TD5 questions before I buy

After yrs of wantin and dreamin Im going to be getting my 1st defender very soon........as soon as I can sell my zafira when i come back my holidays next month.
I ve decided to go for a 2005/06 TD5 90CSW............however Ive seen a couple of cracking 110s within my price range and was just wondering what the mpg difference was between the 90 and 110? Also,Im intrested in the "alternative fuel thing" How safe is it to use "other ingredients" along with deisel in the later TD5s.
And finally is there anything I should be aware of when going to view, any common engine faults etc.

Would appreciate any response.

Have a search mate, there's LOADS of threads that will answer your questions.

alanhid said:

After yrs of wantin and dreamin Im going to be getting my 1st defender very soon........as soon as I can sell my zafira when i come back my holidays next month.
I ve decided to go for a 2005/06 TD5 90CSW............however Ive seen a couple of cracking 110s within my price range and was just wondering what the mpg difference was between the 90 and 110? Also,Im intrested in the "alternative fuel thing" How safe is it to use "other ingredients" along with deisel in the later TD5s.
And finally is there anything I should be aware of when going to view, any common engine faults etc.

Would appreciate any response.

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there's only a couple of mpg difference in fuel economy. Unless it's gonna be used for offroading only I'll have a 110 over a 90 every time. A lot of people buy 90's and then wish that they'd gone for a 110 instead due to lack of passenger/load space.

Biggest thing to check for on the TD5 engine is diesel in the engine oil. If its there then walk away or get £3k knocked off the price.

Do I just stick my nose in and sniff or is there a more technical way of doin this?

You should be able to expect anything between 25 and 33mpg from a TD5, whether it's a 90 or a 110 - there's not much in them and a lot of it boils down to your driving style. They're very powerful engines and with that power comes the temptation to use it. It'll go like **** off a stick if you really want it to, and that's a stock setup. There are various ECU remaps, uprated intercoolers and alternative turbo options available for these engines which will totally transform the engines power output and efficiency, so it'll be worthwhile asking whether or not it's been tampered with. If it's well serviced and driven correctly however, it'll prove to be a really reliable work horse. As for checking to see if there's diesel in your oil - you'll need to sniff. That is unless you have access to a laboratory with various chemical testing facilities. Shifty (I think) is referring to porous cylinder head issues which caused cracking in the earlier TD5 engines - he's been there and done that! Ask whether or not the engine has had a re-conditioned / new head. There are even replacement heads manufactured by an alternative company which are meant to be 'solid' - it's possible it may have had one fitted - if you're very lucky!

As for alternative fuels - some will say the TD5 will run on it fine, others wont, both opinion stemming from various reasons. The biggest issue I can see is with regards to the high pressure injection system. You'd only need the tiniest little bit of crap or sludge (glycerine) in the fuel line to create a whole world of problems. If you're going to run it on bio-diesel for example, you'll need to source it from a reputable company and take various precautions. I was running my old 2.5 N/A on bio-diesel which hadn't been processed properly. There was still gallons of glycerine in the container I collected it from - this is supposed to be removed completely.

-Pos

Mind and check the cylinder head on the td5 as they are prone to blowing(cracking), personally i would go for a different engine just to be safe and to avoid the risk

Def110TDi said:

Mind and check the cylinder head on the td5 as they are prone to blowing(cracking), personally i would go for a different engine just to be safe and to avoid the risk

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There are a lot of good TD5's out there and they make a cracking engine when they're running right as I'm sure Shifty will tell you. He's just finished fitting a brand spanking new one with a reinforced head. There are however, a lot out there with the problematic porous heads which will have cracked, or which will be on the brink of cracking and I'm 100% certain that the person selling the vehicle wont be willing to mention that. Especially considering they're not covered by Land Rovers warranty. Not now anyway.

-Pos

You need to look for elevated sump oil level on the dipstick (although anybody in the know will have made sure the level is spot on before you get there so dont assume its OK). Run the engine until it gets nice and hot. Check the oil levels again and rub some on your fingers and have a good sniff. If it smells of diesel then chances are its got diesel in it. Drop a few drops from the dipper onto some absorbent kitchen towel or brown parcel wrapping paper and wait 5 minutes or so. Are there two distinctive rings, one darker than the other? If so its the diesel separating out. There should be no diesel in the engine oil on a good engine.

If the engine has an external fuel spill pipe that runs from the front of the head to the fuel regulator bolted to the back of the head near no. 5 inlet port then it has the later modified cylinder head which is good (early heads had internal fuel lines) - I believe that engines post 2001 had these heads fitted but you never know. There are some very good Spanish cylinder heads available from Turner Engineering which look like the early heads but have a stronger casting where it matters. I'd want to see a receipt if the seller claims this is the case. If you wanted to buy one then budget on at least £1250 for the head plus labour and gaskets to fit it.

The TD5 is one of the best diesel engines fitted to a Land Rover so long as its looked after. It has more torque and power than a stock 3.5 V8 and is a lot more driveable. I've seen a TD5 Disco showing nearly 220bhp on the dyno with enough torque to start breaking things.

ratty said:

. A lot of people buy 90's and then wish that they'd gone for a 110 instead due to lack of passenger/load space.

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i didnt

wiltshire landyman said:

i didnt

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Me niether

alanhid said:

After yrs of wantin and dreamin Im going to be getting my 1st defender very soon........as soon as I can sell my zafira when i come back my holidays next month.
I ve decided to go for a 2005/06 TD5 90CSW............however Ive seen a couple of cracking 110s within my price range and was just wondering what the mpg difference was between the 90 and 110? Also,Im intrested in the "alternative fuel thing" How safe is it to use "other ingredients" along with deisel in the later TD5s.
And finally is there anything I should be aware of when going to view, any common engine faults etc.

Would appreciate any response.

Click to expand...

After reading the issues and common faults with TD5 sorry to say I would not bother. I could get a new one tomorrow but went for a 1997 300tdi 110csw with 115k. I already have a 1994 300tdi 90... mpg for the 110 on a sensible/frugal motorway drive is maybe 1 or 2mpg... 33mpg on a 350 mile run in the 110. A tad more in the 90. The guy I bought the 110 off had a new 110 and reckoned it gave less mpg.... 26 on a trip to Scotland but he was 4 up.
I find the drive in the 110 very comfortable, better than the 90 and (IMHO) I put that down to the extra length and bigger wheels. Not as nippy as the 90 though.
For 5k I have my dream Landy and look at it as having saved myself 20 to 25k.... I wouldn't touch a TD5, but thats me..... a grumpy old cnut
I dont pay £400 a year VEL either

MrJC said:

After reading the issues and common faults with TD5 sorry to say I would not bother. I could get a new one tomorrow but went for a 1997 300tdi 110csw with 115k. I already have a 1994 300tdi 90... mpg for the 110 on a sensible/frugal motorway drive is maybe 1 or 2mpg... 33mpg on a 350 mile run in the 110. A tad more in the 90. The guy I bought the 110 off had a new 110 and reckoned it gave less mpg.... 26 on a trip to Scotland but he was 4 up.
I find the drive in the 110 very comfortable, better than the 90 and (IMHO) I put that down to the extra length and bigger wheels. Not as nippy as the 90 though.
For 5k I have my dream Landy and look at it as having saved myself 20 to 25k.... I wouldn't touch a TD5, but thats me..... a grumpy old cnut
I dont pay £400 a year VEL either

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Devil's advocate talking here ............ :flame2:

So the 200/300 tdi engines dont have their problems? I've driven all kinds of engine/landy/vehicle combos across most of Africa and the only one not to break down was a Toyota Landcruiser

A Land Rover is shaped like a brick so you dont buy one with fuel economy in mind.

Granted a SWB Landy can be a bit more choppy than a LWB but I like the extra nimbleness and manouvreability. My TD5 90 has the same sized wheels as a 110 - its the length that smooths things out.

I dont pay £400 VEL either. You're thinking of the newer Puma engined Defenders. My annual VEL is £195 at the moment and it LEZ compliant. I'm guessing that will change if this poxy excuse for a government get re-elected by the great unwashed.