300tdi life expectancy

Looking at a 96 300tdi disco with 209,000 klms on the clock. Everything was
looking pretty good until I started to hear stories about rebuilds being the
norm after 300,000. The vehicle appears well looked after and has
"supposedly" had oil changes every 5,000 klms.

I'd like to keep it for a few years and would hpe to get another 200k out of
it but if odds are it will need major surgery in the near future the I'll
opt out.

I would have hoped a well maintained diesel engine would go at least 400,000
preferable up to 500,000. I know its a relatively small engine pushing a
big car but dont know how much that changes things with this particular
engine.

The vehicle is at a good enough price to factor usual high mileage
maintenance but not an engine rebuild!

Any feedback much appreciated.

Maurice
Hervey Bay Australia

On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 09:39:32 +1000, "Maurice M"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Looking at a 96 300tdi disco with 209,000 klms on the clock. Everything was
>looking pretty good until I started to hear stories about rebuilds being the
>norm after 300,000. The vehicle appears well looked after and has
>"supposedly" had oil changes every 5,000 klms.
>
>I'd like to keep it for a few years and would hpe to get another 200k out of
>it but if odds are it will need major surgery in the near future the I'll
>opt out.
>
>I would have hoped a well maintained diesel engine would go at least 400,000
>preferable up to 500,000. I know its a relatively small engine pushing a
>big car but dont know how much that changes things with this particular
>engine.
>
>The vehicle is at a good enough price to factor usual high mileage
>maintenance but not an engine rebuild!
>
>Any feedback much appreciated.
>
>Maurice
>Hervey Bay Australia
>

Friend of mine has 220,000 miles on his 300TDi - no rebuilds, no major
maintenance. Just servicing and a new gearbox. Still going strong
with good oil pressure.

It's been well looked after and gently (but not too gently) driven,
lots of motorway mileage. YMMV!

HTH



--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 23:42:41 +0000, Tim Hobbs wrote:

> On Tue, 1 Feb 2005 09:39:32 +1000, "Maurice M"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>Looking at a 96 300tdi disco with 209,000 klms on the clock. Everything was
>>looking pretty good until I started to hear stories about rebuilds being the
>>norm after 300,000. The vehicle appears well looked after and has
>>"supposedly" had oil changes every 5,000 klms.
>>
>>I'd like to keep it for a few years and would hpe to get another 200k out of
>>it but if odds are it will need major surgery in the near future the I'll
>>opt out.
>>
>>I would have hoped a well maintained diesel engine would go at least 400,000
>>preferable up to 500,000. I know its a relatively small engine pushing a
>>big car but dont know how much that changes things with this particular
>>engine.
>>
>>The vehicle is at a good enough price to factor usual high mileage
>>maintenance but not an engine rebuild!
>>
>>Any feedback much appreciated.
>>
>>Maurice
>>Hervey Bay Australia
>>
>
> Friend of mine has 220,000 miles on his 300TDi - no rebuilds, no major
> maintenance. Just servicing and a new gearbox. Still going strong
> with good oil pressure.
>
> It's been well looked after and gently (but not too gently) driven,
> lots of motorway mileage. YMMV!
>
> HTH

My old man has a 300tdi Disco with ~320,000k on the clock, no major
problems (replaced the water pump recently) It had the head done at
~200k but the bottom end has not been touched. Runs great. The local
Landrover specialists suggested the rings may want doing soon, but
bearings are still good. AFAIK there is not much you can do with a deisel
as far as pre-buy checks go, maybe a compression test? From what I have
heard, the gearbox will give you trouble before the motor does...

Steve.

Hey Tim ,What the #$%* is
YMMV! ?

On or around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:50:00 GMT, "Simon Mills" <smil2921remove
this [email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>Hey Tim ,What the #$%* is
>YMMV! ?
>

I know someone who reckons it's "You May Masturbate Vigorously", but
originally I think it's supposed to be "Your Mileage May Vary".


--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"Quos deus vult perdere, prius dementat" Euripedes, quoted in
Boswell's "Johnson".

On or around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 17:43:41 +1300, steve Vialle
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>
>My old man has a 300tdi Disco with ~320,000k on the clock, no major
>problems (replaced the water pump recently) It had the head done at
>~200k but the bottom end has not been touched. Runs great. The local
>Landrover specialists suggested the rings may want doing soon, but
>bearings are still good. AFAIK there is not much you can do with a deisel
>as far as pre-buy checks go, maybe a compression test? From what I have
>heard, the gearbox will give you trouble before the motor does...

well, there's a couple of things.

try to see it with a cold engine, it should fire up immediately. If it
needs extra preheat then it may be getting tired. Our 300, from stone cold,
fires after about 2 revolutions, *without* waiting for the preheater light
to go out first. If you wait, it fires on the first kick, pretty much.

with the engine hot, pull the oil filler lid and check for excessive
crankcase pressure, manifested by a lot of blowing from the hole.

Check the engine pulls well when hot. Should pull strongly from about 2000
to about 4000 revs, and it should rev free to at least 4500. Ours goes to
about 5000, but that's cos I've tweaked it...

with the engine hot and having made sure it has plenty of oil, floor the
throttle from idle and run it up to maximum revs, then let it idle for about
6 seconds and repeat, do this 2 or 3 times. Have an assistant look for
smoke. You'll likely get some black smoke the first time, but you shouldn't
get much on repeating it. In the UK this will give you an idea of whether
it'll pass the smoke test in the MOT... dunno if Oz has that, but it gives
an indication of what shape the engine's in.

Probably best to ask the seller before you do that one, I guess. If he says
"no way", then you'd best be suspicious. It won't hurt and engine in good
condition.

on the road, find a good downhill if possible and run down it foot-off in
3rd or 4th, then apply boot at the bottom and look for blue smoke. Blue
smoke on over-run means shagged rings/bores. A puff of smoke when
accelerating again is probably OK, but big clouds of it mean it's burning
oil.

--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.fsnet.co.uk my opinions are just that
"Remember that to change your mind and follow him who sets you right
is to be none the less free than you were before."
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180), from Meditations, VIII.16

On Tue, 01 Feb 2005 07:32:16 +0000, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On or around Tue, 01 Feb 2005 05:50:00 GMT, "Simon Mills" <smil2921remove
>this [email protected]> enlightened us thusly:
>
>>Hey Tim ,What the #$%* is
>>YMMV! ?
>>
>
>I know someone who reckons it's "You May Masturbate Vigorously", but
>originally I think it's supposed to be "Your Mileage May Vary".

Delete as applicable!


--

Tim Hobbs

'58 Series 2 88" aka "Stig"
'77 101FC Ambulance aka "Burrt"
'03 Volvo V70

My Landies? http://www.seriesii.co.uk
Barcoding? http://www.bartec-systems.com
Tony Luckwill web archive at http://www.luckwill.com

I drive a 96 300tdi in The Netherlands going up to 280.000 km. The
engine is going OK, 1st to 2nd synchro is out already 100 Kkm annoing
but nothing serious. Further no other signs of gearbox wear, the clutch
(still the first) is suspicious now but also still OK.

Indeed some costs are appearing now, the waterpump has been changed
recently, rear disks, some small bolds and nuts all over and the spanner
roll needs replacement for the 2nd time.

Remember, a Landrover also our great Disco's always need some work to be
done, but are alway reparable...

Jurjen


Maurice M wrote:

> Looking at a 96 300tdi disco with 209,000 klms on the clock. Everything was
> looking pretty good until I started to hear stories about rebuilds being the
> norm after 300,000. The vehicle appears well looked after and has
> "supposedly" had oil changes every 5,000 klms.
>
> I'd like to keep it for a few years and would hpe to get another 200k out of
> it but if odds are it will need major surgery in the near future the I'll
> opt out.
>
> I would have hoped a well maintained diesel engine would go at least 400,000
> preferable up to 500,000. I know its a relatively small engine pushing a
> big car but dont know how much that changes things with this particular
> engine.
>
> The vehicle is at a good enough price to factor usual high mileage
> maintenance but not an engine rebuild!
>
> Any feedback much appreciated.
>
> Maurice
> Hervey Bay Australia
>
>

--
The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all
progress depends on the unreasonable man.

G.B. Shaw