Early Discovery: Am I being daft?

[2MB]

Aye seven seats. Unfortunately the cubby box's original hinges have failed but the PO fixed them with some sticky strips.

Will check the rad base, thank you

[willswitchengage]

Colleague is obsessed with Defenders and I suggested one of these as he is fed up of his 110 TDI being so sluggish. Said these are more 'car like' and therefore refined but still beset with the same problems (rust, bits of the engine breaking, rubbish transmission)

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Whats the problem with TD5 discos?

 

Do the 300tdi have a lap belt or 3 point in the middle?

 

Turning circle bad?

[dollywobbler]

Whats the problem with TD5 discos?

 

 

Oh gawd. Where to start. Engines that commit suicide in many different ways. Wiring looms inside the engine which allow oil to leak THROUGH the main wiring loom (and sometimes into the main ECU). Absolutely hideous chassis rot - far worse than the Disco 1. Air suspension failures. ACE handling failures (an Activa-esque hydraulic roll-cancelling system. Anti-roll bars are better!). Electronic issues. 

 

However, they sound absolutely magnificent and are very pleasant to drive. Neighbours has covered many, many miles. Though this has cost many, many thousands of pounds.

[twosmoke300]

Don't forget the horrible drive by wire throttle and terrible low down response . Jerky baby

[Uncle Jimmy]

Answer- yes.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Very.

[Uncle Jimmy]

That sump plug looks like Toyah Wilcox.

Or Gaz Top...

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Oh gawd. Where to start. Engines that commit suicide in many different ways. Wiring looms inside the engine which allow oil to leak THROUGH the main wiring loom (and sometimes into the main ECU). Absolutely hideous chassis rot - far worse than the Disco 1. Air suspension failures. ACE handling failures (an Activa-esque hydraulic roll-cancelling system. Anti-roll bars are better!). Electronic issues.

 

However, they sound absolutely magnificent and are very pleasant to drive. Neighbours has covered many, many miles. Though this has cost many, many thousands of pounds.

Jesus. Maybe not then!

[John F]

The 2nd gear synchro failure is common on the LT77 gear box, the R380 (fitted to the 1994 onwards 300tdi's is less prone to the problem.

However, while mine does crunch, you learn to live with it to the point that you can go months without any noise at all, unless the 'box is totally worn out.  You simply can't rush the gear change in a Disco- they are more light truck than car.

 

They have their weaknesses.  But this is counteracted to a point with an absolutely excellent spares backup and very cheap parts prices.  Every Land Rover owner knows the peril of 'blue box' parts but if you're careful and can do the work yourself, you can run a diesel on a very modest budget.

 

Glad to see you've found one 2MB!!

 

2nd gear synchro failure is *endemic* with the 300 TDi's R380 box. If anything, the LT77 is less prone to it.

[sierraman]

I've seen loads at under a grand but all of them 'needing a small amount of welding'... I'd have a feeling as soon as they saw sight of the grinder, a huge welding job would beckon, given they rust everywhere.

[gdhaydock]

The "small amount of welding" maybe enough to grab another years MOT, but will end up being the same the year after.

 

I've had my current 300tdi for about 10 years, the first few years it had MOT type patches welded on and holes filled in etc, but kept needing more of the same.

 

I bit the bullet this year and have had the boot floor, wheel arches, sills, interior floor, front footwells, front inner wings, rear crossmember and all body mounts cut out fully and replaced. I don't weld and don't have the patience / inclination to learn how. Fortunately I have a good friend who is a professional welder with a lot of disco welding experience.

 

The sills are now made of substantial pieces of box section, the rest of the metalwork is 3 or 4mm steel. There were over 80 man hours went into the work and the cost (even at "mates rates" was a lot)

 

Do I regret it?? Of course not ....... Despite spending 3 or 4 times the cars book value, I now know it's structurally solid and won't need much doing in that department for a few years.

 

To look at it beforehand, other than a bit of bubbling & the odd crunchy bit, it looked fine .....once the trim was stripped out and the metal attacked with the descaling gun, there was not a lot left. I'll dig the photos out.

 

Having seen my mate working on others and giving them the same treatment, most discos will be like this. There are the odd exceptions if you can find a low mileage one that's never been used in the wet, but take any ebay adverts that say "all the welding has been done" with a massive pinch of salt, it will likely mean that "some welding / patching was completed for the previous MOT"

[sierraman]

Badly tacked in place over rust followed by copious seam sealer then underseal job for most then.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. I looked at a 300Tdi that was described as "all welding done." It certainly had been. Very badly. They wanted top dollar as well. No thanks!

 

All this is making me want a Disco again. They are utterly ridiculous vehicles.

[brickwall]

TD5 Discos are purely pot luck when you buy. It'll either be the best thing you ever bought or you'll roll it off the cliff into the quarry due to everything going bonkers. A Discovery 2 has to be in V8, of course.

 

Oh, and springs.

[2MB]

Yet to find any corrosion related horror stories underneath. Fully aware it cou have rotted away by winter. Worst thing I've found so far is a split boot where the driveshaft meets the near side front wheel, revealing a large ball on full lock. Noticed some noise from that corner as well at low speeds, which could be related.

Also, just been out in it for a short drive and came back to see that the PAS reservoir had pissed fluid all down the grille, presumably out of the pressure relief (?) hole in the cap. Anyone had this happen to them?

[2MB]

Bonus fleet shot

[John F]

^ wow, I'm impressed by the grip on those tyres...!

[dieselassist]

thats the front bowl/ball swivel joint - no boot there normally - theres a seal inboard of it, which has let go it seems,  n is weeping some fluid - gearoil - the sockets have a top fill square plug on top the socket, n drain plug at the bottom- again square shape - you'll probably find it completely empty on undoing the bottom drain plug...

 

Mine has a power steering leak at the pump, I think - I just top it up occasionally; the discos are known for their weak p/s pump's n power boxes...

[2MB]

Thanks for that info dieselassist, saved me a fruitless wild goose chase. I'll strip it down and change the seals, just seemed odd that bare metal wasn't protected

[2MB]

Quick update on on the disco. I think it's possibly a good'un. Been abused daily by me since the Mrs became too pregnant to climb up to the drivers seat, an since I lost my job that came

With a van 2 out of 4 weeks it has become a proper multi purpose vehicle, carrying huge loads of bricks, firewood and shit to the tip. Gets about 30mpg on 60/40 veg diesel mix now it's dropped cold, and is quite a laugh to bumble about in. However, the dreaded MOT is looming, so there could be the need for a touch of welding.

One thing I know will fail is the handbrake that miraculously ceased to have sufficient effect a couple of days ago. It's a weird one: when you release the lever it springs back up 3 clicks without engaging. It did this before but I adjusted the cable and it cured the issue for a while, but there's no adjustment left there and the lever hits the top of its travel before doing very much braking.

I'm guessing the cable might need replacing and/or the drum itself adjusting. Does anyone have any experience of doing this? Had a look On a few LR forums but they seem to contradict each other.

[John F]

2MB, on 12 Jan 2016 - 9:57 PM, said:

Quick update on on the disco. I think it's possibly a good'un. Been abused daily by me since the Mrs became too pregnant to climb up to the drivers seat, an since I lost my job that came

With a van 2 out of 4 weeks it has become a proper multi purpose vehicle, carrying huge loads of bricks, firewood and shit to the tip. Gets about 30mpg on 60/40 veg diesel mix now it's dropped cold, and is quite a laugh to bumble about in. However, the dreaded MOT is looming, so there could be the need for a touch of welding.

One thing I know will fail is the handbrake that miraculously ceased to have sufficient effect a couple of days ago. It's a weird one: when you release the lever it springs back up 3 clicks without engaging. It did this before but I adjusted the cable and it cured the issue for a while, but there's no adjustment left there and the lever hits the top of its travel before doing very much braking.

I'm guessing the cable might need replacing and/or the drum itself adjusting. Does anyone have any experience of doing this? Had a look On a few LR forums but they seem to contradict each other.

 

Servicing the handbrake is fairly straightforward tbh. Re. the poor handbrake operation, if you're lucky you've just collected a lot of brake dust & general crap in the drum, and it just needs a clean out. I suppose there's the chance you've got oil contamination on the shoes from the gearbox / transfer box, but that's less likely. Re. the handbrake springing back up, sounds like the cable might need lubricating. Or replacing... they're not that expensive.

 

You'll need to remove the rear propshaft to release the drum, but IIRC it was easy enough when I did mine a few years ago.

 

Glad you're enjoying the Disco btw, they're truly ace vehicles.

[dollywobbler]

Be warned. On mine, the engine earth cable went all shitty so it earthed through the handbrake cable. That made it feel very odd indeed! I had exactly your issue where it seemed to bounce back up after you've released it. A straight-forward enough job, but a new earth cable may be a good step.

[John F]

^ That's a new one on me Ian, I'll have to look out for that.

[warninglight]

Oh gawd. Where to start. Engines that commit suicide in many different ways. Wiring looms inside the engine which allow oil to leak THROUGH the main wiring loom (and sometimes into the main ECU). Absolutely hideous chassis rot - far worse than the Disco 1. Air suspension failures. ACE handling failures (an Activa-esque hydraulic roll-cancelling system. Anti-roll bars are better!). Electronic issues. 

 

However, they sound absolutely magnificent and are very pleasant to drive. Neighbours has covered many, many miles. Though this has cost many, many thousands of pounds.

 

They're not all bad! The facelift D2 with the '15P' engine is a better proposition. Better head locating dowels and also meant to have the oil pump bolt issue sorted. The ECU/injector loom is indeed a common fault, but £30 and an hour fits a new loom, allowing you to replace the rocker cover gasket and note down the codes off the injectors while you're in there, and get lots of contact cleaner is around the ECU. It's not the main wiring loom, just a short loom with a plug on each end.

 

I have seen plenty with rotten chassis, in fact galvanised D2 chassis have become available in the last couple of years. I took my time and bought a solid one, but when the time comes I'd rather be patching a chassis than boot floor/inner wings/sills as D1s tend to need.

 

Not all have air suspension (only on the rear anyway), but new Dunlop or Contitech airbags can be got for about £120 the pair. They have a life of approx 10 years if looked after. If they're left to perish and leak then the compressor burns out and ignorant owners take to the internet to blame Land Rover for building crap. If it's good enough for every artic trailer on the road... Mine has had the rear coil conversion a few years ago, it's a bit wallowy and if I was bothered enough, I'd actually convert BACK to air. It also allows you to raise the back end up, they have a considerable overhang on the back, especially compared to the shorter D1.

 

Also don't all have ACE (Active Cornering Enhancement), mine doesn't. Quickest way to tell is if the PAS bottle has 2 caps.

 

Remove the cat (only fitted to later ones I believe), bypass the EGR, change all the oils and both engine filters regularly, seal up the sunroofs (which will prevent many of the electrical issues) and fall in love with the driving position and practicality of it all!

 

Mine's coming up on 160k now. It's one of the last on an 04 plate. I bought it on 120k in July 2014 (so it hasn't been hanging around) and had it in the Vendee, John O'Groats, and towed my car transporter all around England and Scotland. The only FTP was when I splashed out on some genuine 'Land Rover Winter' wiper blades for it in November last year. Bigger blades hit the A pillar battling through a monsoon on the M6 the next day, stripping the splines on that wiper arm. £2 in the scrappies for some Disco 1 wiper arms (they take standard blades unlike the moulded D2 items) and that's all sorted. I don't have kids or dogs but I love it!

[dollywobbler]

Neighbour has just removed ACE from his Disco II. Says he can't feel any difference at all! It managed 260,000 miles with no ACE faults, but the pipework was starting to fail. 

 

Regarding the handbrake cable earth fail, it seems it's pretty common. 2MB may be lucky - his Disco may be early enough that you can replace the cable without having to remove the drum. I think the changeover was 1993 - the year mine (now catsinthewelder's) was built.

[John F]

dollywobbler, on 13 Jan 2016 - 10:38 AM, said:

Neighbour has just removed ACE from his Disco II. Says he can't feel any difference at all! It managed 260,000 miles with no ACE faults, but the pipework was starting to fail. 

 

Regarding the handbrake cable earth fail, it seems it's pretty common. 2MB may be lucky - his Disco may be early enough that you can replace the cable without having to remove the drum. I think the changeover was 1993 - the year mine (now catsinthewelder's) was built.

 

Might be worth removing the drum for a look at the shoes anyway, since he's got problems with handbrake efficiency.

[HH-R]

Are upside down pictures some sort of Autoshite meme?

[John F]

誂ÂɯoÉ¥ ʇɠlÇÂÇÂÉŸ sɹoʇnqᴉɹʇuoɆuÉÂÇÂpodᴉʇuɠɹno ÇÂÊžÉÂɯ oʇ ÇÂɹ,ÊŽÇÂɥʇ

[Urko]

Are there any 2.0 mpi ones left? I always quite fancied getting one just to be contrary, but they have stopped turning up in searches so maybe they are all dead.

 

Re:upside down pics, this generally happens when the thing taking them is being held upside down. A lot of phones and tablets can deal with them, but e-mail and the like just be like "oh,a photo, I be displayin that just how jt comes to me, dawg"

 

http://iphonephotographyschool.com/iphone-photos-upside-down/