What to look out for?

Hi All,

I registered on here back in 2011 but due to work going through the roof and moving house and having kids I didn't even have time to look anything but my emails until recently.

I have wanted a Landrover since I was a kid and my dream toy is a defender 90 truck cab as I had a toy one many moons ago, however, having a wife, two kids and a dog im looking at a more practical way of entering the world of 4x4 and have my eye on a 1993 3.5 v8 three door disco.

It is in good condition and only an hour away from me and im hopefully going to look at it on Thursday.

What are the key things that I should be looking for both mechanically and body wise?

I am aware to check the inner wings, the boot floor and obviously the chassis but being a welder/panel beater these don't worry me so long as their no too far gone to be bothered/worth doing. But are there anymore areas of the body/chassis I need to check for rot?

Mechanically I am as experienced as a virgin but always up for a challenge so what do I need to look for and what kind of costs are involved with said problems?

Thanks in advance

Dean

Body is normally ok,

Chassis is a differnet matter,

Look at rear doors sills, rear body mounts (offside rear is usual), take up load bay carpet & sound proofing and the rear door sill

response i put a while back to similar question.
dont know much on the mechanics of a v8 but check for smoke blue white or black, hopefully non , a service history helps, check the 4x4 system works.

if its made of metal it is probably rusty.

from my experience I would check the following:

- boot floor - lift up the carpet and check, also check from underneath, this can sometimes be patched up but if not this will be quite pricey as there is a fair bit of welding. prob only about £60 for panel but double that for fitting at least?

- rear arches - if you can lift carpet from inside this is better as underseal will hide the damage from the outside. again these can be patched more easily but still cost in labour (prob £20 an hour min)

- rear door arches - these are the bits you see when you open the rear doors. they are £48 a side and cannot easily be patched.

- sills - inner sills you need to get underneath and then look back out to see the back of the sills. these again can be patched. outer sills are hidden by plastic trim so look the best you can. these can be replaced by boxed section at £30 a side materials.

- front inner wings - dont be scared to poke underseal hides stuff, again you can patch these

- headlight bowls - open bonnet and look down behind headlights best you can - more difficult to patch and a pain to fit, they are about £75 each

- whilst bonnet is open check top of front arches, inner wings and battery tray less underseal here.

- floors - rear floor doesnt tend to rust but fronts will especially in front out corners and up behind pedals and same on passanger side - lift carpets if you can - if soundproofing is wet its probably rotten.

- front seatbelt mounts. unlikely to be able to check inside as difficult to get past interior, look underneath and poke around the bolt.

- alphine windows (the roof ones) they like to rust around there and can be a pain to repair, but can be patched.

- check body mounts between body and chassis, these are cheap to buy £10-15 but can be a pain to replace.

- check outriggers and rear crossmember that runs under boot floor. again parts are cheap but labour high.

- check for oil leaks, if its not leaking there is probably no oil in it

mechanicallycheck for smoke, check boxes and just general driving but as many have said before the greasy bits are easy to fix, the body is more important.

I am sure more will add and correct me, I hope I havent put you off too much.

Disco 1 biggest rust problem area is definitely the body...... Usually everywhere.

Inner wings, sills, boot floor, arches, rear crossmember, and front footwells are usually the biggest problem areas. But can creep up almost anywhere so be prepared to have a good poke around with a decent screwdriver.

Disco 1 chassis isn't usually too bad. Only place I've known them to go (I say this but my new one has a bit of a hole next to the rear shock mount) are beneath the gearbox crossmember. But can't tell unless you remove said crossmember.

Mechanically just check for wheat and tear. Most things Mechanically on a d1 are very simple and usually cheap to fix.

Thanks for the tips guys, its good to know that body parts aren't too much ££ and as I said, being a welder I will be doing all the work myself.

The disco is a 1 owner from new with fsh so hopefully not much to do as the pictures do do it justice but will know better when I get there on Thursday. Wil keep you all posted


Dean

Is it a white one at castleford.
If so looks tidy

Check for black death in oil filler, white smoke on startup is hg possible. Check condition of ign system start it cold dont hit the gas. Should have an ign service regular on rv8. Check if its hunting on idle and make sure it's not got abs its a little annoying
If it idles and misses a bit it needs a goid service with genuine ign parts not cheap.
Make sure it feels quick and if you can check compression ( a big ask!)
Rust everywhere even under waxoyl

ashleywood.ash said:

Is it a white one at castleford.
If so looks tidy

Click to expand...

Yeah that's the one, I want a diesel so I can use it for work towing my welding gear about but for the condition and the noise of the v8, I just can't not go for it. If it turns out to be a shed then I don't mind walking away and finding a diesel. I'll actually get more use out of a diesel

ronsealdeath said:

Check for black death in oil filler, white smoke on startup is hg possible. Check condition of ign system start it cold dont hit the gas. Should have an ign service regular on rv8. Check if its hunting on idle and make sure it's not got abs its a little annoying
If it idles and misses a bit it needs a goid service with genuine ign parts not cheap.
Make sure it feels quick and if you can check compression ( a big ask!)
Rust everywhere even under waxoyl

Click to expand...

Thanks for this. As I said, when it comes to mechanics I'm as dumb as they come. What is the Black Death?

Rv8 is a good engine but they need frequent oil changes to stay clean and to avoid the oil sludging up. The black death is the sludge and carbon deposits you get from poor servicing regime. Open oil filler and check inside with a small torch. Should be a light colour and not encrusted or gummed up. You can clean them out with some decent oils and a few thousand miles but the bad ones are terminal. Unfortunately an rv8 in this state will have worn cams and followers and probably xs wear on major friction surfaces.
Most over about 120k on original cam and lifters will be well worn and will have lost power. Oil changes should be 6k intervals to keep one tip top. If the cams been changed but not the lifters, both are junk. Needs to be done together.
Is it a carb? If so, this is good! A 5 speed lt77 carbed v8 is a good combo and lots of fun. I dunno if discos had the zf auto that my rrc had but these wear out after 100k plus. See if it holds on a hill in D. A good oil change can do a lot for any box but both are cheap second hand. Lt77 is a bit agricultural. Check for backlash in drivetrain; accelwrate in 3rd then let off gas quickly, any clunking is a problem. Same if there is slack when taking up drive in low gear. Could be gbox, uj's, diff wear but most likely a frame bushes or balljoint.
Check for vibration when doing higher speeds, can mean needs ujs.
Good luck v8s are awesome I miss mine very much. But my 300tdi is far more practical and reliable even whem abused a bit. Rv8s dont like being left unserviced and suffer more than 300tdi would for example. Just expect to have to spend money on her and buy accordingly!

On my 3.5 RRC the cam went at the 110k miles mark and that vehicle was serviced twice a year at the supplying main dealer so cleanish oil all it's life, changing the cam plus the other bits was around £1000. The vehicle was sold soon after that as it starting to over heat.

ronsealdeath said:

Rv8 is a good engine but they need frequent oil changes to stay clean and to avoid the oil sludging up. The black death is the sludge and carbon deposits you get from poor servicing regime. Open oil filler and check inside with a small torch. Should be a light colour and not encrusted or gummed up. You can clean them out with some decent oils and a few thousand miles but the bad ones are terminal. Unfortunately an rv8 in this state will have worn cams and followers and probably xs wear on major friction surfaces.
Most over about 120k on original cam and lifters will be well worn and will have lost power. Oil changes should be 6k intervals to keep one tip top. If the cams been changed but not the lifters, both are junk. Needs to be done together.
Is it a carb? If so, this is good! A 5 speed lt77 carbed v8 is a good combo and lots of fun. I dunno if discos had the zf auto that my rrc had but these wear out after 100k plus. See if it holds on a hill in D. A good oil change can do a lot for any box but both are cheap second hand. Lt77 is a bit agricultural. Check for backlash in drivetrain; accelwrate in 3rd then let off gas quickly, any clunking is a problem. Same if there is slack when taking up drive in low gear. Could be gbox, uj's, diff wear but most likely a frame bushes or balljoint.
Check for vibration when doing higher speeds, can mean needs ujs.
Good luck v8s are awesome I miss mine very much. But my 300tdi is far more practical and reliable even whem abused a bit. Rv8s dont like being left unserviced and suffer more than 300tdi would for example. Just expect to have to spend money on her and buy accordingly!

Click to expand...

Many thanks for all your input, your explanation of things to check would make it very easy for me to notice any issues I'm sure.

Unfortunately though, just yesterday the clutch started slipping in the wife's Insignia and now today it has gone into limp mode with a suspected turbo problem so my hard earned money is going to have to be spent getting that fixed!!!! The only upside I can see is that the car broke before I went to see the disco as we'd be up the proverbial creek for sure if I'd of bought it.

Totally gutted because with one owner and fish I'm sure it was going to be a cracker