darrenwall

darrenwall

New Member
hiya guys first of all its nice to have found a land rover forum online that doesnt charge you a fortune to join and is mostly about series 3 discoverys .
i am due to pick up my first ever discovery tomoro ( monday 19th may ) and i just wanted some advice to make sure i didnt buy a lemon :eek: . first of all its a 1995 ( M reg ) 2.5 TDI 5 door manual and i paid £750 for it with 8 months MOT but i know it has a few faults which i will explain below :( .

1 . it seems very very slow to drive , im a bus driver and i can say that the buses i drive feel faster than it but you can hear the turbo spin up at about 4k revs but very quietly tho and there is no smoke when you accelerate .
2 . there is a noticable clunk from underneath when you change gear or lift off the throttle ( you can make it clunk by going underneath and rocking the front propshaft by hand :confused: )
3 . the clutch feels a bit heavy and the biting point is pretty high , could it just be thats the way hydraulic clutches are ?
4 . the central locking doesnt work , when you put the key in the drivers door it just turns ( no remote with it )
5 . The rear door lower hinge pin has snapped , is it a simple job to replace ?

That seems to be everything so far but who knows untill i pick it up and put a few miles on her . i plan to book it into a local land rover specialist in a few days to have her checked over but any info would be much appreciated . thanks in advance
Darren
 
Check for rust and then more rust oh and look for rust as well. especially sills, Rear Crossmember, and boot floor LIFT the carpets and have a look.

Clunk is probably the propshaft cheap and easily done.
You should be able to get it to 90mph at a push.

The clutch is a bit heavy but even if it's knackered it's not the end of the world.

A new hinge is cheap and easy to change. I don't think the pins replaceable.
 
redhand said:
Check for rust and then more rust oh and look for rust as well. especially sills, Rear Crossmember, and boot floor LIFT the carpets and have a look.

Clunk is probably the propshaft cheap and easily done.
You should be able to get it to 90mph at a push.

The clutch is a bit heavy but even if it's knackered it's not the end of the world.

A new hinge is cheap and easy to change. I don't think the pins replaceable.
Click to expand...

its got a little hole in the one of the rear door sills but under the boot carpet is just slight surface rust . ill have to post some pics very soon .

when you say the propshaft is easy to fix do you mean just renew it or can u change the bearings/ couplings ? thanks
 
darrenwall said:
its got a little hole in the one of the rear door sills but under the boot carpet is just slight surface rust . ill have to post some pics very soon .

when you say the propshaft is easy to fix do you mean just renew it or can u change the bearings/ couplings ? thanks
Click to expand...

You can just replace the UJ or you can buy a new Propshaft. Changing the UJ's is easy if you have a large Vice.
 
you can get a bit more poke out of the engine by tweaking the turbo, cleaning the intercooler and blanking the egr. all these subjects have been covered here a million times..

The clutch forks are prone to wearing through, if it's done alot of town driving it could be on it's way out. as red said not the end of the world, but a weekends job under the car to replace. Bleed/flush the system with new fluid first.

the central locking may just be disconnected. if it's got asn aftermarket immobaliser you may not be able to re-instate it


RUST
RUST
RUST
 
oh! series 3? i've got an r reg 300tdi
i thought it was a series one?
correct me if i'm wrong
 
nickh75 said:
oh! series 3? i've got an r reg 300tdi
i thought it was a series one?
correct me if i'm wrong
Click to expand...

I think he meant the discovery forum he went to that wanted money was full of Series 3 discos. MMHHH wonder which one that was????
 
darrenwall said:
hiya guys first of all its nice to have found a land rover forum online that doesnt charge you a fortune to join and is mostly about series 3 discoverys .
i am due to pick up my first ever discovery tomoro ( monday 19th may ) and i just wanted some advice to make sure i didnt buy a lemon :eek: . first of all its a 1995 ( M reg ) 2.5 TDI 5 door manual and i paid £750 for it with 8 months MOT but i know it has a few faults which i will explain below :( .

1 . it seems very very slow to drive , im a bus driver and i can say that the buses i drive feel faster than it but you can hear the turbo spin up at about 4k revs but very quietly tho and there is no smoke when you accelerate .
2 . there is a noticable clunk from underneath when you change gear or lift off the throttle ( you can make it clunk by going underneath and rocking the front propshaft by hand :confused: )
3 . the clutch feels a bit heavy and the biting point is pretty high , could it just be thats the way hydraulic clutches are ?
4 . the central locking doesnt work , when you put the key in the drivers door it just turns ( no remote with it )
5 . The rear door lower hinge pin has snapped , is it a simple job to replace ?

That seems to be everything so far but who knows untill i pick it up and put a few miles on her . i plan to book it into a local land rover specialist in a few days to have her checked over but any info would be much appreciated . thanks in advance
Darren
Click to expand...

Hi Darren & welcome!! Sounds like you've got a bargain there - ok so there's some work to do, but when you done it, it will be great fun for you.

First thing I would do is give it a full service? i'm hoping that you can do this yourself??

This means, engine oil & filter, fuel filter and VERY importantly, a new air filter. A set of filters can be bought from Paddocks for about £7+vat - cheap eh !!!

Follow the link: Filter Kit - Disco 300TDI

Next change the gearbox, transfer box and axle oils. Unless the vehicle has been really well looked after these oils will be f**ked, so changing them will make it a lot smoother & quieter.

They are not fast cars, but if it feels slower than a bus then something is wrong, but together we can get it going like it should. No probs !!
 
thanks for the quick and helpfull replies . i plan to give her a full service before the weekend ( i took the VERY dirty air filter out on the test drive and she seemed to improve slightly ) and im planning to blank off the EGR valve but what oils are best for engine , gearbox and diffs and approx how much needs to go in each and does the transfer box have a seperate oil supply from the gearbox ? thanks
 
darrenwall said:
thanks for the quick and helpfull replies . i plan to give her a full service before the weekend ( i took the VERY dirty air filter out on the test drive and she seemed to improve slightly ) and im planning to blank off the EGR valve but what oils are best for engine , gearbox and diffs and approx how much needs to go in each and does the transfer box have a seperate oil supply from the gearbox ? thanks
Click to expand...

make sure you got a big enough container for your waste oil, a washing up bowl or one of them 5 litre oil drain/cans wont cut it...!
 
darrenwall said:
thanks for the quick and helpfull replies . i plan to give her a full service before the weekend ( i took the VERY dirty air filter out on the test drive and she seemed to improve slightly ) and im planning to blank off the EGR valve but what oils are best for engine , gearbox and diffs and approx how much needs to go in each and does the transfer box have a seperate oil supply from the gearbox ? thanks
Click to expand...


Re oils, good quality and up to to spec 10w40 for the engine, the gearbox and transfer boxes have separate oils.

Trans box and axles need EP 90 or equiv, gearbox needs MTF94 from memory, or Dexron3. I used EVO1 for the gearbox and EVO2 for the rest.

I get all but engine oils from these people, bit expensive but very good, fully synth oils: Gearbox and Transmission Oils 4x4 Store

Quantities:
Engine inc filter = 6.7ltr
Each axle = 1.7ltr
Tranny box = 2.8ltr (it can vary but this is the max)
Gearbox = 2.7ltr

When you do the EGR valve, don't forget to clean out the intercooler - it makes a difference.

Hope that helps.
Dave
 
darrenwall said:
thanks for the quick and helpfull replies . i plan to give her a full service before the weekend ( i took the VERY dirty air filter out on the test drive and she seemed to improve slightly ) and im planning to blank off the EGR valve but what oils are best for engine , gearbox and diffs and approx how much needs to go in each and does the transfer box have a seperate oil supply from the gearbox ? thanks
Click to expand...


tranny box 2.3-2.8L 90 ep gear oil
gear box 2.7L dexron2
front an rear axle 1.7L gear oil
injun 6.7L 300tdi- 6.9L 300tdi
 
thebiglad said:
Re oils, good quality and up to to spec 10w40 for the engine, the gearbox and transfer boxes have separate oils.

Trans box and axles need EP 90 or equiv, gearbox needs MTF94 from memory, or Dexron3. I used EVO1 for the gearbox and EVO2 for the rest.

I get all but engine oils from these people, bit expensive but very good, fully synth oils: Gearbox and Transmission Oils 4x4 Store

Quantities:
Engine inc filter = 6.7ltr
Each axle = 1.7ltr
Tranny box = 2.8ltr (it can vary but this is the max)
Gearbox = 2.7ltr

When you do the EGR valve, don't forget to clean out the intercooler - it makes a difference.

Hope that helps.
Dave
Click to expand...



erm! looks like ya beat me to it:eek:
 
thebiglad said:
When you do the EGR valve, don't forget to clean out the intercooler - it makes a difference.

Hope that helps.
Dave
Click to expand...

thanks for the quick replies everyone but call me ignorant ( or stupid :eek: ) but how do i clean out the intercooler ? if i have to take it out , is it a big job bearing in mind its got air con so the condensor will be there somewhere ?
 
darrenwall said:
thanks for the quick replies everyone but call me ignorant ( or stupid :eek: ) but how do i clean out the intercooler ? if i have to take it out , is it a big job bearing in mind its got air con so the condensor will be there somewhere ?
Click to expand...

Not such a big job, but do it when you change your coolant.

Fill it with petrol or parrafin overnight if you can, give it a good slosh about. Make sure you dry it and blow out all the fumes before putting it back
 
darrenwall said:
thanks for the quick replies everyone but call me ignorant ( or stupid :eek: ) but how do i clean out the intercooler ? if i have to take it out , is it a big job bearing in mind its got air con so the condensor will be there somewhere ?
Click to expand...
Could start off with doin' a search, it's bin covered a few times before. And welcome BTW;) :D
 
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