bvudzichena
Extreme Landy Fan
Two weeks ago I saw an advert for a 1996 110 300TDi station wagon in our local Junk Mail - that's similar to the UK's Exchange & Mart.
The guy didn't want much for the truck, so I took it for a test drive and did all the usual checks, gave him his money and transferred the truck to my name. I need to point out that it came with a roadworthy certificate - SA version of MOT.
Today I finally got around to spending some time with the new Defender.
The first thing I noticed when I opened to store room was the huge puddle of oil under the truck. I also noticed oil dripping from the hub seals on two weels.
After scratching around and checking oil levels I realised there has a serious leak in the transfer box. I filled the transfer box up and tried to start the truck.
I could sit here for the next hour typing up my tale of woe, but the short of it is:
The truck's been clocked. The speedo says 150,000km. I reckon it's close to 500,000km.
The engine's a gonner. He's been putting gear oil (EP90) in with the engine oil to keep the compression up. After I drained the sludge and put proper oil in I could hear the pistons slapping. There's now also a pretty nasty knock. It could be a con rod, it could be something worse...
The transfer box needs seals. Not a problem.
The back diff leaks oil and needs seals. Not a problem.
The hubs need to be rebuilt.
There's probably much more....
I could rebuild the engine, but the parts would cost me more than I paid for the truck.
I could buy a good engine out of a Defender that's gone onto it's roof and fit it. That would cost me less, but still more than the price that I paid for the truck.
I could sell the whole lot "as is" to the scrapper for more than I paid for it.
If we look at this in a cold, hard financial manner, I should sell it, take the money and run, but my heart rules my head when it comes to these trucks...
Do I fix or do I sell?
110 station wagons are as prolific in SA as 90's are in the UK.
What do I do?
The guy didn't want much for the truck, so I took it for a test drive and did all the usual checks, gave him his money and transferred the truck to my name. I need to point out that it came with a roadworthy certificate - SA version of MOT.
Today I finally got around to spending some time with the new Defender.
The first thing I noticed when I opened to store room was the huge puddle of oil under the truck. I also noticed oil dripping from the hub seals on two weels.
After scratching around and checking oil levels I realised there has a serious leak in the transfer box. I filled the transfer box up and tried to start the truck.
I could sit here for the next hour typing up my tale of woe, but the short of it is:
The truck's been clocked. The speedo says 150,000km. I reckon it's close to 500,000km.
The engine's a gonner. He's been putting gear oil (EP90) in with the engine oil to keep the compression up. After I drained the sludge and put proper oil in I could hear the pistons slapping. There's now also a pretty nasty knock. It could be a con rod, it could be something worse...
The transfer box needs seals. Not a problem.
The back diff leaks oil and needs seals. Not a problem.
The hubs need to be rebuilt.
There's probably much more....
I could rebuild the engine, but the parts would cost me more than I paid for the truck.
I could buy a good engine out of a Defender that's gone onto it's roof and fit it. That would cost me less, but still more than the price that I paid for the truck.
I could sell the whole lot "as is" to the scrapper for more than I paid for it.
If we look at this in a cold, hard financial manner, I should sell it, take the money and run, but my heart rules my head when it comes to these trucks...
Do I fix or do I sell?
110 station wagons are as prolific in SA as 90's are in the UK.
What do I do?