What to look out for LR Disco

[MarkMG]

I'm on the look out for a LR Disco, diesel one. Mainly used for dragging caravan and family jaunts.

Don't know a huge amount about them though. Looking at ten year old ones or thereabouts.

Are the later face lift ones worth the extra, bubble head lamps?

Are autos better or worse than manuals?

Are there any big weaknesses to spot?

Cheers

Mark

 

[Woody.v8]

Look out for rot
The boot floor being the major one
sills
inner wings
rear body cross member
c pillar on a 4 door

Check that the gearbox gos through the gears smoothly and that the swivel balls/seals/pins are OK

That will do for starters.

 

[Luke]

Looking at ten year old ones or thereabouts.

Are the later face lift ones worth the extra, bubble head lamps?

Sounds like you're looking at Discovery 2, rather than Discovery 1s? If so, you'll expect to find the the td5 - 5 cylinder diesel under the bonnet of most of them. I don't think there were a lot of V8s.

As well as all the usual rust issues already detailed, check all the electronics, a lot of D2s had plenty of options, which will soon get expensive if they don't work.

 

[Dusty]

what woody says, if they wont let you lift the carpets......walk away

That said most things are fixable if you want to work!

plenty out there try a few!

 

[excossack]

The TD5 engines are known for.
FPR - Fuel pressure reg leaking, back of the engine, drivers side. a give away is fuel dripping onto the floor
Also check the red plug that goes into the ECU, if this has oil on it, it could be oil coming from the engine and tracking down the wire onto the plug (it is on the 110 TD5s) This is the injector harness.

Check all electrics work.

 

[blenkie1]

Which ones had the airbags on for the suspension. Heard they can be trouble

 

[metalspanner]

Try to avoid the sunroof equipped models (not required with aircon) as these leak like a sieve and are troublesome to fix.
Look out for offroad damage eg bent trackrods, draglink and panhard rods.
Dont make the same mistake I did and buy one without anti roll bars fitted, fortunately not many were not fitted at the factory with them, mine though is one of them.
Check the swivel hubs are clean and bright and no traces of oil or muck around them.
The early td5 are prone to overheating and head problems, personally I would look around for the latest 300tdi you can find a much better prospect in my book, but check the radiator is good, change the waterpump if it hasnt been done recently and also the thermostat and at the same time the cam belt.
Also the usual oil leaks these can be troublesome to trace and fix.
Finally make sure it hasnt been messed about with by some wannabe off road racer, my latest disco has been a nightmare to sort out,only because some muppet messed around with it and didnt have the first idea of cause and effect, eg if you lift the suspension you have to fit different radius arms, it does not steer straight with a bent track rod, also scrubs tyres out.
The greatest enemy of all landrovers is tinworm constant vigilence and attention is required to keep the little blighters at bay.
Maitainence is simple and stright forward parts are cheap(ish) with excellent availability, and till the td5 came along you did not need a computer linked to NASA to have it tell YOU whats wrong.

 

[naughtyboy]

have just finished doing one for mate.
300tdi bought as mot failure for £450 of the bay.
usual rust in boot, rear wheel arches, front footwells, sills, inner wings ( have learnt from past experience best to take wings off (( easy to do )) as box section that runs down outside of inner wing rots out as well ).
went and got 2 sheets of steel and made all the sections ourselves.
total cost £865.
went straight through mot hes now driving round happy as larry.
one other thing if steering box is leaking replace it with one from breakers as last 3 ive had to when stripped bearings have gone and damaged shaft.

 

[squizzel]

Rot, Rot and more rot. The disco 1 is renown for it. Lift the carpets in the boot and check the floor and the inner arches as these can rot up to the windows. Inner sills are also prone to rot, and around the chassis to body mounts. Sunroofs leak this is usually a head liner out job but not too bad, both disco 1 and 2 suffer this problem, usually broken/blocked drain tubes or the sun roof needs removing and resealing to the body. A good 300TDi will serve you well but check everything, did i mention check for rot. The disco 2 doesnt suffer from the same rust problems as the disco 1 but as they have more electrical systems budget for a Nanocom or Hawkeye diagnostic system (around £250.00) it will save you money in the long run. The air suspension isnt too bad if its looked after, rear air springs should be replaced every 5 years to keep the system in good shape they are around £65.00 each and easy to do. ACE system can be expensive to put right (advanced cornering enhancement) but can be removed if necessary. TD5 engine is good but as said before fuel pressure regulators can leak, injector loom (this is easy replaced £35), the later facelift disco 2 doesnt suffer with the cracked head as much as the head was redesigned.
I own a TD5 disco 2 facelift myself came from a 4.6 range rover p38 and i love the disco its a very nice comfortable car, a friend of mine has the 200TDi and that too is a great car although not as comfortable.
Have a search around these sites for more info
http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f8/
http://forum.landrovernet.com/forumdisplay.php/338-Discovery-Series-I-and-II
Good luck
Mark

 

[MarkMG]

Thank you all for the advise, I was looking at W, X, Y reg TD5, hadn't considered the slightly earlier 300TDi. I'm presuming from the comments it does not have the computer stuff on board.
Trying to work out whether the 300TDi was in the the Disco 2, not all together clear. Would that be the best combination?
Looks like Air con and no sunroof is better than no air con and twin sunroofs.

There are a couple I'm hopefully going to look at this weekend.

Cheers

Mark

 

[squizzel]

Hi Mark
The disco 2 only came with the TD5, as for sunroofs there are a few about without them but they are few and far between.
The later 300TDi did have some electronics but no where near what the disco 2 has so they are easier to work on, the trouble is getting one without the tin worm as they are getting on a bit now. The engines are strong but i think they have a cam belt that requires replacing at certain intervals, where the TD5 went back to a chain.
Either way youre getting a Land rover so a good set of spanners and some overalls are required
All the best
Mark

 

[msmbus2000]

And dont forget a good mig welder lol

 

[slurrymonster]

Trying to work out whether the 300TDi was in the the Disco 2, not all together clear.

Hi Mark,

Disco 1 had the 300TDi (very early ones had the 200TDi)
Disco 2 had the TD5

Check out lr4x4.com and lro.com they have good forums with a lot of knowledgeable folks on there.

Luke

 

[MarkMG]

Had a look at two today, oh dear, I might have my expectations set a bit high...

A 1999 T plate, nit just surface rust on chassis but some proper pitting that looked like it had been wire brushed, presume to hide the scaling, also iffy compression joints in the ACE system, fuel leak, a well worn interior, all for close on £4.5k

A 2002 face lift, 95K on the clock, £7k, lec windows not working, transfer box leaking like a sieve, and a fair few bust bits of trim, rusty rear window frames!!

This is gonna be harder than I thought....

 

[stormin]

All the tidy TD5's used to be in the main dealers. They're too old for that now so maybe some of the specialists may be the best bet although costlier too.

Spent an hour this afternoon removing airbags from rear suspension
of my friends TD5 and replacing with good old steel.

 

[metalspanner]

Also dont forget about the tax bandings on pre and post year 2000 models, you would do well to get the up to date land rover owner international mag as this gives all the current guide prices for landies.
I dont know about the other mags, as this is the only one I buy.

 

[Robotstar5]

you would do well to get the up to date land rover owner international mag as this gives all the current guide prices for landies.
I dont know about the other mags, as this is the only one I buy.

Land Rover monthly is another good one.

 

[the snooper]

well after reading all the rot and other faults plus the cost the what to look out for title would suggest something other then a disco

 

[brightspark]

well after reading all the rot and other faults plus the cost the what to look out for title would suggest something other then a disco

if u sell clarke 150 welders for a living advertise on the landrover site you will make a fortune there rotboxes

 

[Robotstar5]

if u sell clarke 150 welders for a living advertise on the landrover site you will make a fortune there rotboxes

But we still luv 'em