Towing with 300tdi discovery

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fergusontom

Active Member
Posts
276
Location
Stevenage, Hertfordshire
Hi everyone

I towed a big canvas sided trailer yesterday which is about 18ft long 6ft wide and 10ft tall with a sloping front, it was empty but still goes about 700/800kg.

As I was towing everytime i come to a hill the disco was gutless, i changed down before the hill to 4th but still even by the top of it my speed had dropped from 60 to 50 and this was with my foot planted. The hills were about 1/2 - 3/4 a mile long but not massively steep.

I was a bit disappointed in the disco tbh but am i expecting too much? On the flat it werent too bad and acclerated up to 45/50mph no problem but much passed that it took a long time.

I was thinking of doing the fuel pump tweak as need the increased power if this is the normal. It has already had new lift pump, sediment collector cleaned, regularly serviced etc.

So is this normal or should i expect better from the disco?

Thanks Tom
 
It sounds about normal that you can't expect it to keep that speed while going up hill especially with towing my slows to about that on hills normally.
 
Thanks gents, sounds a pretty normal situation then. I think it will be having the fuel pump tweak and see how i get on. My old 2.7 Terrano used to tow at 60mph constantly with our fully laden Ifor granted its not as tall as this trailer but still would have expected a bit better from the disco. Will let you know how i get on with the tweak.
 
They are heavy motors. They will pull anything but you can't expect them to tow fast! I tow horses in a trailer behind mine and as long as I keep the revs above 1700, it'll just keep pulling. Towing animals, I won't go over 50 mph. If I go up a hill, I sometimes have to drop into 4th or 3rd. It might slow down, but it'll keep going.
 
fergusontom said:
Hi everyone

I towed a big canvas sided trailer yesterday which is about 18ft long 6ft wide and 10ft tall with a sloping front, it was empty but still goes about 700/800kg.

As I was towing everytime i come to a hill the disco was gutless, i changed down before the hill to 4th but still even by the top of it my speed had dropped from 60 to 50 and this was with my foot planted. The hills were about 1/2 - 3/4 a mile long but not massively steep.

I was a bit disappointed in the disco tbh but am i expecting too much? On the flat it werent too bad and acclerated up to 45/50mph no problem but much passed that it took a long time.

I was thinking of doing the fuel pump tweak as need the increased power if this is the normal. It has already had new lift pump, sediment collector cleaned, regularly serviced etc.

So is this normal or should i expect better from the disco?

Thanks Tom
Click to expand...

That is why you have a choice of 5 gears, down shift when need keep rpms in the sweet spot.

Why do you think lorrys have 12-13 speed transmission? To select the right gear. Surley you can not expect to up and down hills with out dropping a gear or 2
 
Years ago now we changed from a 200tdi disco to a 300tdi disco, and we'll never forget how gutless the 300 tdi was in comparison!

Whether that had anything to do with the individual engine, and a fault/worn part somewhere we'll never know, but we found it necessary to use 2nd gear towing two horses on the 15% hill near us.

Tom
 
I tow horses with our TD5 and it's the same. 50 is my limit with horses on the back but more like 40 on twisty bumpy country roads. On long hills it is necesary to just select a gear that gives you 2000 rpm on a light throttle (often 3rd) and just let it run up at that speed. 2 horses + tack + trailer is around 2500 kg, so 5 ton train weight, and you aint going anywhere fast!!!!
 
I had a similar experience in my missus' disco yesterday. I am used to towing in my 110 which has a tweaked 3.9 V8, so when I started to pull away in her 200 tdi auto, with 3.5t on the drawbar, it felt as though I had left the handbrake on. The diesel Disco & Defender are designed to pull heavy loads at a moderate speed. There are many vehicles that will tow a light trailer faster than them, but not much can match them when you start towing over 3t.
 
Mine does the same when towing, but that's mostly 'cos I have larger diameter tyres on which raise the gearing. Keep meaning to get a Defender transfer box or swap gearing somehow to suit it more!

Might get me speedo reading properly too .. ;)

When it was standard it just didn't ..
 
Paul D said:
Mine does the same when towing, but that's mostly 'cos I have larger diameter tyres on which raise the gearing. Keep meaning to get a Defender transfer box or swap gearing somehow to suit it more!

Might get me speedo reading properly too .. ;)

When it was standard it just didn't ..
Click to expand...

I have a fender tranny box but its not in great health lol
 
Thanks for the advice and pointers, sorry for the delay in getting back on here I moved house last week so have not had an internet since i come into work today. I decided to do the pump tweak and it made a massive difference and made towing the big trailer a lot better experience and it was only on the long hills were the speed dropped from 60 to 55mph so a lot better than before considering it also had the contents of my house in the trailer this time round.

I was put off doing the pump tweak thinking it might cause damage but to be honest the disco seemed a lot happier and my foot was not planted to the floor all the time to keep up with normal motorway speeds.
 
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