Defender Questions

[TimMcC]

Hi All

Hope to have a look at a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 soon . Its the one with the 2.5TD, BMC engine . Can anyone tell me if this was a reliable engine and what to look out for while I am viewing it in general .
I don't want to start another debate on Defender v's Japaneese jeeps .

Thanks

[Jizm]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

I don't want to start another debate on Defender v's Japaneese jeeps .

Thanks

Too late, you've gone and done it now...

[chewy]

The engines not as good as the tdi's. Is there any reason your looking at a 110? I'm picking up a 1995 Discovery which has a 200tdi engine in with 12 month MOT and its £800.
I do like the 90's 110's and Defenders but they cost alot more and comfort wise aren't as good.

[Leapy]

Originally Posted by chewy

The engines not as good as the tdi's.

Damned good job LR never made a two-stroke Defender in the past. This forum would have been hell

[Simon B]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Hi All

Hope to have a look at a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 soon . Its the one with the 2.5TD, BMC engine . Can anyone tell me if this was a reliable engine and what to look out for while I am viewing it in general .
I don't want to start another debate on Defender v's Japaneese jeeps .

Thanks

Why did they change the engine? as said by others the 200 TDI or 300 are good engines as are a number of other engines fitted as conversions;
Nissan 3.5
Isuzu 2.8
International 2.8
The age of vehicle you are looking at you will need to look carefully at the chassis £1200 plus labour to change
Doors, suffered hideously from bi-metallic(?) corosion (bubbly doors skins)
Some dealers are more ropey than private sellers, look at forums like;

LR4x4
Difflock

[chewy]

Engines were changed as they "improve" althought the British Army wouldn't buy Land Rovers fitted with the TD5 as they said it would be too complicated to fix in the field.
Out of the 200tdi and 300tdi the 200tdi is supposed to be the prefered engine.

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Hi All

Hope to have a look at a 1988 Land Rover Defender 110 soon . Its the one with the 2.5TD, BMC engine . Can anyone tell me if this was a reliable engine and what to look out for while I am viewing it in general .
I don't want to start another debate on Defender v's Japaneese jeeps .

Thanks

Right then.....its not a BMC engine,(unless someone retro fitted one and retro fitted a turbo to that) its a 2.5 diesel version of the old 1960s rover 80 petrol engine (AKA landrover 2.25)and called 19J engine
as a petrol they were reliable and gutless, as a diesel they were slightly less reliable and even more gutless. then they changed to 2.5 and 5 main bearings which improved matters slightly, hten they added the turbo, 10 steps backwards.
To sum up i would rather eat my own spleen than buy a landrover with a 19J 2.5td engine, anything over 60,000 miles and your into bonus territory
200/300Tdi are light years ahead.
unless the vehicle is really tidy(and i mean tidy) and you dont mind doing a Tdi conversion i would leave well alone.

[markg]

Originally Posted by doggypaddle

Right then.....its not a BMC engine,(unless someone retro fitted one and retro fitted a turbo to that) its a 2.5 diesel version of the old 1960s rover 80 petrol engine (AKA landrover 2.25)and called 19J engine
as a petrol they were reliable and gutless, as a diesel they were slightly less reliable and even more gutless. then they changed to 2.5 and 5 main bearings which improved matters slightly, hten they added the turbo, 10 steps backwards.
To sum up i would rather eat my own spleen than buy a landrover with a 19J 2.5td engine, anything over 60,000 miles and your into bonus territory
200/300Tdi are light years ahead.
unless the vehicle is really tidy(and i mean tidy) and you dont mind doing a Tdi conversion i would leave well alone.

i was just going to say that, i wouldnt touch it, discos are better value than defenders i bought a 99 td5 es for £1650

[J S]

Originally Posted by chewy

Engines were changed as they "improve" althought the British Army wouldn't buy Land Rovers fitted with the TD5 as they said it would be too complicated to fix in the field.
Out of the 200tdi and 300tdi the 200tdi is supposed to be the prefered engine.

Apparently that isn't true, it was explained as an urban legend in last months LRO Owner International. But I do agree that a 300tdi is simpler to fix with a hammer etc.

James

[chewy]

Originally Posted by J S

Apparently that isn't true, it was explained as an urban legend in last months LRO Owner International. But I do agree that a 300tdi is simpler to fix with a hammer etc.

James

So how come the Army never bought any then?

[matt h]

actually it is one of the many reasons why i didnt take of with the B army, one of the other reasons was that when immersed there were too many electronics to contend with.

i remember watching the trials at Bovington Driver and Maintenance section,(d&m school) and the Non turbo 2.5 won in every way, albeit underpowered but perfectly adequate!!

Its the one with the 2.5TD,

avoid this engine unless your into replacing head gaskets and warped cylinder heads, racking my brains here but didnt they have two cylinder heads doggypaddle??

[Mcd22]

I have a 1988 110 retrofitted with a 200tdi. It was fitted with a TD which was not bad as long as you let it idle before switching off and watched the temp and oil levels. A 200tdi is a straight drop in.

The main points to check are:

The rear cross member on the inner edge of it and arond the tow ball mointing points. A new cross member is not hard to fit if you can weld.

The bulkhead corners below the front windscreen are weak spots to check for. Again not hard to repair if you can weld or know someone who can.

Check for any play on the drive shafts around the UJ's. Oil leaks are common but if its leaving huge puddles then have a closer look.

Paint and panels are easy enough to repair (I repainted mine using a £25 tin of Scania white Truck paint and a mini roller)

Interior is easy enough to fix or replace seats (A comfy set of rover 650 seats in mine!)

As long as you can use a socket set you can fix anything quite easily.

Any problems with these points can be used to re-negotiate the price!!

[codprawn]

A v8 is a much better engine in a 110 - and a 110 is much nicer than a Discovery!!!

Agree with the comments on the 2.5 - the turbo caused loads of problems but there are 1 or 2 around that are ok.

[ben tye]

I agree with markq, my family are landrover mad, we have owned between us two discos, two freelanders and a 90 landrover. The landrover is great, simply built, easy to fix and a design classic. The problem being they are like vw campers because they are iconic they are expensive to buy a good one. The disco was a massive hit when launched, it was the start of the off road scene in the uk. Second prices are rock bottom. If you need to do some serious towing and it is not your everyday vehicle the V8 cannot be beaten. Due to it's high fuel consumption and road tax they are virtually worthless, but my god what a tow vehicle. I was lucky to live in Dubai were 100 litres of fuel cost five quid...............even better were the five point something litre Nissan patrols.

[markg]

Originally Posted by codprawn

A v8 is a much better engine in a 110 - and a 110 is much nicer than a Discovery!!!

you could try that arguement with my mrs, pigs would be doing air displays before you would convince her that a 110 is nicer than a td5 es,

[TimMcC]

Originally Posted by chewy

The engines not as good as the tdi's. Is there any reason your looking at a 110? I'm picking up a 1995 Discovery which has a 200tdi engine in with 12 month MOT and its £800.
I do like the 90's 110's and Defenders but they cost alot more and comfort wise aren't as good.

Hi Chewy

I just like the looks of the 110's . Your Disco looks much better value than the 110 I am looking at over here .

Tim

[TimMcC]

Thanks for all your replies . It looks like this 110 might be best given a miss .
Might have a look at the Discovery . Is there any particular model which is best avoided ?.

Thanks

[doggypaddle]

Originally Posted by matt h

didnt they have two cylinder heads doggypaddle??

Only if it really badly cracked
you're thinking of the VM2.5TD rangerover/ford scorpio/jeep/roverSD1 lump. 4 separate heads. equally crap engine as the 19J.

[markg]

Originally Posted by TimMcC

Thanks for all your replies . It looks like this 110 might be best given a miss .
Might have a look at the Discovery . Is there any particular model which is best avoided ?.

Thanks

200 and 300 tdis are both good engines, older discos are prone to a bit of rot in the boot floors and the rear wheel arches on the 5 door , running gear is pretty much the same as defender tdis except the transfer box ratios

[matt h]

watch out for dash board delamination on the 300 series (dash board comes unstuck and curls up)