300TDI Dis

[Farmie]

I’ve got the chance of buying a R reg disco auto, which would free up my 110 defender for work, it ran out of mot last July and my mate just stopped using it, he never took it for an mot, he’s got a company truck, it’s done 92000 and ive had a quick look around and the body and doors are good, chassis looks good, it needs and egr removal kit and I think the air mass is playing up, head lining is coming down and some window electrics don’t work.
Is there any hidden places to look for corrosion, I can probably get it for 400 quid.
TIA

 

[Bantam1]

Has it got a sunroof?
If so check A and B pillars, cills, etc.
Worth checking rear chassis too.
400 quid? I'd do the checks when I got it home.

 

[dieseldog69]

Buy it, you can fix it up when you get it home.

Now as for any corrosion spots.

Inner front wheel arches, door posts (A,B & C pillars), sills like a bit of rot, if it is a 5 door then the rear wheel arches like to fester, the rear body cross member is another trouble spot as is the boot floor, chassis are very good and so far I've not seen that many basket cases that have not lived by the sea.

300Tdi auto will most likely be an EDC model so might have other problems but all can be solved with a little bit of patience and a small dose of cash.

Depends on what you want to do with it?

Green lanes? Daily driver? Monster off road machine on 35 inch super swampers running C303 portal axles and a retro fitted Cummins 6BT with a Spicer gearbox?

 

[Farmie]

I know from last year when I opened the rear door that its got a litt rust hole there, doors are perfect and door pillars externally are perfect and no blisters, it does have two sunroofs and they were sealed shut, a mate (not me), opened the rear one and that leaked and didn’t do the head lining any good, it does have a blister on the edge of an alpine seal,

 

[Farmie]

it will only be used for high days and holidays, family days out, wife has a polo as daily driver, it would free up the 300TDI 110 SW for me to use for work, so I can tow the digger and dumper about.

 

[Farmie]

What’s the best thing to do to get the headlining better, renovate or replace ?.

 

[dieseldog69]

What’s the best thing to do to get the headlining better, renovate or replace ?.

Renovate, roll of 6mm foam, spray on contact adhesive and a fabric of your choice, I did one a few years ago and glued the fabric to the foam (takes two peeps to stretch it over the flat foam and keep it reasonably taught while you lay it over it) then roll it up, spray the adhesive onto the headlining and slowly unroll the foam over the headlining and use a new foam roller to fully roll it down tight against the lining, trim off the excess and where the lights and sunroofs go, job done, fit it back up and enjoy.

Yes it is a bit fidly and no there is no magic fix.

 

[Magicgrotto]

Take it out ! take the liner off ! rub the foam off ! stone chip ! let dry put back in ! job sorted ! no more saaaagy roof !

 

[Farmie]

I’ve brought it , wish me luck lads, slightly disturbing bit was, he told me it used a little water, said he had it checked by his mechanic and it’s not the head gasket, I said, did he pressure test it ?, his reply was no.

 

[dieseldog69]

I’ve brought it , wish me luck lads, slightly disturbing bit was, he told me it used a little water, said he had it checked by his mechanic and it’s not the head gasket, I said, did he pressure test it ?, his reply was no.

So the very first thing you need to do is the head gasket and get the head tested too, the rest can wait.

 

[Farmie]

Would a pressure test be conclusive ?.

 

[dieseldog69]

Would be for cracks which would be your main concern, skimmed and pressure tested it would be good to go for another 100,000 miles.

If you are planning to keep it any length of time it will pay dividends to do it once and do it right, cost is not important as it will be spread over a long period.

 

[Marmaduke]

Inner wings, headlight surrounds and battery tray.

 

[Gazbo]

What’s the best thing to do to get the headlining better, renovate or replace ?.

As said already, but I pulled the headliner out of mine stripped off the whole cloth wire brushed the backing foam off the liner carcass and spray painted it with satin black in spray cans, any colour you fancy really, whole job cost $12 au, looks good and has lasted 7 years now.
Anyone here who has gone the route of having the head cloth renewed usually has it falling about their ears again within a few years, but a lot hotter and humid here seems to make the cloth drop off the foam backing more readily.

 

[Farmie]

Thank’s guy’s, I’ll won’t be picking her up for a couple of weeks, I’ll update you when I have got her home .

 

[Goc3k]

Sounds a steal leaky or not to me - good purchase!

Just to note in an effort to save unnecessary labor pulling the head off, a full leak down test in situ will point out exactly where pressure is being lost in an engine and on which cylinder, i.e bad valve, bad head gasket, bad ring sealing, cracked head, etc - if you are worried and it isn't obvious after basic checks where the issue lies. You can get bargain chinesey kits off fleabay that do the job well enough for 20-30 quidders, as long as you have a proper compressor on hand, a tiny 1hp jobby with a small tank will do. Several how-to vids on youtube if you need the help how to go about the test

Failing that I'd think any decent mechanic would crack it out in an hour / 90 mins, and that includes time for a brew and doodling out a report!

Keep us posted

 

[Farmie]

I think I’ve found the leak, dripping from water pump gasket, just noticed my defender doing it as well.

 

[Farmie]

Here are a few pics of her, she’s a bit cleaner now, going for an mot next Wednesday

 

[dieseldog69]

Not too shabby.

 

[Farmie]

No not too bad now that I’ve washed off the moss and green slime, I looked around the door pillars and there’s very little corrosion, having only had a 2a with corrosion on the door pillars at the bottom I only looked there, unfortunately I didn’t look at the top, the passenger A pillar at the top has a hole , is that a mot failure, it could be welded I think.