Rover noob needs advice please.

[w00ht]

Hello all,

I am new to the land rover world and have 99% decided to pick up a Discovery as a secondary vheicle for my family after we close on out house in the coming weeks. In my area I have seen them from 7-11K and figure that it will fit the bill for what I am after. I am looking to build a nice run around truck that will see weekend beach and sand running duty on the outer banks. My problem is that I have zero experience with british vheicles, and don't know what to look out for and what to avoid. I have read all of the usual stuff from msn autos and edmunds, but I figure for the straight dope you need to find a forum such as this.

What kind of issues do these trucks normally have?

What are the top 5 things to look for when shopping for a used disco?

At what average milage do these trucks start to need the more expensive repairs? (IE heater cores, tranny rebuilds, transfer case rebuilds, engine rebuilds etc)

I am not affraid of running into these things, like I said I don't know what to expect and when. I am very mechanicly able, and have been working on my own vheicles for years. I have had lots of Toyota 4wd rigs and have installed my fair share of clutches, axles and lift kits. I have built an engine or two as well.

My current thoughts are for a EMU heavy duty lift with some good AT rubber. followed perhaps an ARB air locker in the rear to help out in the sand.

Any words of wisdom?

 

[Moose]

Well, this is coming from the owner of a 1996 Discovery (Series I).

Watch out for electrical gremlins -- it's one thing the Brits never got right until very recently (when they went away from British electrics in the vehicle).

Also, IMHO, get a Disco I in the later era of the first series (98 or 99 D1). This is when the trucks were made under the auspices of BMW, and quality control was great! D2's are nice, but there's something about "the original" I like a lot better. Plus, some D2's don't have a locking center differential -- definitely something to insist upon if you're going to be driving on the beach.

Bigger, wider tires than stock will work well on the sand and other offroad pursuits without totally destroying driveline geometry.

Other than that, I hope we can welcome you to the fold sometime soon!


Andy

 

[w00ht]

Ahh Lucas, the prince of darkness......

Thanks Moose. A locking center is one of the things that I really envied about the discos in the first place.

 

[Moose]

When you're looking at trucks, make sure the center diff works! It has four positions:

1. High unlocked (back and to the right)
2. High locked (back and to the left)
3. Low unlocked (forward and to the right)
4. Low locked (forward and to the left)

Make sure the diff lever moves freely (relatively speaking) among the four positions. Oftentimes used Disco's had owners who never took them out of position #1, and the linkage gets seized from corrosion. Replacing the linkage isn't hard but a dealership charges ~$450 to do it.

 

[Sergei]

Also, mind the fact that on early discos locking lever likes to go H-N-L. I.e when you push it, do not overforce it, let it sit in N if it does not like to go all the way, let truck roll in neutral couple feets/meters and then finish pushing.

This is actually described in owners manual but many people like to just hit it with all they got and that damages linkage and then you going into what Andy said.

 

[RoverChic]

02 Sensors Issues. The rover will have four of them (two before the cats and then two after the cats). They generally will fail anywhere after 75K miles. They will run about 129.99-169.99 (depending on where you purchase them). Remember you will need 4 ..You can replace one @ a time however I would not advise that. This has been an issue with my 1998 D1. Hope that this helps.
Melissa

 

[RadRocker]

http://www.landroverworld.org/parts/links.php?search=oxygen&andor=and

 

[RoverChic]

Nice Bryce. There are two types of 02 sensors with evap and with/out evap. The ones with evap are the expensive ones anything 1998 or newer will call for these. Unless you are really good at wiring then you could always use the universal for 89.99..Not fun though right Joey ?? Sorry could not resist.

 

[discomike]

Melissa,
I have to tell you I get a good chuckel every time I read your posts. I look at you picture and read your words and wonder, where did this all come from.
Take care,
Mike J.

 

[RoverChic]

Mike: ??????? So I am confused? "Where did all of this come from?" Do you mean like I am weird or something? Hmmmm???