Disco 300 TDi replacement - Disco 2 V8 (manual) or TD5?

[John F]

As per the title, my much-loved Discovery 300 TDi is in the departure lounge - it has too many small faults, including another impending bout of weldage to the rear arches. If the bodywork was tidy I'd bite the bullet & sort out its maladies, but it has a dented nsr quarter, many scratches and bad peeling to the lacquer on the bonnet & roof.

 

So I'll be looking for a replacement before its MOT expires in 9 months' time. And I've never had a V8, so could this be an opportunity to combine the two?

 

I quite like the looks of the Disco 2.

 

I know about the rot to the rear quarter of the chassis and the rear axle air bag / compressor problems on the 7-seater / non-base 5-seater versions, but I know very little about the 3.9 (4.0?) V8 engine fitted to the Disco 2 apart from ocasional porous heads, the necessity of having coil packs & leads in good condition & their obvious thirst for liquid dinosaur.

 

I'm specifically after a manual version. They're rarer than autos but do come up occasionally, a couple of top-spec manual ES models have sold in the last few weeks via the bay of E for around £1200.

 

Or should I do the considerably more boring but slightly more sensible thing & go for the TD5? I've driven a couple of these & they're OK, although with the extra weight of the Disco 2 compared to the Disco 1 they don't feel as quick as their extra bhp would suggest. Also, there's more knowledge about the TD5 engines within my particular LR spannering circle so the TD5-specific problems are fairly well known.

 

Tips & advice gladly received, ta

[Rusty_Rocket]

Honestly, the D1 is the better car...

but, the Discovery 2 is a step up in comfort and road manners.

The TD5 is ok but not as dependable as your 300tdi and I'd have it remapped as soon as you get it for more power & economy (win win situation).

The diesel option is obviously very well known now so, as you say, there's a wealth of information out there. Be aware that there's still engines out there with the oil pump bolt coming loose after all these years and the heads are still cracking and putting diesel in the sump. If you can find a diesel that has had lots of the common issues already addressed, that would be one to go for.

My personal experience of D2 TD5s is that they're quite thirsty (25mpg), they handle very well when the ACE is working, the turning circle is annoyingly large and the doors don't open wide enough! The interior is nice on ES models.

My preference now would be a V8, on gas, with a top-hat liner engine but a car with all that would be expensive..

[John F]

My preference now would be a V8, on gas, with a top-hat liner engine but a car with all that would be expensive..

 

Not really - I've been watching prices, both the ones I saw on ebay recently were dual-fuel with low-ish miles (120k or less) and went for around £1200.

 

Not sure about the top hat liners though, is there a way to identify whether a V8 has these from the outside?

[Rusty_Rocket]

No way to tell if it's been done until you lift the heads.

The D2 V8 is nowhere near as bad as the p38 for liners shifting but it does still happen. The v8s are cheap if they're on their original engine...

[John F]

No way to tell if it's been done until you lift the heads.

The D2 V8 is nowhere near as bad as the p38 for liners shifting but it does still happen. The v8s are cheap if they're on their original engine...

 

That possibly explains why one of the two V8s I'd been watching was on its second replacement short block engine before it reached 62,000 miles...!

 

Hmmm.

[Supernaut]

I'm specifically after a manual version. They're rarer than autos but do come up occasionally, a couple of top-spec manual ES models have sold in the last few weeks via the bay of E for around £1200.

 

Nice! A manual V8 engined anything for that money is bloody good going!

 

I have a very limited experience of driving my parents' old Disco 2 TD5. Do NOT buy one that's had the rear air springs converted to coils. My parents' one had had that done by a previous owner and it was woeful. It genuinely made me seasick when I sat in the back, and I'm not prone to travel sickness in anything else, including ferries on rough seas and planes hitting turbulence!

 

It was amusing to drive though. It made a turbo whistle out of the exhaust even when idling, and made an epic compressor stall on every gear change.

 

It eventually succumbed to rust. The local garage condemned it when my dad took it in for an MOT, as most of the driver's side chassis rail had disappeared. We reckon the previous owner must have lived on the cost. It ended up being collected by a Land Rover breaker who turned up in another Disco 2, towing a flatbed.

[John F]

TBH I slightly prefer the 300 TDi to the TD5 in many ways... the earlier car is lighter & feels it, especially on corners.

 

I'm leaning towards the 5-seater version (the basic versions of which were fitted with coils as standard anyway), I've rarely used the dicky seats in the back of my current 300 TDi so probably won't miss them.

 

I actually WANT to be brave enough to go down the V8 route but I'm a little worried about the expense and hassle of slipping liners. That being said, I don't actually need the vehicle for getting to work, so... hmmm... if they're cheap...

[Rusty_Rocket]

The v8 cars that have had replacement engines are out there! Look for a (£5k+) receipt from someone like JE Engineering or RPI and you'll have a lovely car.

I think the D2 is a good looking car still and the longer body looks just right IMO.

[twosmoke300]

Check any disco 2 for rusty ACE pipework - they are about 80 quid each and they can take out the pump and / or control valve if run dry. You can bypass the system and fit normal anti roll bars but this isnt advised if its a 7 seater with air suspension

[John F]

Yep, I think I'll give the 7-seater a swerve unless it's otherwise a bargain.

[Talbot]

Having run a D2 TD5 for several years and about 80k miles, they are not as bad as many would have you believe.

 

ACE is excellent, and makes the vehicle really handle.  The difference between D1 and D2+ACE is astonishing.  I have owned both at the same time to directly compare.

The rear air bags are not the disaster that everyone would have you believe they are.  Cheap enough and very easy to replace.  The compressors are also fairly reliable, and with plenty of spares and breakers around, they are cheap enough, as no-one wants them.

 

TD5 engines benefit from a remap, but do not forget to de-web the exhaust manifold.. makes a big difference to the likelhood of snapping off exhaust manifold studs.  It's an easy enough job, I did mine with a 4.5" grinder and a rat-tail file.

 

Rot is beginning to take serious hold in D2's.  The bodys are generally quite a bit more resistant than D1's, but the chassis can and will fall apart.  Poke it everywhere, especially in the classis place where it droops just adjacent to the fuel tank.

 

Speaking of fuel.. the comment about 25mpg must have been from a vehicle with a fault.  I averaged well over 30mpg with mine, ususally around 32.  My father also runs a D2 TD5, and he manages an average 36mpg, but then he is mr. economy no matter what he drives.

 

The V8 engine does seem to have it's fair share of issues, as mentioned above if you can find one that has had top-hat liners fitted you may well be onto a reliable one.  LPG kits range from excellent to lethal, so be very careful of what is out there.

 

Also.. be aware that the interior space in a D2 is no bigger (and in some ways is smaller) than a D1.  Everything is a bit thicker, more heavily padded, etc, meaning at 6' tall, I only just really fit in mine.  I look through the top 3" of the windscreen in normal driving, and often have to duck my head to see things that are high up.

[Rusty_Rocket]

The ACE is great though, you can chuck them around like a car. It's just the rusty pipes and buggered valve block like 2smoke says.

Don't fear the air suspension, the airbags are cheap and literally 10mins to change. The air compressor lasts well if it stays dry and isn't constantly trying to pump up cracked airbags.

 

Edit- Talbot beat me to it!

[DVee8]

Having run a D2 TD5 for several years and about 80k miles, they are not as bad as many would have you believe.

 

Speaking of fuel.. the comment about 25mpg must have been from a vehicle with a fault.  I averaged well over 30mpg with mine, ususally around 32.  My father also runs a D2 TD5, and he manages an average 36mpg, but then he is mr. economy no matter what he drives.

 

I have a work mate who has a 53plate TD5,on his 40mile round trip to work he gets 23mpg,we were discussing this last night.He is thinking of chopping it in for a BMW X5

[jonathan_dyane]

Can't you get a series 2 with a fucked chassis and just drop the body on your chassis and running gear then sell the remains? Cash££££back.

[Talbot]

I have a work mate who has a 53plate TD5,on his 40mile round trip to work he gets 23mpg,we were discussing this last night.He is thinking of chopping it in for a BMW X5

Then he has a fuel leak, an ECU issue, or is caning the utter fuck out of it.  I've had better economy while towing a 3-tonne trailer.

[hairnet]

landcruiser

[dollywobbler]

My neighbour has finally ditched ACE on his D2, and claims he can't really tell the difference - he's not the 'dawdling to the shops' type either. Was a proper removal job, with the beefed up Anti-roll bars etc.

[John F]

HarmonicCheeseburger, on 22 Nov 2017 - 7:52 PM, said:

Surely modern LR's are about as reliable and long lasting as a pensioners erection? every single review I see online mentions reliability....

 

Not just modern LRs, that applies to all LRs. Although early Discos do love to dissolve even more than old Series bulkheads do.

[Talbot]

My neighbour has finally ditched ACE on his D2, and claims he can't really tell the difference - he's not the 'dawdling to the shops' type either. Was a proper removal job, with the beefed up Anti-roll bars etc.

Which then compromises the off-road ability.  The real benefit of ACE is that it is active anti-roll while driving, and then in low box off road the valves all open up and effectively disconnect the anti-roll bars, meaning you get full axle articulation.  It's a really quite clever system.  The pipes are WAAAAY too expensive though.. I must look into how they could be re-manufactured.

 

Only drawback of it is that the engine-mounted pump runs all the time making 40Bar of pressure, which is then just bled back to ambient if not needed.  Quite wasteful. (Unlike a cleverer Citroen system that cuts in and out, keeping the pump off-load when not needed)