What have I let myself into ?

So I bought myself a 94plate 300tdi 110 hardtop
Love it but I'm beginning to understand what defender ownership is all about !
I have so far ..leak from transfer box,leak of engine oil,source unknown yet
Sticking ignition barrel,leaky power steering fluid,clunk on taking up drive which I knew about on buying,dodgy sender from thermostat,and no working heater,oh and the windows drop down whenever they feel like it

check the rear drive member and half shaft splines

I have no heater too, but I have a good fleece. Think of the sabfaction of fixing it all good luck.

I quite like a bit of car mechanics although it's years since I last did any,looks like I might have to learn again and quickly !!
It will keep me busy !!

All part of the fun!
I've had mine 6 weeks and I'm gobsmacked at how much I've had to do!

I've had mine about six years now. Once you have finished all those jobs you will find you will have to go round again in a few months time and sort out all those oil leaks again. Oh, keep an eye on the diffs. They leak also.

steven walker said:

I quite like a bit of car mechanics although it's years since I last did any,looks like I might have to learn again and quickly !!
It will keep me busy !!

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Just keep going through it. They are a fairly simple vehicle, and just doing the jobs as they appear you will get on top of it in the end. Clunk in the drive train should be fixable. don't worry too much about oil leaks, rattles etc unless they are severe. When these were designed and built vehicles were not so refined as modern ones.

The way I look at it is my wife's car is new and depreciates where as mine is a tratter which doesn't depreciate but cost money and time to keep on the road. If it doesn't leak oil then there's none in it. Sort the heater out though as mine is great and starts cooking your feet after a while, it's also worth lining your hard top as this makes a difference to the heat to

Marmaduke said:

The way I look at it is my wife's car is new and depreciates where as mine is a tratter which doesn't depreciate but cost money and time to keep on the road. If it doesn't leak oil then there's none in it. Sort the heater out though as mine is great and starts cooking your feet after a while, it's also worth lining your hard top as this makes a difference to the heat to

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Good point! Landrovers generally do hold their value well, and will last just about for ever if you keep on replacing the bits. And many older models are actually increasing in value at the moment/

Thanks for all the replys ,there is some really good information around on this forum on how to sort the niggles!
I think I really should start by fixing the ignition barrel first as I can see me getting stuck somewhere before long ,took a bit of twisting and turning today to get it to turn

steven walker said:

Thanks for all the replys ,there is some really good information around on this forum on how to sort the niggles!

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@Nig

steven walker said:

Thanks for all the replys ,there is some really good information around on this forum on how to sort the niggles!
I think I really should start by fixing the ignition barrel first as I can see me getting stuck somewhere before long ,took a bit of twisting and turning today to get it to turn

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Get the temp sender sorted, cos u don't want a boil on. Having said that, I think the 300Tdi has a sender in a daft place and so doesn't overheating very efficiently. Could be wrong, going back years when I read that.

The Mad Hat Man said:

@Nig

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LoL
Steven, as turboman said if you make a list of problems you can go through them and simple to work on.
110 is a great model and 300tdi is the best enjun
Its a labour of love with a great community of nutters

I've had a bit of a play around with the sender wire for temp gauge today and it seems to now be working!! Although it's only just now moving off the cold it's going nowhere near halfway on the gauge..is this normal??
Theres plenty of coolant in

Stat might be stuck open.

I think I will order a new stat anyway,I've also found out today I have no horn working!!

Get some pictures of the ol' girl up, everyone likes pictures .

I've had my Defender for 6 months now and the parts are considerably cheaper than I was expecting. Only problem being that you require more of them to keep everything ship shaped in comparison to a normal car.

My Defender would never get up to temperature when the outside temperature was below 10 degrees, even after 13 miles/30 minutes of driving. Fitted a new thermostat and it now gets to the mid point on the gauge after a maximum of 2 miles so far although I'm sure it may extend slightly when it gets cold.

Marmaduke said:

The way I look at it is my wife's car is new and depreciates where as mine is a tratter which doesn't depreciate but cost money and time to keep on the road. If it doesn't leak oil then there's none in it. Sort the heater out though as mine is great and starts cooking your feet after a while, it's also worth lining your hard top as this makes a difference to the heat to

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If it doesn't leak oil, there's none in it!