Land Rover Discovery

[Mikey D]

There seems to be quite a few landy /disco owners on here , so if its ok can i pick your brains
Basically i had to sell my merc sprinter and am now after some thing to drag my caravan about and chuck tools, dog etc in the back
Thinking a discovery would be ideal , budget of £1500 max
Any one with any buying tips ? links to good sites/forums ?
Ideally want to have the option of running on veg oil @£1 /litre or veg/diesel mix ?
When did the discovery two come out , is that the one with air suspension ?
Simple to work on is pretty essential too .

Any advice much appriciateed , cheers Mike

 

[MarkMG]

disco 2 around 1999 - td5 - 7 seater air sus - not veg oil friendly - doubt you will find one for £1500
disco 1 300 td1 - don't know about air suspension, if it is then 7 seater again, believe vegie friendly, need frequent filter changes. check for rust, rear boot and inner arch on rear door closure, seat belt mount. check for rust all over.
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/

 

[MarkMG]

disco 1 200 td1 less oomph, more cold porridge performance, easier to work on.
or petrol and lpg convertion?

 

[gav0994]

Hi Mike!

Yous have stated that your budget is around £1500. With that sort of money you will be looking at the 300tdi era Discovery 1. With careful shopping around online (ebay), trawling the various Land Rover magazines - LRO, LRM, LRm etc you should be able to find a "good" one with MOT and tax for that sort of money. It may require some tidying up but shouldn't need any major welding as such.

If you are complete Land Rover novice I reccommend that you do some lengthy research on the Disco 1 - try www.landyzone.co.uk for good honest advice and info!

If you have found a few you want to view here are a few pointers:
1. check all the sills completely with a hammer/screwdriver - if seller doesnt allow that walk away as they are hiding major rust issues!

2. check the inner front wheel arches - known rust area

3. lift carpet in boot and check the floor and inner rear arches / 1/4 panel - major rust area on Disco 1's

4. check the rear door pillar/wheel arch areas - known rust spot

5. windscreen pillars are known to rust from the inside out due to water leaks from the windscreen!

6. check the rear body cross member for rust!

7. have a look under the bonnet behind the headlights as this is also a known rust spot, which includes the battery tray

The chassis on Disco's are generally sound, unlike the body! The 300tdi is arguably the best engine Land Rover ever produced and is generally bullet proof - still the current engine in all military Land Rovers apart from the E-WIMK version.

Other points to check are the steering rod, suspension dampers for damage, the list goes on!

In regards to the Disco 2, it came along in 1999 with the Td5 engine which was the first electronically controlled engine and as such requires plugged into diagnostic equipment to clear faults/reset systems within the vehicle. You will struggle to even get a head gasket failure Td5 Disco for your budget and it will cost plenty to put right!

Hope this helps a bit!

Gav

 

[ghound]

here's a td5 for under budget

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/2000-landrover-discovery-td5/83307068

 

[david500]

My own 300tdi cracked the head 3 times. Foolishly didnt think of swapping the engine until the 4th time. £100 200tdi from a scrapyard. 2 hours to fit, had to move the engine mounts and make a few wires redundant but it was trouble free after that.

As said, Boot floor is first thing to go, Outer sills under the plastic trim are a bad place,Rear arches on the 4 door versions,Front Inner wings near and under the battery, Also open the rear door/tailgate and have a poke at the door sill. All perfectly repairable, panels can be had for most of those areas.

Drag & track rod ends dont last long, When replacing buy ones with a grease nipple.

2nd gear syncro gets weak at high miles (think 200k+)

Replacing Clutch/Gearbox is a pig of a job

Electric windows bit tempremental as are the rear brake and indicator lights, downright annoying and thats what made me sell it in the end.

Also had to take the bonnet catch off mine as it just wouldnt work as there was too much movement in the hinges not that they are worn just flimsy, and fit those quick release race car ones.

Moral of story is, I now have a small Renault van. And thats worse!!

 

[Robotstar5]

Another source of info, Discovery owners club

 

[john224]

Ive had a couple discos 200 tdi they rust in the places as said BUT will run on veg straight veg oil they can be a pain sometimes but if looked after will go for ages if the sills have gone then its a pain but all other jobs are not so bad iv'e been working /playing with landrovers and discos for 20 years now
and still love them BUT will not be going for any TD5 s asi know of twomany probs with them also any withair suspention try to avoid as very expensive when go wrong,,

 

[Mikey D]

Thanks all, very usefull info so far
Another question ? How much is the roadtax for a disco 1 ? ,as that is what i will end up with no doubt
what is the difference power wise between 200 and 300 tdi?
i know the old series landrovers had ali panels , are discos all steel panels ?
I presume so as welding and rust are mentioned a lot !
i have all the welding gear already

cheers mike

 

[gav0994]

Hi Mike,

The outer body panels on the Disco's are aluminium and the body shell is good old mild steel as is the chassis. So what may look like a complete minter on the outside could be an absolute nightmare once you peel back trim, lift carpet etc and poke about with the screwdriver!

Road tax is £118.25 for 6 months for 300tdi

can't help you on the power difference between the 200 and 300tdi engines, but i think the 300tdi is a slightly smoother power unit than the 200tdi.

 

[david500]

Both have pretty much same power when driving, Both have a bit of turbo lag.

200tdi is all mechanical and a bit rattly, It has a huge waterpump which can only be a good thing. Quite noisy and its not a nice noise,Does like blowing black smoke under load or when pushing too hard,Some do leak oil from breather which if anything just makes the engine dirty. I also reckon the Alternator belts are hopeless. (Theres a tiny belt just for the Alternator)

300tdi has a stupid EGR valve that is best removed,It uses the temprature of the water to make it circulate with a small pump to help it along,Turbo is mounted in a different place and you just cant get at it to repair and I think is slightly bigger,The Brake servo pump does leak oil quite badly on some, I know mine did. Theres also a lot of extra wiring for the fuel pump,Turbo ect. to Lower the emissions. Generally Has a host of extra gizmos that I think spoilt it.
On the plus side, Very smooth,quiet,Cleanish exhaust,Quite responsive. Has a serpentine belt for the alternator and pumps.

 

[Robotstar5]

They share a lot of mechanicals with Range Rover classic, in fact Land rover used the bulkhead/windscreen off the classic to keep design costs down!

 

[boydy1989]

what david says about the 300 is not strictly true...

if you remove the EGR system, and assuming you have an earlier one, then they have exactly the same amount of electrics as every land rover diesel before it. How do i know? Cos my 300TDi runs on the original loom from my 1984 90.

water pumps? didn't look much smaller on mine, but i didn't really compare it much. They can have cooling problems if the radiator isnt in good nick, as with most vehicles.

power wise, about the same between a 300 and a 200. Some people say the 300 is smoother, if it is then only just.

The 300's have a better crank rear oil seal, so much less likely to leak oil from there - a pain in the **** on any engine if they do.

Also the 300's are a lot easier to work on; in terms of just about everything (timing belts, crank access, serpentine belt) the turbo is harder to get at, but not much - i changed a turbo on mine in under 3 hours.

In terms of the actual discovery, rather than the engine, all the rust spots have already been described - check them properly, and rust won't need much poking. Electrics on them, well, standard land rover - not great but easy to repair or in most cases just bypass with fresh wiring.

Interiors - obvious, as with any car really.

Track rod ends and prop shaft UJ's only last if you buy good quality ones and grease them, but they are not a particular mission to change.

As you weld, i would assume you are fairly spanner handy? In which case, its just giant meccano.

Hope this is useful!

 

[s410man]

i think the 200 and 300 are the smae power at 111 hp i think but not sure

 

[MarkMG]

200 Tdi 111 bhp (83 kW) @ 4,250 rpm - 195 lbf·ft (264 N·m) @ 1,800 rpm
300 Tdi 111 bhp (83 kW) @ 4,250 rpm (autotmatic trans 122 bhp (91 kW) @ 4,250 rpm) 195 lbf·ft (264 N·m)@ 1,800 rpm (AT 210 lbf·ft (285 N·m)@ 1,800 rpm )
Td5 122 bhp (91 kW) @ 4,850 rpm (AT 136 bhp (101 kW) @ 5,000 rpm ) 221 lbf·ft (300 N·m)@ 1,950 rpm
Wiki sourced
How it is delivered is as important as to what is delivered!! :-)
Td5 is more tuneable but harder for Mr DIY to work on at home

 

[mrcheese]

Power wise there is not a lot between them. Although the 300 is smoother.
I also believe that it is easier to get more power out of the 300 with a few simple tweeks.

Take you time to find a good one, although most will need some welding.
If you can find one that has spent most of it's life in Japan then they have much less rust. They do command higher prices but some owners don't know what they have.

YRM metal solutions is good source for repair panels.

I recommend that you pop along to www.difflock.com/forum

 

[mrcheese]

I should add that if you can find one without sun roofs that is good.
They tend to leak and the vehicle rusts from the inside out.
There is foam sound insultation under the carpets that gets wet and does not dry out.

 

[Robotstar5]

Don't forget the infamous "P" seal/gasket problems on the back of the 300 tdi engine

 

[stuvy]

you can turn the fuel pumps up on them have a browse on mudclub forum, i had a 200TDi and 300 my 200 was faster and more reliable, can you believe that with a landy!!
it ended up with 200bhp but was only good for 50mph as i fitted 37" simex tyres and a lift kit, i once took it up to 85mph but lofted around too much i thought twice about doing it again lol
200's typically have stonger half shafts diff internalls compared with the 300's

 

[david500]

True it will run without them, But Theres almost double the wires on a 300tdi discovery,All of these for ECU,EGR,theres one for the turbo,Pretty sure there was one stuck on an injector,Air filter,Theres an extra fusebox, I cut all these off for the 200tdi swap.

Waterpump of a 300tdi Discovery is tiny,Its mounted way up the block & its only purpose it to move water from a small section of the block up into the Head.
The rest of the engine relies on convection cooling which I know nothing about.
200tdi pump is 4 times bigger & 4 times stronger, And it actually is a waterpump with connections to Rad.

Something else I forgot. 300tdi has stupid coreplug in the top rear of the block. You can only replace it by removing engine.

Its the most stupid engine ever made. Ok "Might" have had the only bad one they built, no way in hell I'm going to buy another to find out.