potential discovery purchase

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tim967

New Member
Posts
5
Location
Chesterfield, Derbyshire
Hi all,

New to the landy scene if i'm honest. Looking at purchasing a discovery 1 and been to see 1 today. Body work was good and had lift kit etc but noticed a fair bit of oil in the engine bay(see pics). Any ideas what this could be? A friend of mine that came with me spoke with his neighbour and said it's probably the top gasket and its about a £90 fix.

I know very little about cars and would probably have to get it sorted at a garage. Any ideas the going rate for a garage to fix would be and if you can confirm if it is the top gasket?

Also will need a new clutch at some point as biting points quite high so rough price for that if possible.

Also attached some images of around the doors etc, read need to be careful with these for rust and rot, these look ok to you guys at all?

Just wanting to figure out a rough price its gonna cost me to get her right.

Also please move to relevant section if in incorrect area.







Thanks,

Tim
 
Cant see you photos.
But are you sure you want a Discovery if you cant work on it yourself.
These suffer from a phenomenal amount of rust and corrosion to both the chassis and body work as well as suffering from mechanical problems.
You will need to be a fast ;learner or have buckets of cash.
 
thanks for the advice, this one does have 10 months mot on it, was just a bit concerned with the oil everywhere but from what i've read seams a fairly simple job. Would love to be able to do some of the work myself, it's just I've never actually tried before so may be worth a go on some jobs.

Had looked into other land rovers i.e defenders and the're double the price and insurance is a fair bit more than a discovery, especially just for a weekend for the odd bit of green laning and light offroading.

With regards images not showing, not quite sure what i've done there. Link to hosted images is here:
 
A word of advice is to take a friend whom knows land rovers or a mechanic along if you don't know. Any doubt and walk away.

I bought a disco 2 td5 52 plate from a dealer whom said it was in excellent condition. I paid 4.5k for it and was a novice as I was buying it to modify for a charity drive.

The vehicle was sold to me with a cracked head cylinder and one of the injectors was gone. On top of that then the locks died all wishing 50 miles. That's me 4K out of pocket and I'm. It over 11k spent (with mods done).

Long story short I learnt the expensive way but I've fallen in love with it and do enjoy learning and fixing things as I go. I have the cash but if you don't it can be upsetting.

Disco 1's are renowned for rust so check the sills and also the boot floor, tell them to pull up the rear mat, if it's damp its also a warning sign.

Failing that you can buy mine for 10k :)

Have fun though and congrats, you'll experience all emotions whilst having one
 
tim967 said:
With regards images not showing, not quite sure what i've done there. Link to hosted images is here:
Click to expand...

Still cant see them getting this -

im.jpg

You can upload direct to here
 
It's all down to how much you are paying. If its 500 is going to need at least that spent on it. But if you are only using it for off roading then it's a good way to learn. Rust is what will kill a disco for most people. Where are you? Someone local on here may give you a helping hand and look over it with you. New clutch is about £400. You would be better off changing that gasket and gaining the experience. Spend £50 on a good socket set and a new gasket is a tenner. If You get stuck and don't know what to do ask on here and the goodfolk will walk you through it.
 
the one i went to see today they were asking 2k for it (seems majority around the derbyshire way are around this price, not that there are many on autotrader) , has a lift kit and a/t tyres already(although will be upgrading to mud tyres most likely). I dont mind spending on a new clutch to be fitted and having a go at changing the gasket(seems fairly simple from what i've read/seen online). Will have a think and another look around. Anyone also know what the recommended timing belt change is at one of these?
 
The 300 tdi engine started shedding cam belts at 30k when new. Some engines were worse than others, but the fault was due to mis-aligned pulleys. After a couple of years landrover revised the pulleys and cured the problem. The replacement cam belt kits all have the revised pulleys so unless you are on the original belt, you should not have an issue and the belt should be good for 70 k ish.
However, unless the previous owner can prove that he changed the belt it would be best to replace it.
The cam shaft in the 300 tdi engine lives in the block not the head so the head can be removed without disturbing the cam belt.
The valves are operated by 6 inch (approx) push rods so should the belt fail, these 'sacrificial' rods bend saving the engine from expensive failure.

As for oil leaks, unless it's dripping I wouldn't worry. Your engine photo looked quite clean to me.

However, as everyone else has said, get underneath it and check for rust.

If you end up with a good D1 you truly will have a fantastic, capable, reliable, easy to fix vehicle.
 
Hi,

As said above the oil leak looks minimal so I wouldn't be worried about that. If it does get bad it is a really simple and cheap fix.

As with the other replys I would advise taking a good look around the boot floor,sills, front and rear arches for corrosion and chassis.

If they look bad this could be an issue at the next mot and very expensive to repair if you don't have the equipment, knowledge to repair yourself.

If it is a solid discovery then id say go for it, they are great cars.
I have owned 3 now and the latest one iv owned for 2 1/2 years, it has never missed a beat and is coming up to 200k.
 
Those repairs to the door pillars dont look very clever but its underneath that you need to check.
Have you checked its MOT history? Its become my 2nd hobby! Amazing what it turns up, i.e. chassis needed welding on one Disco on ebay at its 2nd MOT! etc.
If you end up buying a dog, dont throw good money after bad, just get rid.
Mark
 
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