New Disco Time...

[jeremy 70]

Right had an offer for my Discovery from the insurer today. TBH it was a fair price so accepted it, so now I'm looking to get another one.

 

I have upto about £4500 to spend, however would be happier if it was only about £3K. I know realistically I'm looking for something old with lower miles or newer but with higher miles. I bought my last one from my Dad, so was just happy and did not bother really doing much homework as knew the history and got it at a good price, however as I am now looking at models upto 2000 is there anything I should know about these. My main requirements are auto and diesel.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Jeremy

[Matt Holley 11]

If its a Td5 you need to check the engine loom for oil, they have a habit of filling the injector loom inside the head and this makes it's way back to the ecu and causes a miss fire/ rough running, it doesn't usually end up in the ecu just messes up the connection on the ecu plug, I would avoid ACE, it doesn't make that much differance but its just more to go wrong, the pipes corrode and the valve block leaks, also the pumps can go on them, if it's a 7 seater it will have rear air suspension, on these the air bags can leak and the compressors can fail, expensive! you probably know this already having already owned one but I would avoid any disco with a sunroof, they will leak at some point, if its got a squeeling noise that sounds a bit like high pitched belt squeel it's most likely the exhaust manifold blowing, if left the manifold will warp and needs a skim, sometimes they also break the studs which can be a fiddle to sort.

 

I quite like the 300tdi, its a good old reliable engine with not much to go wrong, It should have the updated timing belt kit on it by now, if not it should be done, the early ones wore the belt on the edge and there were a few differant solutions before they came up with the latest one, the water way between the water pump housings can leak so check for that, not expensive to sort, again they updated the gasket and most have been done by now, you really need to check the older discos for rust, common places are boot floor, rear arches/ seatbelt mounting, front inner arches and chassis. also check the brake pipes for corrosion.

 

Hope that helps.