1993 Defender 90

hi,

First off I am about as noob as they get so bare with me. (I've never even owned a 4x4 before)
I've always wanted a defender but never thought I would be able to get one but tonight I picked up 1993 defender 90 which I think is a td5 (how do I tell?). It's got 51k on the clock. I am very pleased. I might have bought a total shed but for 3500 I think it was worth a risk or I would be always regretting it.
The lad pointed out a few things needing doing and I found a few things (although not knowing what I was looking at) .
At moment I think first thing is get tracking done as the steering wheel was nearly at 90degrees.

Then driver door doesn't shut. It just sits there not fully closed. He is giving me the door latch unit that he bought but didn't get round to fitting. (Although the door card is hanging off so I think he looked at it)

Then he said injector seals have gone but said they are cheap and easy to do?

Then propshaft joint is knocking ? I think that's what he said, I'm hoping that's not a disaster.

Then he said the blower has gone... does he mean the air con type thing there ?

Also when trying to test the window demister it wouldn't work till he whacked the dashboard. . So that will need sorting at some point.

I'm hoping to do as much myself as possible as I want to learn.

My last question is where do I get a manual from so I can see what the switches etc do? Is it just eBay or something?

Cheers and I apologise in advance for all my future questions !

Welcome to the Zone. I've marked up your queries in blue but others may amend if I'm way off and add to the bits I couldn't answer (injector seals )

Peat76 said:

hi,

First off I am about as noob as they get so bare with me. (I've never even owned a 4x4 before)
I've always wanted a defender but never thought I would be able to get one but tonight I picked up 1993 defender 90 (It'll be a 200TDi for that year) which I think is a td5 (how do I tell?). It's got 51k on the clock. seems low and with all the other issues below with the dash, wouldn't be surprised if the clocks had been swapped at some point - check the gov.co.uk site for MoT history and mileage, etc. I am very pleased. I might have bought a total shed but for 3500 I think it was worth a risk or I would be always regretting it.
The lad pointed out a few things needing doing and I found a few things (although not knowing what I was looking at) .
At moment I think first thing is get tracking done as the steering wheel was nearly at 90degrees. unless it is pulling you across the road then I wouldn't worry about the steering wheel being out!

Then driver door doesn't shut. It just sits there not fully closed. He is giving me the door latch unit that he bought but didn't get round to fitting. (Although the door card is hanging off so I think he looked at it) pretty easy to do, fiddly clips in side which you need to hang on to if they fly off!

Then he said injector seals have gone but said they are cheap and easy to do? more detail required!

Then propshaft joint is knocking ? I think that's what he said, I'm hoping that's not a disaster. more detail required!

Then he said the blower has gone... does he mean the air con type thing there ? probably means the heater blower for inside the cab. easy repair

Also when trying to test the window demister it wouldn't work till he whacked the dashboard. . So that will need sorting at some point. as above and probably related

I'm hoping to do as much myself as possible as I want to learn.

My last question is where do I get a manual from so I can see what the switches etc do? Is it just eBay or something? Haynes manual or the 300tdi workshop manual avaialbel by googling (or see below)!

Cheers and I apologise in advance for all my future questions !

Click to expand...

http://www.landroverweb.com/landrover/pdf-land-rover-manuals/

or http://www.retroanaconda.com/landrover/manuals/defender_wsm_1993ed.pdf

welcome to the world of landy.. ive just started stripping my 1994 110 so i know your feeling.. i dont think the engine you mention is the correct one for that year.. i think its should be a 200 or 300 tdi.. im sure one of the pros will be on soon to let both of us know the answer.. when i bought mine i had a good look about it and thought i had spotted everything that was wrong with it.. but as you get to know it over the next few weeks im sure you may find a few more things wrong with it as i have done.. i have since removed the doors, rear tub, roof, seat box and floor panels in order to clean up repair and paint the chassis with anti corrosive paint.. while removing this i have found some dodgy wiring that previous owners tried to wire in.. also some brackets etc are corroded and need replacing.. this site is full of info and very helpful and informative members so you wont get stuck.. if your chassis hasnt been looked after before with some form of treatment.. im sure it will need some tlc like mine and everyone elses..

Thanks very much.

Yes mojo247 was bang on. The seller has confirmed it's a 300tdi

That means I won't buy wrong injector seals then

As for the injector issue. When I test drove it I could hear a constant pssshh.... Pshhhh.....Pshhhh......psshh. Noise it was at idle and driving and didn't seem to increase with revs.
The seller said that's the injector seal issue he mentioned.

The propshaft joint issue he told me to listen out for knocking if I was hard with a gear change but I didn't hear anything but don't think I was hard to it on the test drive.

Everyone ivw spoke to has said get the injector seals done soon as I can, so I'll try do that if I can before dealing with the door.

When braking, it was pulling heavy to the right so I'm Hoping it's just tracking way out. Rather than anyrhing more sinister.

Gona order a Haynes today.

As for the mileage. Its a land rover in Isle of man and most cars are really Low mileage here but it is really low. so yeah it could be rubbish.

Ok I have the vehicle now so was able to have a much better look around it. and have a bigger list of issues to deal with.
Im not wanting to get a show Defender out of this, just something i can use at the weekends to get me up tracks I couldn't in my van. So basically I just don't want a death trap that I can secure. (We dont have car thefts over here so I shouldnt need anything other than being able to lock the doors)

So at the moment I have the following issues :
Engine
- psshing noise at idle and driving. (will put a video up soon). Ive got confused here as the seller gave me a link to injector seals and washers but for a td5. Now we know its a 300tdi I cant find any seals. only washers :-\
Doors
- Drivers door pops open when closing. (the seller gave me a new door latch so hopefully I can fit that)
- Drivers door card is hanging off. Ive had a look and all the plugs at the bottom are snapped clean off so looks like I will have to try that screw fix
- All locks dont work. Keys dont seem to do anything.
- Hinges on front doors rusty and door seems a tiny bit wobbly (see pic)
- Back door doesnt open. I will go try wd40 in a minute
Bodywork
- Front bumper is rusty and a hole through the bottom edge (see pic but doesnt show hole)
- paintwork on roof de-laminated? and on driver door
Interior
- Fuel gauge isnt trustworthy apparently as seller ran out when it said it had fuel in it.
- demister doesnt work

Driving
-Tracking is a country mile out (hopefully nothing worse)

So my current plan is the following. Please tell me if I am doing the wrong thing or order:
- Get tracking sorted
- work out what I need to fix the pssshing noise in case its something bad.
- Order stainless steel door hinges, door barrels and those plugs for the door card.
- fix door latch, door card, barrels. My friend said get all the locks working with one key? is that possible?
- for front bumper I could sand it down, prime it and then paint it black? or is it easier to buy a replacement from somewhere? Is it easy to replace?
- Fuel gauge i'm not sure what I can do there. Is there a way to measure the fuel from the fuel filler cap as a temporary measure?
- buy a blower motor and replace
- Get it in for a oil change service. Didn't get any service history so no idea when it was last done.
- After all that look at the propshaft joint that the seller mentioned
- paint work i will deal with much later

If the injector washers are gone then definitely change them ASAP as it will damage the head.

But a video of then engine noise will potentially help folk pinpoint it for you.

Video of ivor the engine


I couldnt get into the engine bay unfortunately as apparently its a two man job on this landy

I would move the service and oil changes to the top of the list with getting the injectors fixed if it has no history. And then get the tracking sorted.
Although if the wheel is 90 degrees out I doubt that is just tracking. It has probabaly been removed and put back badly. (Very easy to remove, just one but to undo) If this is the case it is important that when you get it tracked they ignore the steering wheel position and get the tracking done with the steering box drop arm centred. Than once it is all tracked up with to the central position on the steering box you can remove the wheel and rotate itnuntilnit is straight on the column.

Peat76 said:

fix door latch, door card, barrels. My friend said get all the locks working with one key? is that possible?

Click to expand...

The door latch not working properly could just be an alignement isssue caused by the worm hinges. But if you have a new latch included you might as well fit it. But you possible want to do this at the same time as swapping the hinges over so you can then get every aligned properly.
It is possible to get a full set of lock barrels so every door uses the same key. And makes thing much easier than having a differant one for each door.

If it’s pulling very heavy to the right when you brake then it could be a seized left hand caliper

Top of the list is get engine sorted,oil,filters and any leaks and as you have no service history Change the CAM BELT . Next the brakes. Has it an MOT ?

Actually from a safety point of view it should be steeing and brakes first, then you can mess around to your hearts content with the engine.
You may find the track rod or drag link are bent, takes seconds to have a quick look.

Peat76 said:

Video of ivor the engine


I couldnt get into the engine bay unfortunately as apparently its a two man job on this landy

Click to expand...

Sounds like head gasket has blown at the rear?

and from my point of view get a new prop on if a UJ is about to let go. if you give the universal joints a good wiggle with a screw driver and they're moving about lots then get a new prop. If that lets go and you're driving you can do a lot of damage to the car. I also had no experience when I bought my '98 110 defender, it happened to me. Chassis rail took a pounding but I got lucky with the sump not taking a hit.

[QUOTE="lynall, ]Actually from a safety point of view it should be steeing and brakes first, then you can mess around to your hearts content with the engine.
You may find the track rod or drag link are bent, takes seconds to have a quick look.[/QUOTE]



You are right Lynall, gray moment.

tottot said:

[QUOTE="lynall, ]Actually from a safety point of view it should be steeing and brakes first, then you can mess around to your hearts content with the engine.
You may find the track rod or drag link are bent, takes seconds to have a quick look.

Click to expand...

You are right Lynall, gray moment.[/QUOTE]


I have grey moments all shift long! but it was hammered into me from a young age, steering and brakes the rest dont matter.

Well that all sounds pretty depressing! Especially the mention of Head gasket.. I thought the engine sounded alright bar the psshing. bugger.
Ive asked to get it into a Land rover specialist and asked him to just check it aint dangerous as well as oil change service but in the mean time
where do I look for track rod or drag link? and the universal joints?

When you say check the steering first what am i checking for? I know it pulls to right when braking and the steering wheel is not straight but apart from that what else am I looking for?

As for MOT we dont really have one over here.
Thanks again.

edit: thinking about it, I might ask the Land rover bloke to do a full service since I dont know when its last one was.

Head gasket is an easy job, not like this modern car malarky.
To check the track rod and drag links simply look at them if they are dead straight they are good, get underneath (engine off) and get someone to wiggle the steering side to side quite hard and look for play/noise in anything, no play/noise means its likely good.

Indy service sounds like a good idea that way you can have a to do list to work off of.

The main thing to remember is no matter how much you fcuk things up, there will always be help/advice from someone on here, oh yeh and pee taking of course!

Oh that's good news then.
I'll have a check of those jobbies tonmorow if it stops raining .

Yeah I'll go with a full service and hopefully have some money left to deal with the critical stuff he finds !

Yeah fully expecting **** takes. If you cant take the **** out of a noob who can you take the **** out of !