Ex Member

Never change the pinion height on a used ring and pinion. A used gear set wears into a pattern. If you change the pinon height, it will run in a different spot and not work well.

The problem is 20" wheels and no rear diff lock are counter to the entire purpose of what they had planned. They had wanted to maximize off road capability to show that you could get one that was good off road without being extremely expensive. They really missed the mark by accepting this one.

I would suggest it is a lot of interest in watching it break down....

It is not just the dealer. Land Rover corporate had the first vehicle moved to their own facility and flew in factory engineers to diagnose the problem. This is an engine that has been in production for years. Good luck repairing it in the bush.

Injector size and position is different. Rocker assembly and valve cover is different. Thermostat housing connection is different. They can be interchanged if you do not mind adjusting things to accommodate the difference.

Land Rover has (had?) all axles built by GKN. In 1995, Dana purchased GKN's axle group. Prior to that, Dana axles like the Salisbury where made by GKN under license for the UK market.

If you want to do a good job run a cooling system flushing fluid, then flush out fully with clean water.

The Bronco is much cheaper than a Defender and speced much more for off road. It will sell 20 times more than the Defender. The Defender is more a rich person's play thing. There will be little crossover.

That is a big difference. Those are proper race car with very long suspension arms that prevent space for passengers. In a full body vehicle, the arms are very short and the travel very limited. That is the whole reason this entire thing is stupid. Huge money for a crappy race car and a crappy supercar. If you do not understand these basic concepts, that is pretty scary.

I assume this was an inlet valve. What happens is you partially starve that cylinder but the fuel rates stay constant. The downside is that you have probably damaged that cylinder from excessive fuel washing. It does not take long.

And two weeks with a factory engineer flown around the world and they can't fix it. What a fabulous machine to take deep into the bush. Maybe if you have a big YouTube channel, LR will long line in a repair team.

This is double the price of even the crazy Defenders. Apples and oranges.

Really? At that price point, I would expect a real race car. This is neither a proper race car, nor a road car. It is supercar money. I can't see the market, but who knows what super rich people decide is a good way to waste money.

You think your brand new luxurymobile that you spent a normal person's yearly salary on should misfire and be ignored? Do you work for LR QC?

It is not a "handful of Defenders". It is ALL of them. 100%. I've never seen a good truck come out of the UK. Other countries, they are usually fine. The UK, they are horrible. My question is to if this is so regulated, how does it appear to be so common that vehicles get certificates while being unsafe? You can't act like it is a rare thing.

If you say so. I've seen a dozen imported Defenders from the UK with recent MOTs that were death traps. All failed in seconds when taken for the local inspections. A friend had one where you could stick you arm into the chassis and it had a month old MOT. It needed a new chassis to be able to register it. The original post on this thread shows how bad the system must be.

So brakes that don't work and steering that is broken are okay and somehow not considered safety issue? Jesus, what a joke of a system. Are the mechanics licensed?

Please tell me you are running an EGT gauge and using that to set the adjustments.

The drill bit method is not foolproof. You need to check with a dial gauge. Boost pin + 180 degrees on main fuel is a LOT of fuel unless you are running a lot of boost. For stock boost, that is way, way too much fuel. When I ask off boost, I mean full throttle right from idle until the boost comes on.

I wonder if you are seriously overfueling. What is the off boost smoke like? Have you verified the timing is correct?

All things you state are poor maintenance and can be corrected. What I always find amazing is that cars in the UK are supposed to have regular safety inspections.... Unless it is a great deal and you can do the work yourself, run away. Find one that is in good condition and inspected by a 3rd party that knows Defenders. Steering should be light and tight. Brakes should be firm and stop the vehicle with normal effort. Clutch should be firm and heavier than a normal car. Accelerator should have linear power with travel (different than most modern vehicles where the power is non-linear).

What happens is the lighter components of the diesel evaporate or burn and you are left with the heavier components mixed in with particulates. The residue is a thick oil and you "think" it is sump oil. This is happening when you are not getting complete combustion. Due to being too cold, overfueling, retarded timing or a bad spray. Go and smell the exhaust when this is happening. It will smell like diesel. Burning sump oil smells very different.

There are different cable drive sizes through the years. You may need to change the speedo gear. Or get an electronic speedometer (MUCH nicer). What is the transfer case from and what vehicle is it going into?

You are not driving it hard enough. The exhaust manifold should get much much hotter than the boiling point of any oil. Trust me, I design refineries for a living. It is diesel. I could explain again, but I'm not sure if anyone is paying attention.

The inlet is not a lot different. There is still higher pressure in the inlet port versus the valve cover. The difference is not as much as the exhaust. Any oil coming in here will be burned as well. The whole valve stem leak issue is not really a problem with diesels. It is a hangover from petrol car experience where the the inlet ports run at high vacuum. Oil consumption if it happens is almost always rings or turbo seals.