kinda new got some questions

[urusai]

hey guys ive got some questions regarding lr's

my dad has a 97 disco with 160k that he's gonna give me as my first ride, my question is should there be any major maintenance issues to look out for considering it has 160k on it? its been pretty well maintained (i.e regular scheduled maintenance) but i don't know if i should be looking for anything in particular.

should i just take it to one of the lr shops here in socal and see what they find?



thanks for the help

 

[Disco Squared]

IMHO--It's and older vehicle with some miles on it, so things are going to start wearing out regardless of preventive maintenance. The good news is you have a solid truck worth keeping up, just get used to the fact that it will need an occasional repair. You kept it well maintained so the drive-train and running gear should last a good while longer. I've personally experienced wear on the belt driven components on vehicles that have turned over 100k. Stuff like water pumps, alternators, steering pumps and belt tensioners seem to give up the ghost after 100k. You should also check bushings, bearings, rod ends, u-joints, ignition parts, ect. for wear.
Personally, I would get to know my Disco and check it out myself versus letting a mechanic do it. Land Rovers are very DIY type vehicles. If not try to find an honest and trustworthy mechanic. Finding things wrong with your vehicle could be very subjective depending on the shop or mechanic you take it to, and could wind up costing $$$$$
My 2 cents

 

[urusai]

alrite thanks for the advice.

i plan to be goin off road with my lr unlike my parents and the plan is to get it looking like this

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.eastcoastrover.com/Discotech/Dtechopenimage.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.eastcoastrover.com/tableDisco.html&h=350&w=556&sz=52&hl=en&start=10&um=1&tbnid=bPkvkNHlgYwSAM:&tbnh=84&tbnw=133&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtricked%2Bout%2Bland%2Brover%2Bdiscoveries%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den%26sa%3DN/img] [/url] (Linked)


can u guess how much would that set me back?

 

[urusai]

alrite thanks for the advice.

i plan to be goin off road with my lr unlike my parents and the plan is to get it looking like this

http://www.eastcoastrover.com/tableDisco.html

can u guess how much would that set me back?

i know im being ambitious and i know it will take awhile to get it lookin like that, but thats my dream as of now :]

 

[bleizit]

Great to have a plan and you've started well by asking questions on the forum... Most of us started the same way you have and you will find wonderful helpful people here! Whether you are interested in working on it yourself or not, you need to dowload or buy the RAVE cd (workshop manuals and such) {thread #19 - http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f16/rave-cd-29864-2.html}. There is a maintenance / service schedule that you should go through to familiarize yourself with the condition of your truck. Make a list of what you believe needs to be done and go from there. I personally would then take the disco to a trusted tech (LR experience required) and tell them you're interesed in buying the vehicle and ask them to do a pre-purchase inspection to get a list of needed repairs/upkeep items. Then ask them to prioritize the list for you. This should cost you around $50 and is a good investment.

Understand this... you will leak fluids from time to time... these trucks like to mark their territory. It's not a problem and you can spend big money chasing droplets, but you need experience to know what is a concern and what is not. Reading through other's postings are very helpful for getting ideas of what has worked and what has not.

Congrats on your new obsession and welcome!