Remapping Defender TD5, my experience.

I thought l would post my experience for anybody looking to get their Defender TD5 remapped.
It seems to be a no brainer from reading the internet, with no real reported downsides.
I went with one of the big well regarded remappers, and it cost in the order £350.
Straightaway the Defender felt faster, and it pulled better from low RPM.
I could change up at 2,000 rpm and it would pull the next gear even up hill (l have an RPM meter fitted)

However, a few issues surfaced. If l floored it l got a LOT of smoke, which looked to be grey/white.
And sometimes the turbo kicked in fairly suddenly.
I checked everything and figured that the white smoke must be unburnt diesel, as the head was fine and there were no leaks or water loss.
After a while l contacted the remappers who assured me that this was "normal" and "happened a lot with BMW's too"
I took the Defender to the main dealer and got them to reset the ECU.
After that the smoke stopped and the Defender ran a lot smoother and more lively than before it was remapped. In fact had it run that well before l wouldn't have had it remapped.
I posted elsewhere on here about getting the ECU updated at the main dealer.
I think that if you want your Defender remapped, l would advise getting the ECU updated first, whuch costs £125, then see what you think.

Personally l didn't mind the small amount of black smoke, but the grey smoke was a bit embarrassing tbh so l probably won't get the remap re-inatalled (which costs £50) in case the smoke comes back.

I find that without the remap l have to change gear at 2500rpm going up hill, where l could do it at 2000rpm with the remap.

But the engine is so much smoother in the 2500-3000 range (since the dealer ECU reset) that l don't mind. Before it was rough and noisy, although the actual performance was alright.

As a mater of interest lightning was the vehicle's air induction standard when you had the re-map.
For example did you have any of the following fitted:-
Larger intercooler
Less restricted air filter
Raised air intake
Standard factory settings on the waste gate
Turbo boost box
Variable vain turbo.

No it is completely standard except for a decat pipe and EGR bypass kit.

Wastegate setting is standard (12 threads showing)

I had previously tried adjusting that but it seemed to make little if any difference, so l put it back to standard before getting it remapped.

I have not seen other posts describing the smoking as you say, but I suppose people who have paid upwards of £400.00 pounds from reputable companies will accept the smoke as a trade off for more power which is what they wanted.
It will be interesting to see how many others have had the same symptoms and not as yet posted.

I was prepared for some black smoke when flooring it, but the great clouds of white/grey smoke after driving normally for a while then giving it some, were not really acceptable.

Mine smoked a tiny bit when I had the map done. After fitting a larger intercooler and de-restricting the air flow that all stopped.

bankz5152 said:

Mine smoked a tiny bit when I had the map done. After fitting a larger intercooler and de-restricting the air flow that all stopped.

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What did you do to de-restrict the air flow?

Only really useful to do if you have a snorkel fitted. If you look inside the airbox on a TD5 it has a sort of impeller, which is designed to 'spin' any water/rain sucked in through the air intake and allow it to drain out before it gets sucked into the engine. 95% of people who fit a snorkel seal up the drain hole making the impeller useless, so I cut out it which de-restricts the air flow quite a bit.

Plan is to eventually run the same diameter pipe from the airbox to snorkel, get rid of those odd shapes and bends in the air intake pipe.

Like so -

bankz5152 said:

Only really useful to do if you have a snorkel fitted. If you look inside the airbox on a TD5 it has a sort of impeller, which is designed to 'spin' any water/rain sucked in through the air intake and allow it to drain out before it gets sucked into the engine. 95% of people who fit a snorkel seal up the drain hole making the impeller useless, so I cut out it which de-restricts the air flow quite a bit.

Plan is to eventually run the same diameter pipe from the airbox to snorkel, get rid of those odd shapes and bends in the air intake pipe.

Like so -

Click to expand...

Useful Information thanks.

I think l am due at least a partial refund from the remapping company (a well regarded national one with local agents) as the remap did not work.
I did contact the guy on a number of occasions but he only told me that it was "normal to get a puff of smoke".
Well, the "puff of smoke" completely obscured the car l had overtaken or anybody who was behind me on a hill.
Eventually l had to get it sorted and the remap company was not forthcoming with any solution.
After l had the Defender ECU reset at Land Rover l contacted the remapping company a number of times over the last three months, most recently last week. I asked for a partial refund and suggested £200.
No reply has been forthcoming.

Do l have any recourse on a product such as a remap?
The smoke was diagnosed as unburnt diesel.

The Defender has been checked and there are no faults. The MAF is a new OE one. It runs fine without the remap and does not smoke at all.

I did get a proper receipt for the remap, being a national company.

Now it seems to me that remapping changes the amount of fuel being injected in various circumstances, and thus changing the performance characteristics of the engine. The manufacturer has their desired performance characteristics (eg on fuel economy) which may not be the same as yours, so there will be some leeway to adjust things.

Nevertheless, the engine still has to meet certain regulations, such as unburnt hydrocarbons in the exhaust, when being MOT'd, and with the situation you describe I wonder whether it would fail?

Look at the mappers adverts and see what they promise. If they failed to meet either specific or implied claims, then they have not performed as per contract. I would have a word with Trading Standards and get their opinion, which could give you a much stronger case, possibly worth taking to the small claims court.

You could potentially be claiming £350+125+court costs+time and costs for the whole business.

You don't have a leg to stand on. You returned the car to standard map without getting any expert analysis of the work performed, now stop dripping about it and move on

johnlad said:

You don't have a leg to stand on. You returned the car to standard map without getting any expert analysis of the work performed, now stop dripping about it and move on

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Sorry Sir, but l don't agree with you.

After several emails to the remapping company failed to get any thing done at all, not even advice on what to check, or an offer to reset it to standard, l had the Land Rover looked at by my local Indy who said it was seriously over fuelling.
They said it needed sorting as the excess diesel could possibly get into the engine oil.

After that l contacted the remapping company again but got no reply.

So l took it to Land Rover and got them to reset the ECU.
As the lndy could not do it.
They also hooked it up to their computer to check for any faults with sensors etc but none were found and no fault codes were stored.

So the remap did not work properly. I don't think l am "dripping" about is as l am down £500 with no response whatsoever from the company who did the work.

As a last resort l will contact the head office on Tuesday as so far l've only been in touch with the local agent who did the work.

lightning said:

Sorry Sir, but l don't agree with you.

After several emails to the remapping company failed to get any thing done at all, not even advice on what to check, or an offer to reset it to standard, l had the Land Rover looked at by my local Indy who said it was seriously over fuelling.
They said it needed sorting as the excess diesel could possibly get into the engine oil.

After that l contacted the remapping company again but got no reply.

So l took it to Land Rover and got them to reset the ECU.
As the lndy could not do it.
They also hooked it up to their computer to check for any faults with sensors etc but none were found and no fault codes were stored.

So the remap did not work properly. I don't think l am "dripping" about is as l am down £500 with no response whatsoever from the company who did the work.

As a last resort l will contact the head office on Tuesday as so far l've only been in touch with the local agent who did the work.

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yawn, bore off

Seriously?

Your response is nothing short of ignorant TBH.

But it's nothing to do with you anyway, so leave it out.

However, l came on here for advice, and if those are your genuine thoughts then l will bear them in mind before contacting the company again.
Should l just sack it and move on?

I would speak to head office first see whats what. If not then name and shame.

lightning said:

Sorry Sir, but l don't agree with you.

After several emails to the remapping company failed to get any thing done at all, not even advice on what to check, or an offer to reset it to standard, l had the Land Rover looked at by my local Indy who said it was seriously over fuelling.
They said it needed sorting as the excess diesel could possibly get into the engine oil.

After that l contacted the remapping company again but got no reply.

So l took it to Land Rover and got them to reset the ECU.
As the lndy could not do it.
They also hooked it up to their computer to check for any faults with sensors etc but none were found and no fault codes were stored.

So the remap did not work properly. I don't think l am "dripping" about is as l am down £500 with no response whatsoever from the company who did the work.

As a last resort l will contact the head office on Tuesday as so far l've only been in touch with the local agent who did the work.

Click to expand...

If they wouldn't reply to you and you can demonstrate a paper trail requesting help from them and that you were forced to go to a main dealer who diagnosed a problem as a result of the remap then I think you do have a claim in there Mate so stick to your guns.

Yeah, l'll give 'em a chance and not "name and shame" them unless l get nowhere after exhausting all possibilities.

I am aware that nobody else has complained about these people, well not online anyway, so that's why l am not naming them right now.

Hi lightening, dId you get anywhere?