TD5 Buying guide

[Mean Green]

This must have been covered before but I cant find anything using the search function.

I am going to look at a TD5 90 next week and although I am familiar with Defenders in general and what to look out for I want to read up on particular issues/problem areas for TD5's.

There there a guide anywhere that lists what to look for or can give info?

[western]

not specific o Td5 vehicles

http://www.jojas.co.uk/defender_buyers_guide.htm

http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=49739

[Keith Keir]

You'll want to look under the drivers seat to see if theres any oil coming out of the wireing loom at the ECU end. I think its a common fault but easly fixable i am led to beleve.

Other than that i think its just the usual defender problems you look for. Hopfully someone will confirm this

Keith.

[Happyoldgit]

Perhaps just take a leisurely read back through this section?

[Mean Green]

Perhaps just take a leisurely read back through this section?

Yeah, I wish I had the time that I used to to bowse the forums. Hardly get time to drive (or work on) Defender nevermind read forums.

However .. I was hoping to find a sort of checklist of things to look at - I am sure I have seen it somewhere before- might have been in one of the mags.

In the meantime the link sent my Ralph look promising.

[Eurocracy]

Yeah, I wish I had the time that I used to to bowse the forums. Hardly get time to drive (or work on) Defender nevermind read forums.

However .. I was hoping to find a sort of checklist of things to look at - I am sure I have seen it somewhere before- might have been in one of the mags.

In the meantime the link sent my Ralph look promising.

Stuff I've seen myself or heard of - there are probably plenty of others:

1. Oil in the ECU as mentioned, under the drivers seat - fixed by fitting a new injector wiring loom under the rocker cover

2. Diesel in the oil - the o rings fail on injectors, leaking fuel into the engine

3. Diesel leaking from the drivers side of the engine from a fuel regulator

4. Water leaking out from a cooler blanking plug underneath the exhaust manifold

5. The dreaded oil pump failure in early TD5's - a bolt becomes loose, oil pressure dies and one broken engine. Later TD5's don't seem to have this problem (I've got 2 TD5's, 53 and 04 reg, both done over 100K and not seen this. I touch wood quickly.)

6. The wrong gasket being used with the rocker cover when an injector wiring loom has been fitted, leaking oil down the back of the engine

7. Oil leaks from the sump gasket (but it's a land rover - extra rust proofing for the front of the car)

8. Oil leaks from the rear crank seal

9. Head gasket failures - a big deal if the head warps - so check for oil in the coolant and vice versa

10. Injector failure - the engine tries to accommodate this but can only take it so far. New injectors are pricey.

11. Turbo failure - but any turbo really, if a ton of smoke comes out when you floor it, the turbo could be on the way out or it's been badly chipped.

I've seen problems number (1), (4), (6), (7) - so nothing big so far - and not seen any of the others.

But one of the good things about the TD5 is that you can get some decent diagnostics off the ECU with the right reader about engine temps, injector performance, air flow, turbo pressure. I've a Nancom and it's good for piece of mind with the electronics.

[CheekyMonkey]

Hi

What age is the 90 that you are going to look at? For very early TD5s, ie a 1998 S plate, Land Rover used plastic dowels to locate the head to the block. Naturally the plastic melts, leading to some movement on the head which in turn can lead to expensive problems. Most of these should have been replaced with metal dowels now, but it's worth checking.

I think that most of the main issues have been fixed from 2002 onwards. Land Rover made a number of revisions, mainly because EU regulations meant that the TD5 had to be Euro III compliant (where the 1998 TD5 is only Euro II), and so naturally they took the opportunity to tidy up the problems such as the leaking oil in the ECU. Also, the 2002 TD5 has a programmable ECU, useful if you want to tune the engine.

We nearly bought a 98 TD5 but hesitated because many people say that the TD5s have problems and are difficult to fix. We did a lot of research and concluded that the post-2002 TD5 is fairly solid. We since bought an 02 TD5 110 and have had no problems with it at all.

Hope this helps.

Cheeky