tomcaton Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Hi, I'm new here and don't own a Land Rover yet. We are looking for a Defender for an overlanding trip through southern Africa. Yesterday, we went to visit a potential candidate, a Defender 110 TD5 from 2000. It has 225,000 km on the clock and seems to be regularly maintained by a dealer and other garages. It has had its gearbox, clutch and fuel pump replaced at various stages in its life. In general we liked the car but found a few issues: Clunk from the rear when shifting gear, except if using the clutch very gently. A bit of oil hanging from the transfer case inspection cover (?), see picture, although not very clear in the picture. Oily lower side of sump pan, see picture. Are these the regular Land Rover problems/oil leaks/sounds that could be simply fixed or should we be worried? We probably have it inspected before buying but since there are other good candidates, I first want to find out as much as possibly myself before going to a garage. I have done some searching, and I found that the clunk could be the A frame balljoint, although many other problems seem to cause this. I suppose, the oil leak from the sump pan near the drain bolt can be simply from replacing the oil/leaking bolt, but then there is also traces of oil away from the bolt. Best regards, Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lightning Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Those are not serious issues, after all the vehicle is nearly 20 years old. After you buy it you can get these minor issues repaired before you set off on your overland adventure (which sounds fantastic by the way) l would also advise that you get the Land Rover fully serviced/checked over by a specialist in Defenders to make sure there’s nothing else that needs doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 Clunk from the rear could be an easy to fix bush or it could be a rear diff or half-shaft that's very slack, the salisbury rear axles are known to wear the splines on the hubs/shafts leading to slack, a very cheap & easy fix but if it fails in the middle of nowhere it's less than ideal. Oil leaks look minor, you'll never stop it leaking a bit. If you post more photos we can offer more advice - before setting off into the wilderness it's a very good idea to give EVERYTHING a damn good service & check-up regardless, on a 20+ year old vehicle you can't take anything for granted. Condition is far more important than mileage at this age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paime Posted January 21, 2020 Share Posted January 21, 2020 i'd say that oil leak is most likely coming from the rear of the rocker cover and leaking down the back of the block to the location you see it there. Not a serious issue and a new gasket should fix it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomcaton Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 Thanks for the replies. We have a number of other candidates, but if we go ahead with this one, I will for sure have it checked and serviced. I don't have any more close up photos of these problems at the moment. Completely different question that someone may know: We don't yet know if we want to sell it after our trip or put it on a ship somewhere (Especially relevant for more expensive/newer ones we may get). If we were to ship and import a defender to the UK, I understand that for an EU manufactured car you don't have to pay the 10% duty, only the 20% VAT. After 2005 the Defenders in South Africa were are UK manufactured I think, so no import duty applies to them I suppose? What about SA assembled ones? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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