Thank goodness that no-one was badly injured in these frightening incidents. Add my name to the list of TD5 cylinder head complaints, the only way to get Land Rover (or I guess most other manufacturers) to react will be to a "class action". It also keeps the legal expenses down.
For 3 years my 2003 TD5A Auto D2 leaked diesel fuel into the engine oil. I fitted new injector o-rings and copper washers, no help. I fitted 5 new fuel-injector-units, no help. I kept motoring by changing the engine oil and filters frequently.
Finally earlier this year I fitted a new Turner-supplied Spanish AMC cylinder head, and the old girl now runs like a dream. Land Rover have known about this problem for many years, just explore all the other LR Forums.
Some people have threatened legal action, and have received a good-will gesture compensation contribution. Others have received nothing at all. "We do not know of this problem" LR says.
I would love to know how many replacement Genuine Land Rover and Turner supplied AMC TD5 cylinder heads have been fitted, how can we find out ?
I think the TD5 / TD5A is a superb engine, it develops its torque at low engine speed, revs well if required, sounds nice, is easy to service, and runs beautifully on a long run, around town, or off road.
There are many (I guess most of the 350,000 approx production run) that have covered large mileages without any troubles, but we tend not to hear about them. We do hear of the relatively few that give problems, and what problems.
Cracked or porous cylinder heads, plastic head dowels causing head creep, loose oil pump sprocket bolts, leaking fuel coolers, leaking fuel pressure regulators, broken exhaust manifold studs (mostly due to engine tuning though), engine oil seeping into the ECU through its wiring, hydraulic pipes coming apart, front prop-shaft joint failure, suspension air bags leaking, I guess I have left some out, but that's enough for now.
It appears to me the later 2003 onwards EU3 TD5A cylinder heads are more prone to cracking and porous problems, so Land Rover seem to have made the problem worse, not better as time went by.
But we still love our D2s, warts n all, and it would be nice if we could get some recompense for our patience and loyalty, so please add me to that list. I too have still got my old leaky TD5A cylinder head, in fact I have two - but that's another sad story. "Make them into coffee tables" the wife says, "If Top Gear can do it - so can we".
