Defender 90 TD5

[Merz-Ben]

Hello all,

I'm new to the forum, but have been wrenching on and trading Rovers since I was 14.

Anyway, I just bought a '99 D90 TD5 LHD 5 speed (well, it is registered as a '72 Series III, but all of the electronics and other late model parts are there, so I suspect that it was imported as parts and assembled to rebuild a series III), and I am trying to decide if I should keep it or not. I wasn't really in the market for another Rover, but it was just calling my name! Anyone know where parts for the engine can be found in the U.S.? It is the newer electronic controlled turbo diesel, and I haven't seen any of them around. Honestly I love driving the thing and it gets awesome fuel milage, but if I can't get parts for it without getting them from England I may just sell it and stick with the petrol trucks. Any opinions on the TD5 turbo diesel in general?

Cheers,
Ben

[130CC]

I can buy parts here in Australia for my TD5 no surprise there before anyone comments, but on some of the parts the stealership has such a markup that it is stupid. So what's a guy to do hop on the net and buy from england or pay the Stealer. The postage and starter motor where cheaper, buy a few hundred dollars when I got them from the uk. And that was also after calling a few of the non stealer places here in aus. of course this is not possible on some of the large items and no good if you are in a hurry. sorry I know it does not help with buying in the US just thaught I would mention that it's not that bad buying from the UK and sometimes is cheaper.
Problems I have had of late. exhaust manifold leaking and the fuel preasure regulator leaking other that that I have had no issues (with the TD5) and thats after 160,000km on the clock. If your feul economy does start to suck check the regulator.
One of the big things to check on the TD5 is if there is oil in the wireing loom. this can be done by unpluging the loom at the ECU and checking the plug for oil. If it does leak then a new loom has to be installed, or you can pull the old one apart and clean it and reinstall, it sounds like a pain but the oil generaly enters at around the injector point in the harness and this is not far from the socket on the ecu, so you only need to clean from there down. Have fun and enjoy
Adam