New Defender

Just recently bought myself a defender hard top with county pack on a 2005 plate, what should I be aware of with regard to problems, are most of the little niggles in the early TD5's ironed out by now...?

I'm a complete landie newbie, so expect some daft questions...ie noticed a lot of condensation under the rubber mats footwell and rear is this normal or is something dodgy. Also do they have any chassis protection from new, is it best to get them waxoyled if not?

Glad to be here...landies rule

Expect water leaks into the interior and lots of them!!! Very difficult to fix and my opinion on this is.........................If its water tight then it'll float and lose traction while wading so its supposed to leak!

Chassis has protection but it's not very good and will rust from the inside out, the chassis has lots of nooks and crannies that store water and mud so if you're going to protect it, don't just waxoyl the outside but fill it up with the stuff! especially inside the rear crossmember and outriggers.

Thanks for that info bud, what changes were made to the defender range after 2002, I read something there was some minor tweaks done...?

How do GD.I have a 2002 CSW and as far as I know in this year the dash was altered so now you have the central console where the radio is etc,and the rear bulkhead,behind the seats was removed and replaced with a tubular torsion bar which means that you can move your seat a bit further back.Feel free to correct me on any of this anyone.Mine leaks too!.Fill it with silicone!
Just a quick check,take the plastic wing top cover off on the passenger side and in the bottom is a drain hole.Make sure its clear cause if it fills up it can get into the heater.I put a small piece of tube into the drain hole to keep it open.Good luck mate.
Richard.

Thanks yorkshirelad, was there also changes to the heater and rear door hinges as well?

from MY2002 and beyond, it's a 1 piece rear door. reinforced. doesn't rust so easily as compared to the older ones. 2005 and beyond, you have nice curves on the top corners of the front doors instead of the crude wielding before.

yes, they all leak. usually from the front cowl vents, open them up from the inside handles, put a piece of paper there, close it. Wait till it rains then check, if it's wet, change the cowl vent seals. you may also want to check the edges of the rubber where the windshield frame meets the bulk head. there's more, the place where you find the washer jet, could be another source of leak.

rear can be quite a leaky problem to fix, mine's still leaking but depending on the angle which the car is parked. have the entire body silicon where it meets the rear tub. stops 50% of the leaks.