Defender 110 - Major dust problems

Hello,

I recently purchased a Defender 110 (new) for use on a farm in Chile, where there is quite loose and dusty soil. I can barely use the car, since after 10 minutes of driving on gravel and dust roads, all passengers are coughing and full of dust. I cannot imagine that this is normal, since Landys, especially Defenders, are all over the world in all sorts of terrain, and most people seem to be able to cover longer distances with them

I am at a loss for an explanation, since I have never owned a Defender and have no reference.

Is this a normal problem of Defenders? What is the proper remedy?

I have attached a picture of the dust accumulation after 30min of driving on the dust roads

Thanks

Johann

Chile Defender said:

Hello,

I recently purchased a Defender 110 (new) for use on a farm in Chile, where there is quite loose and dusty soil. I can barely use the car, since after 10 minutes of driving on gravel and dust roads, all passengers are coughing and full of dust. I cannot imagine that this is normal, since Landys, especially Defenders, are all over the world in all sorts of terrain, and most people seem to be able to cover longer distances with them

I am at a loss for an explanation, since I have never owned a Defender and have no reference.

Is this a normal problem of Defenders? What is the proper remedy?

I have attached a picture of the dust accumulation after 30min of driving on the dust roads

Thanks

Johann

Click to expand...

hi and :welcome2: sorry bud you will have to be a bit more discriptive and maybe post a picy that can be deciphered as dont now about the rest of the guys on here but i cant for the life of me figure out what the photo's about
sure we will be able to help when we can see where that photo's suppose to be

Come on Buckshot, I thought you were experts Given, my descriptive photo looked more like a photo quiz than anything else.
I have attached better ones of the back of the vehicle. Sorry, but at the time being I do not have better pictures. The layer of dust visible in the photo is spread evenly throughout the whole vehicle. Dont mind the shards of glass on one of the pictures, that was just my rear window that decided to crumble while driving on the highway

I have also added some pictures of the door seals, which seem very sparse, are these normal?

My theory is that either the ventilation system is not sealing when turned off (i never turn it on), or the door seals are not good, or the little drainage holes in the floor are letting the dust in. Otherwise I cannot imagine how dust could enter the cabin....

Opinions welcome,

thanks in advance,

Johann

Negative pressure in the cabin could well be sucking air and dust in via door seals etc. Try letting the Landy breathe! If you have the ventilation set at re circulate all the time this will not help.. its okay for short periods. Give it a try

thanks for the quick replies.
MrJC, do you mean to have the ventilation on? just showed my brother the post, he said he used the ventilation, but the same problem remained... still dust.


Johann

Its the only suggestion I have.... just open the heater vents not the dash ones. Try it with the fan on low just to circulate air and create some air pressure inside. Seems your dust is being sucked in through any little gap in seals. They look fine to me.
We suffer with water leaks... dust is rare.
Maybe someone who has experience with dusty climates on here can help. I just tried a google search... one suggestion is to open the dash vents a little! Air pressure is mentioned and opening the front vents stops it being sucked in via the rear door.

PS... thats the first rust free rear crossmember I have ever seen! The climate is good for somethings.

Chile Defender said:

thanks for the quick replies.
MrJC, do you mean to have the ventilation on? just showed my brother the post, he said he used the ventilation, but the same problem remained... still dust.


Johann

Click to expand...

can say cd that your door seal picture of front door look the sam as my 2006 td5 and cant say i get dust in that sort of levels in mine.(mine is a 90)
but as jc says have the heater set to vents open but no fan on (yours is a puma i take it 2.4tdci so the heater is very differant to mine
might be caused by having a window/s open drawing it through
dunno something else to try keep us informed

Thanks,

will keep you posted, you might have to wait til december though for the first answers

cheers,

johann

I just talked to a mechanic who led an expedition in Argentina once, here is his advice for reference:

1) take the spare wheel off the back door and mount it on the roof
2) reinforce door seals
3) Install finer filter in the heating air intake on the front right fender
4) extend rear mudflaps
5) seal off the holes under front seats (by battery)
6) increase the pretension of the door hinges
7) install finer filter for the rear vents at the back windows.. does somebody know where they are? he said they were in the headliner...

This is my last bout to keep my landy, if I cannot get this problem under control, I am going to have to buy a HiLux or something similar, because I can't take clients along in the car at status quo... so keep your fingers crossed.

Best regards,

Johann

Chile Defender said:

7) install finer filter for the rear vents at the back windows.. does somebody know where they are? he said they were in the headliner...

Click to expand...

I assume he means these:

Green Bob said:

I assume he means these:

Click to expand...

sounds plausible my Defender 110 2,4 TD4 SW does not have those... are they placed somewhere else on the newer models?

J

I remember reading something in the owners manual about recommending that the bulkhead vents should be opened when driving in dusty conditions, the equalises the pressure. This is no help to you though as I guess yours does not have bulkhead flaps being a new model.

sounds like an unofficial "Land Rover Sand Ingress manual" in the making....lol
from my experience...the amount of dust reduces when the spare tyre in mounted on the bonnet.
cheers
Adi