Disco 2 Need a rainbow.....

so here's the deal....
* i know pretty much nothing about cars and have been stuffing my brain with forum knowledge and attampting to diagnose her myself *
This is what i know so far..
I bought my Landrover discovery 2.5tdr a couple of weeks ago. she was previously owned by a mechanic who did most of the work on her.
She had a oil leek on her last MOT so was fitted with new Transfer Box.
While i was test driving her the thermostat went which he apparently replaced. ( the car lost power very suddenly going up hill and would not pull at all- he lifted the bonnet and un- screwed the water which bubbled up furiously and he said it was the thermostat- does this sound right to you guys? )
After i bought her, a friend told me she had a power steering leak and some oil spills in the engine bay that could have been old or new from the transfer box replacement.
Got the engine bay power washed and took her to a landrover specialist garage- couldn't afford the work that needed doing unfortunately BUT they did tell me that the leads that run along the top of the chasis to the power steering needed replacing. the preivious owner had apprantly cut and rejoined the pipe and used one too big if i remember right. They said the work would be 3hrs worth of labour to take the radiator and intercooler out for the job- (could anyone give me a link to the right leads please and is landrover part best? )
the garage also said the clutch was sticking or slipping and the head gasket might be going if not gone already. ( how bad is that news?)
I then drove her to and back from Bristol (probs shouldnt have)
I noticed ;
-the temperature gage crept slightly above the midway point
-i struggle to put her into 1st gear sometimes grinding the gears and have to lift the clutch up and put it down again two sometimes three times.
- a clunking noise happens when i lift my foot up from the clutch after engaging the gear
- she is best in 4 and 5 but 1-3 are clunky.
- no signs come up on the dashboard but i could feel the heat from the engine and smell of burning fuel/ oil from engine bay. again not sure if that is old or new fluid or burning power steering fluid thats leaking
- she lags when accelarating particularly in 1st.
- she slips back a little on the handbrake

i think that's it for my sad list.
If anyone could let me know how to test what the problems could be and provide a bit of an idiots guide to things for someone who is no way a mechanic or car person thatd be great.
i am also on a VERY tight budget so tips on how to cut costs down and how i could do as much of this myself as poss please. (I might be able to wangle buying parts and getting a mechanic friend to fit them possibly)

oof thats alot sorry people. Hope you can help and give me a little hope for me and my beast
cheers xxxx

All this is beyond me, so can't offer any help. But welcome to the forum.

@GypsyBee

What year and engine is this car?

Cheers

The problem is if you can’t do at least a good amount of the work yourself the garage bills will end up being more than the car is worth. D2’s can need quite a bit of maintenance but I really like mine, as long as you have some love for it and aren’t too afraid of doing some work on it then you’ll get there. Tight budget and needing a garage to do all the work is going to be a tough one though.

Above is all true. You have listed a lot of issues and with tight budget.... i do not know. Head gasket, clutch, gearbox, oil leaks, to repair all these, price of an other car (or even more). Maybe i am wrong, but to buy D2 can be quite cheap meanwhile to keep her in good condition is quite expensive. Even you can buy cheap parts, usually they are not good quality so you just postpone the big spend.

neilly said:

@GypsyBee

What year and engine is this car?

Cheers

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1999 and 2.5L

AdamD1 said:

The problem is if you can’t do at least a good amount of the work yourself the garage bills will end up being more than the car is worth. D2’s can need quite a bit of maintenance but I really like mine, as long as you have some love for it and aren’t too afraid of doing some work on it then you’ll get there. Tight budget and needing a garage to do all the work is going to be a tough one though.

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She's a rambly old beast but i have fallen in love with her. I would love to work on her but would be nice to work on smaller problems first rather than massive ones that are urgent like the gasket :/ looks like im chucked in the deep end with this one.
Option B is to limp along with the head gasket and try and prolong its life as much as poss... any tips/ will that work?
Option C is to contact seller which was a private sell on facebook he did not list her with all these issues though. she has a 3 year warranty but can i get all my money back? whats usually the score with warrentys?
ta for the help

berg450 said:

Above is all true. You have listed a lot of issues and with tight budget.... i do not know. Head gasket, clutch, gearbox, oil leaks, to repair all these, price of an other car (or even more). Maybe i am wrong, but to buy D2 can be quite cheap meanwhile to keep her in good condition is quite expensive. Even you can buy cheap parts, usually they are not good quality so you just postpone the big spend.

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All those make sense. What do u think to my other options in my reply to AdamD1 ? Whats your thoughts on doing the minimal amount of work to limp her to Amsterdam pulling a large caravan and then working on her a little at a time once over there, is it worth it?
Ta for all this info dude super helpful

GypsyBee said:

She's a rambly old beast but i have fallen in love with her. I would love to work on her but would be nice to work on smaller problems first rather than massive ones that are urgent like the gasket :/ looks like im chucked in the deep end with this one.
Option B is to limp along with the head gasket and try and prolong its life as much as poss... any tips/ will that work?
Option C is to contact seller which was a private sell on facebook he did not list her with all these issues though. she has a 3 year warranty but can i get all my money back? whats usually the score with warrentys?
ta for the help

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If getting your money back is an option, then I would certainly recommend that you do. There are loads of other D2s in better shape around that are looking for a new home and you're better off getting one with less issues than what you have now. Most of us are just DIYers with D2s in acceptable condition, so I can only imagine that for one that was owned by a mechanic to be in such rough shape as you describe, then it can only mean it wasn't really cared for.

Mechanics cars are often in terrible mechanical condition, they bodge and scrimp on parts. I would never knowingly buy a car off a mechanic. I was once a mechanic. My advice would be to get rid of it before it drains your bank account.

Col

It’s hard to say what to do really, this is the problem for me at least I get caught up in liking the car so just accept what needs doing. I have a decent list of little not important jobs to do (heated seats and one folding mirror not working for example) but then there are other things the I do need to look at to which are more important.

I’d definitely go back to the person you bought it from and see what they say, especially if you have warranty. Things like the overheating could be many things, maybe head gasket but maybe something less sinister, rather than spend money chasing a problem though I’d talk to the seller.

With the hand brake is it just a little bit of movement when you first put it on but then it stops? If so that’s normal. Maybe take a pic of how high the temperature goes? If it’s the power steering box leaking the correct does of Wynn’s stop leak sorted that out on my old D1, worth a go as long as the pipes you describe aren’t where the leak is coming from.

Buy a freelander, the best vehicle Landrover ever made.

Col

Warranties are rarely worth more than the paper they're written on, especially if the faults were existing when you bought the vehicle. As for getting your money back - well, unless the seller actually made false claims you're not in a very strong position as it's a private sale not from a dealer. Having said that, it may be worth a try.

I for one wouldn't even consider towing a caravan any distance as this will put more stress on the head gasket and potentially cause even more problems.

I don't know how much you paid but I would probably be thinking about moving it on at a loss (being honest about it) to cut my losses. Otherwise you're in danger of the sunk cost fallacy - because you've spent so much already you spend more than it's worth.

Sorry to be negative but it's best to be realistic.

I agree with iansoady, surely would not use the car for long distance especially with towing.
I do not know the legal rights of UK but such case is also difficult in hungary. Try to negotiate with the seller and see how fair is he. If he is a mechanic he should have known all those issues you have listed.
Have you bought the car cheap?

Colthebrummie said:

Mechanics cars are often in terrible mechanical condition, they bodge and scrimp on parts. I would never knowingly buy a car off a mechanic. I was once a mechanic. My advice would be to get rid of it before it drains your bank account.

Col

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I always look at the person I am buying a car from as much as the car are they the sort of person that would look after the car? , have they had the money to spend on it?,Why are they getting rid of it? I would never buy a car off of me!

Go and see the guy you bought it off and take biggest friend you have or many friends and see if you can get money back, he might just do that to get rid of you if you give him a hard time, where did the warranty come from him ?