Removing the cylinder head
THE Td5 engine fitted to Discovery 2 models up to 2004, and to Defender models up to 2007, was the last engine designed and built by Land Rover prior to later developments by Jaguar Land Rover such as the Ingenium engine family.
The Td5 engine has shown itself to be a long-lived and reliable unit. With its mechanical strength and electronic control systems it has proved to be highly tunable in comparison to the earlier Land Rover engines. Despite early concerns about the electronic engine management systems, which were considered to be less reliable and more difficult to repair in the field than the mechanical injection systems of earlier engines, the Td5 electronics have proved to be highly reliable.
It is true that issues do arise with the Td5 engine (as is the case for pretty much every motor vehicle manufacturer) and early Td5 engines suffered a couple of isolated mechanical failures. One was the sudden and complete failure of the oil pump drive, the other being cylinder head ‘shuffle’ caused by weak retaining studs (manufactured from nylon, rather than steel).
