Hi Folks,
I went to view a 2001 Disco 2 (150k) that is being sold by a dealer. It was a trade in that is being sold on with no warranty etc for 2k Euro (Ireland). The body and chassis are in good condition, very little rust a very clean car, described as mint condition by the seller which is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration. I gave the car a very good inspection, had it up on a ramp and was impressed with the condition.

I took the car for a spin and initially I was happy with the handling, car felt tight, engine sounded good, but when I took out on the open road and drove faster and went up and down through the gears there was some noise when I transitioned between gears (grinding). It was as if the synchromesh was out on all gears. I was able to avoid the gear noise by double clutching. I was surprised that this noise effected all gear transitions (ie first to second, second to third, and so on ). When I previously encountered synchromesh issues in other cars it usually effected one gear transition in specific (eg forst to second). Is this gearbox knackered or could it be an issue with the clutch?

I very much like the disco 2 and was delighted to find this very clean item for sale. I am thinking worse case scenario I can get a rebuilt clutch. The car does not have its service history details so I should probably get the timing belt changed also given it mileage (150K).

Or is this a deal I should walk away from?

Double de clutching will make changing gear on a iffy gearbox better. Only after an inspection of the internals will u know if there is a problem, but if not and it turns out to be a faulty clutch the gearbox still has to be removed.

Are u sure the clutch is dis-engaging? Also both petrol and diesel D2 engines have a timing chain.

Thanks, it is possible that the clutch is not fully disengaging. This issue was only noticeable when I took the car on the open road (i did not encouter the problem when driving slowly around the yard of the dealership).

Is there anyway I can easily confirm that the clutch is not fully disengaging?

How much would be looking at if i needed to replace the gearbox, clutch and timing chain?

timing chain doesn't need changing, its there for the life of the vehicle supposidly,
gearbox rebuild and new clutch with possibly a new dual mass flywheel approx £800 if you can do the work yourself or £1300 at a garage

Could be a knackered bias plate and springs.