave it alone.

I've been very lucky in that when I have had a vehicle fail that I was dependant upon in a "this could potentially get me dead" situation I had the support of people who knew more about it at the time and were able to fix the vehicle and the vehicle broke in such a way that it could be repaired. Theres literally hundreds (thousands if you go out of Australia) of stories about people who weren't so lucky and I don't want that on my conscious.

My solution is to set things up so that when it fails (Im not so ignorant to assume it wont) that it will fail in a repairable manner.

Originally Posted by garryseries3

Well I am curious the Tdi can it be improved can it be made to last longer by tweaking with some aspects of the motor/ancillaries and its design. In simple terms what can be done to enhance its reliability. efficentcy and tractability.
Garry

as uninformed suggested get the gasses moving properly with the better intercooler and the exhaust and keep the cooling system top notch. I dont think you need the bigger radiator but you do need to keep what youve got in top notch order. (leave the pump alone)

Fit an EGT and boost gauge the cooler and lower (respectively) you can keep those needles the longer the engine lasts AND the better fuel economy you'll return. Stay on top of the filtration, timing belt and the valve clearances and you should easily keep the engine going to 250K Km major overhaul intervals.

Consider what you need for better tractability it may simply be changing the tyres to a different construction tyre or the shockies + spring combo.

if you tow lots and dont need more speed you can get a PTO style under drive for the vehicle that eliminates the need to do the lo-hi suffle or you can drop in a different ratio diff set. If you have a sals rear end your pretty much set for the rear axles and if you manage to break a front set you then replace them with aftermarket units like the maxidrives, getting your hands on the military styled (UK and some of our specialist) diffs with the 6 gear center gives plenty of diff strength but fitting almost any locker will do the same BUT you need to be cautious doing this as lockers tend to shock load and snap axles if used incorrectly. I think that the detroit softlocker is about the best bet in terms of value for money and driveline life but they take some getting used to off road.

If you want more power and better reliablity with easier maintenance then you need to look at a suzi 3.9 conversion BUT with the money that costs you can do a lot of maintenance work on a Tdi. (and expect it to handle and move like a tractor)

an LPG converted v8 might also be on the cards but they come with their own spate of problems and maintenance issues

Originally Posted by uninformed

i appreciate what you are saying Pat, but i havent just used my defender for work and work only, i have also used a sIII swb and a 82 2door rangie.
i have friends with hi luxes, vans, commodores, etc etc... some of them are mechanics. im always commented on 2 things, that i get my car serviced more than any of them, and i get called Captin slow, even when im not towing...not because i drive a slow car, but cause im a slow driver

so i dont assume, can i ask if the vehicles you work on and replace all those parts handles/switch gear,nobs etc etc, are they privately owned and being driven by the owner? or are they work vehicles that employee's get to drive?

i dont mistake wear and tear for under engineering, other wise id be here complaining about brake pads, fuel/oil/air filters and timing belts..

i was lead to believe the 300tdi to be a 400,000 mile rebuild engine, thats 644000kms... and mine died at 240,000km not to mention the head that had a crack in the galleries with out being cooked? or maybe it was, who would know with the LR temp gauge....

i got the rad pressure flushed every 18months and it still needed a new core at 210000km...

but i did get 210000km out of the factory clutch which i guess is pretty good considering the towing i do....maybe that will reflect my driving, maybe it wont???

ive only been through 1 set of disc rotors...whats the life expectancy from these?

now since you want to defend the track rod as well, get one, put one end in a vise, grab the other end with ONE hand and pull....now do you think that the track rod may see more forces than you can apply, in normal everyday, non abusive driving???

i ask in the case of the LR is it sound engineering, or a reflection of there attitude? i do agree it would be cheap....**** doesnt cost that much

Serg

Serg my Tdi has 410,000k's,original rad,original disc,gearbox,diffs etc etc.The only thing non original is the steering box and clutch.Like I said just because yours didn't last it doesn't mean they all don't.It has outlasted at least 10 jap 4wds that friends,relatives etc have owned,saying that so has the disco.You could do alot worse. Pat