Disco 3 reliability and fuel consumption

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beetroot4000

Member
Posts
28
Location
New Zealand
Hi all,
Would love to hear feed back on reliabilty and fuel consumption on Disco 3s, I mainly want one for towing heavish loads and for long trips, won't be my run about car.
I currently drive a 300tdi Disco 1 and although I love it and it's done everything I've asked of it, I'm thinking of buying something newer for more comfort and mostly more power for towing.
I've been doing heaps of reading up on Disco 3s and have had found a real mix of opinions, a lot of people having pretty major horror stories and others singing praises.

Most new vehicles are loaded with sensors and new technology that is not always reliable, I'm not to worried about that, and it seems common for Disco 3s to go through suspension bushes and brakes which again I can appreciate as they are big vehicles.

Would love to hear feed back from owners who have both had great luck with their Disco 3 and bad luck and also fuel economy. I'm in New Zealand and can get all engine options pretty readily, it seems the 2.7 diesel is the best of the lot with minimal problems and can return up to 35 MPG on long trips. Would like feed back on the 4.4L V8 fuel economy, I know a V8 in town and city driving is shocking, but have heard regular reports of almost 30 MPG on motorway driving and long trips, has anyone here managed to get this kind of economy?

Cheers
Sam
 
beetroot4000 said:
Hi all,
Would love to hear feed back on reliabilty and fuel consumption on Disco 3s, I mainly want one for towing heavish loads and for long trips, won't be my run about car.
I currently drive a 300tdi Disco 1 and although I love it and it's done everything I've asked of it, I'm thinking of buying something newer for more comfort and mostly more power for towing.
I've been doing heaps of reading up on Disco 3s and have had found a real mix of opinions, a lot of people having pretty major horror stories and others singing praises.

Most new vehicles are loaded with sensors and new technology that is not always reliable, I'm not to worried about that, and it seems common for Disco 3s to go through suspension bushes and brakes which again I can appreciate as they are big vehicles.

Would love to hear feed back from owners who have both had great luck with their Disco 3 and bad luck and also fuel economy. I'm in New Zealand and can get all engine options pretty readily, it seems the 2.7 diesel is the best of the lot with minimal problems and can return up to 35 MPG on long trips. Would like feed back on the 4.4L V8 fuel economy, I know a V8 in town and city driving is shocking, but have heard regular reports of almost 30 MPG on motorway driving and long trips, has anyone here managed to get this kind of economy?

Cheers
Sam
Click to expand...

firstly welcome

have done a buyers guide

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/buyers-guide.312800/

had mine the TDV6 for around 5 x months

fuel consumption wise, around town 22 mpg and motorway 35 mpg

cam belts must be changed 105,000 miles or 7 x years

a lot of reports regarding oil pump casing fail

2007 onwards are having these issues , but regardless what ever the age make sure it's been replaced

agree they do eat bushes and brakes, alas normal for such a heavy vehicle

they can suffer with electrical problems, but like all landies service history is very important

checking them throughout, ensuring everything works

a diagnostics , the iid by gap is one of the leaders out there and service is second to none

hope that's helped abit

but please feel free to ask away and will help u all i can
 
gstuart said:
firstly welcome

have done a buyers guide

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/buyers-guide.312800/

had mine the TDV6 for around 5 x months

fuel consumption wise, around town 22 mpg and motorway 35 mpg

cam belts must be changed 105,000 miles or 7 x years

a lot of reports regarding oil pump casing fail

2007 onwards are having these issues , but regardless what ever the age make sure it's been replaced

agree they do eat bushes and brakes, alas normal for such a heavy vehicle

they can suffer with electrical problems, but like all landies service history is very important

checking them throughout, ensuring everything works

a diagnostics , the iid by gap is one of the leaders out there and service is second to none

hope that's helped abit

but please feel free to ask away and will help u all i can
Click to expand...

Thanks, a wealth of knowledge.
Have you done the cambelt change? Have heard the rear cambelt although possible with body on is a real pain in the butt!

Very interested in the iid diagnostic tool, sounds like will be a must have for any modern vehicle!
Other than the (well known) oil pump problem, are there any other common engine or transmission problems that let go with a bang?
 
Real world mpg is 20 around town, low 20 general running around and high 20s a run, thats real mpg not the dash lie o meter.
As a rough rule whatever the dash says knock off at least 10 percent and you wont be far wrong.
My daily commute is 5 miles each way mpg says 22 if Im in no rush so 20mpg
Regular run to Norfolk (early hours and the whole way on cruise 70/75) 130 miles and it will show a constant 30mpg after 50 or so miles again knock off 10 percent.

As for the v8 drivers reporting 30 mpg I seriously call bollacks big time, 20 in their wildest dreams and thats driving at 55 mph Im sure if they were doing 70mph and reset their mpg it may show an artificially high figure for a short period of time.
There was one recently on the D3 forum reckoned he was getting 25mpg on the highway and as he was in the usa and their gallon is only 4 litres that worked out at something like 28mpg:D:D I mean we all bought diesels to get near them figures when we could have had another 100bhp and the same economy from the v8 what the fcuk where we thinking!
 
Last edited:
beetroot4000 said:
Thanks, a wealth of knowledge.
Have you done the cambelt change? Have heard the rear cambelt although possible with body on is a real pain in the butt!

Very interested in the iid diagnostic tool, sounds like will be a must have for any modern vehicle!
Other than the (well known) oil pump problem, are there any other common engine or transmission problems that let go with a bang?
Click to expand...


If you google Disco3 wiki page there shed loads of info on any and every issue that can occur.
But you have to bare in mind they dont all happen to every car.
Ive had mine over 2 yrs and its been 100 percent reliable, yes there have been issues but nowt I couldnt fix myself and all done on the driveway at home.
Like any high tech vehicle if you look after it you will have little problems, ignore it and keep driving it like most car owners do and it will cost you big.
http://www.disco3.co.uk/wiki/Home

See here http://www.disco3.co.uk/wiki/Home
 
Forgot to say I bought mine with zero history in fact no info at all, but it was the exact model I wanted and was only 2 miles from my house so sold, did I mention Im lazy?
 
lynall said:
Real world mpg is 20 around town, low 20 general running around and high 20s a run, thats real mpg not the dash lie o meter.
As a rough rule whatever the dash says knock off at least 10 percent and you wont be far wrong.
My daily commute is 5 miles each way mpg says 22 if Im in no rush so 20mpg
Regular run to Norfolk (early hours and the whole way on cruise 70/75) 130 miles and it will show a constant 30mpg after 50 or so miles again knock off 10 percent.

As for the v8 drivers reporting 30 mpg I seriously call bollacks big time, 20 in their wildest dreams and thats driving at 55 mph Im sure if they were doing 70mph and reset their mpg it may show an artificially high figure for a short period of time.
There was one recently on the D3 forum reckoned he was getting 25mpg on the highway and as he was in the usa and their gallon is only 4 litres that worked out at something like 28mpg:D:D I mean we all bought diesels to get near them figures when we could have had another 100bhp and the same economy from the v8 what the fcuk where we thinking!
Click to expand...


that's good to know

will change the mpg in the buyers guide,
 
beetroot4000 said:
Thanks, a wealth of knowledge.
Have you done the cambelt change? Have heard the rear cambelt although possible with body on is a real pain in the butt!

Very interested in the iid diagnostic tool, sounds like will be a must have for any modern vehicle!
Other than the (well known) oil pump problem, are there any other common engine or transmission problems that let go with a bang?
Click to expand...

wished to share what i had learnt since owning one, so at least then gives a very rough guide what to look for

put a pic of my belts in the process of being replaced

the rear belt was fitted in 50 x mins , that belt is for the fuel pump

new water pump, aux belt, tensioners, pully, the all important oil pump casing

unfortunately like all motors u can get a good or bad one, how well it's been looked after

first thing i did when i got mine was a full service, all the filters and oils

hope that helps

IMG_1033.JPG
 
gstuart said:
wished to share what i had learnt since owning one, so at least then gives a very rough guide what to look for

put a pic of my belts in the process of being replaced

the rear belt was fitted in 50 x mins , that belt is for the fuel pump

new water pump, aux belt, tensioners, pully, the all important oil pump casing

unfortunately like all motors u can get a good or bad one, how well it's been looked after

first thing i did when i got mine was a full service, all the filters and oils

hope that helps

View attachment 120012
Click to expand...

Looks like you have done this job yourself, did you find it to be more difficult than normal?
Did you do the rear belt also.
I've done a few cambelts in my time and none were exactly a walk in the park (access being a pain).

Seems like the fuel economy is pretty driver dependent. Low 20s seems common for town/city driving and long trips seems to give anywhere from high 20s to high 30s! (multiple claims on the Disco 3 forum).
I was thinking of going for a V8 and all my trips will be long trips or towing, and the V8 appears to be a little bit more reliable.
But the Diesel seems to be by far the favourite, even with Americans and their cheap fuel prices.
 
Basically anyone getting over 30 is driving really really slowly, v8 are very rare compared to the tdv6 and as such are way to expensive for what they are.
I reckon a v8 is going to do 50 to 60 percent of the diesels mpg and thats only if you are careful, plus theres also ease of resale.
Wife used to run an ML320 petrol and around town it was always under 10mpg and I cant see the v8 disco being any different, all big petrol autos are crap at low speed work for fuel efficiency as an example my commute is 5 miles door to door and the diesel does 20mpg and is just up to temp as I get there, just imagine what the v8 would do?
V8 owners only ever tell you their best mpg figures, diesel owners can tell you the truth:D

Mate ran a 4.6 v8 r/r auto and it raped him for non stop fill ups, hes now got a 200 disco and cannot believe how much less fuel it uses, I realise both are old examples of the breed but its a good petrol/diesel comparison.

Front cambelt access is a doddle, as I said in a previous post all done on my driveway with basic hand tools
 
Cheers lynall, What was the rear belt change like?

At first glance you would think the Disco 3s were the most unreliable vehicles in the world.
But upon looking into it, other than the normal servicing requirements and fixing things (like suspension and handbrakes) before they become a major issue, they seem to be no worse than a lot of newer vehicles.
 
I never did the rear belt, when I bought the car there was zero history, so i bought all the parts stripped the front down only to find it was all new and still very very shiny with a new shiny oil pump as well, so whilst in there I changed the front belt/idlers/tens etc, aux belt and both its tensioners and left the back belt as I had heard its an arse and assumed if the front was as new so will the rear one be.
The rear belt just drive the HPFP so if it breaks the engine stops from lack of derv but its not catastrophic unlike front belt failure.

If you adjust the handbrake as soon as you notice its taking longer than normal to work you know its reaching the end of its travel and needs sorting asap as when its starts to get noisy failure is just around the corner, new handbrake shoes on mine roughly 18mths ago and apart from an initial adjustment after a few weeks I have not had to touch it since, but its on my to do list for service/lube this summer.

I have read and seen a couple of pics of inner cills near the middle body mount starting to get crusty easy to check as you dont want to be the guinea pig for D3 welding!

If you cant justify the 400 quid for an IID tool the 100 quid for the I930 is money well spent, it wont programme/set up like the IID but it can and does read every system on the car.
 
@beetroot4000 , plus one what @lynall has said

ref the rear belt that can be done in 50x mins , but has to be done blind as u cannot see it tucked away at the back , is indeed as mentioned just the fuel pump

front belts of course need to be replaced , far cheaper than having the catastrophic damage to the engine

i read through a considerable amount of info before buying the D3 and with normal little traits of landies felt it wasn't any more unreliable than others

as each land rover model brings forward its own little issues , if ur prepared to be able to turn a spanner it isn't nothing that can't be sorted out, some more expensive than others

do find what ever diagnostic reader u finally settle on that due to its the complexity of the disco it is indeed very wise to buy one and factor that into the purchase

hopefully you will have abit more information now, there's always plenty of us here to help
 
gstuart said:
@beetroot4000 , plus one what @lynall has said

ref the rear belt that can be done in 50x mins , but has to be done blind as u cannot see it tucked away at the back , is indeed as mentioned just the fuel pump

front belts of course need to be replaced , far cheaper than having the catastrophic damage to the engine

i read through a considerable amount of info before buying the D3 and with normal little traits of landies felt it wasn't any more unreliable than others

as each land rover model brings forward its own little issues , if ur prepared to be able to turn a spanner it isn't nothing that can't be sorted out, some more expensive than others

do find what ever diagnostic reader u finally settle on that due to its the complexity of the disco it is indeed very wise to buy one and factor that into the purchase

hopefully you will have abit more information now, there's always plenty of us here to help
Click to expand...


Dont forget that was a pro doing your belt so hes going to know exactly whats what and where everything is, most incl me wouldnt have a clue so would take a lot longer to do.
 
lynall said:
Dont forget that was a pro doing your belt so hes going to know exactly whats what and where everything is, most incl me wouldnt have a clue so would take a lot longer to do.
Click to expand...

aplogises , ur spot on and to be honest didn't give that much thought

everything was replaced within 5 x hours

another local garage wanted 2 x days to do the job and main land rover dealer wanted 3 x days , as dealer insisted the body had to come off and couldn't be done with it on

surprising how different companies wanted different amounts of time and what they charged

was fascinated in being able to watch the belts etc being changed from start to finish
 
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