Does the Disco Die?

  • Short Engine + New Head + Camshaft, etc., + Labour

    Votes: 5 26.3%

  • Replacement engine from another car

    Votes: 9 47.4%

  • Remanufactured engine

    Votes: 4 21.1%

  • Sell it for spares and call it a day

    Votes: 1 5.3%
  • Total voters
    19
  • Poll closed .
Hugh

Hugh

Member
Grrrr. I have one of those decisions from hell and can't make up my mind. I am waving my indecision in public in the hope I have missed part of the argument.

Our 2003 Td5 has 90K on the clock, is generally in good nick and does everything we asked it to.

  • Then the head failed (a crack round one of the injector ports).
  • Taking the head off revealed a cracked cylinder liner.

I bought a new cylinder head and a short block engine but the engine needs a new camshaft, timing chain, etc.,

My current options are:

A) Short Engine & Head
Pros: Almost a new engine
Cons: Cost of fittings, gaskets, camshaft and labour will be immense

B) Replacement Engine (out of another car)
Pros: Cheaper than a new engine
Cons: An unknown quantity and just as likely to develop the same symptoms.

C) Replacement Engine (Re-manufactured)
Pros: Effectively a brand new engine
Cons: Engine itself + fitting kits, etc., + labour will be more than the car is worth when the work is complete.

D) Walk Away.
Sell it for spares and buy a different car with the money that the others would cost.

Whaddya reckon (and remember my marriage may depend on the answer being right)!

TD5.jpg
 
You can always sell the boat that's behind it and fit a new engine with the money!

Seriously, I would fix it properly and negate the risk of buying somebody else's trouble.
 
Its the last field fixable,(Ish) Disco.... I was in the same situation last year,90,000m TD5 auto with a knackered motor.(Bent rod on #1,sha--ed cam,rockers,big ends and mains) But the head was ok apart from exhaust guides.
I rebuilt mine,cost even to me a decent trade prices was over a grand plus vat.Its a lot of work,but now its a very nice car,goes very well with a remap from 5 Alive etc.I'm hoping it will do another 100,000 with care.
If its not too rusty I think they are worth doing,esp when you see how poorly D3's are going into old age,the repair costs are horrendous....
 
Just had a quick google for NEW engine, £4000, and that's bare, no injectors, alternator etc etc.

Don't know what to suggest.

Phil*
 
If the chassis is good and everything else makes it worth rebuilding into a running vehicle again, then it's worth doing.

Unfortunately the costs of the td5 engine make these a vehicle you have to consider repairing.

D1s are always worth repairing one way or another, d2 hmmm gotta consider, d3 repair costs will make them all scrap sooner rather than later.

I personally would be keener to look at the salvage engine, a bit of a halfway house between bodging back together what bits you've got that still work and going full whack on the reconditioned unit

That way you're not putting too much cash into it

But then again it has to be said it's a vehicle at the end of the day and if you could but another one for less that it will cost to repair this one to a similar standard there is no point

Putting a guaranteed motor in at substantial cost guarantees you the car for a long time

Doing it cheap gets you back on the road cheap

There is a tipping point somewhere in between those two where cost and reliability balance out, you need to find that point ideally!
 
Whatever you decide, don't sell the boat, you will miss using it in the lovely summer! My boat is protected property!!
 
We bought our 1999 D2 V8 with a known problem engine. We wanted 5+ years out of it so fitted a short motor and got all the bodges on the car sorted out.

It will be 5 years in July this year and we are off to Fort William on Wednesday in it, so 930 miles over a couple of days.

It's no good having a car stuck on the drive if it isn't reliable and usable.

Whatever you spend, it will pay itself back if you look at the long term usage and not the resale value, they are two different targets.

I'd repair it, do it properly and look at 5 years or more trouble-free motoring.

As already mentioned, it's the last repairable Discovery, we are looking at the next 5 years out of this one now.

Peter
 
Hugh said:
Grrrr. I have one of those decisions from hell and can't make up my mind. I am waving my indecision in public in the hope I have missed part of the argument.

Our 2003 Td5 has 90K on the clock, is generally in good nick and does everything we asked it to.

  • Then the head failed (a crack round one of the injector ports).
  • Taking the head off revealed a cracked cylinder liner.

I bought a new cylinder head and a short block engine but the engine needs a new camshaft, timing chain, etc.,

My current options are:

A) Short Engine & Head
Pros: Almost a new engine
Cons: Cost of fittings, gaskets, camshaft and labour will be immense

B) Replacement Engine (out of another car) about £1000+
Pros: Cheaper than a new engine
Cons: An unknown quantity and just as likely to develop the same symptoms.

C) Replacement Engine (Re-manufactured) about £1500+
Pros: Effectively a brand new engine
Cons: Engine itself + fitting kits, etc., + labour will be more than the car is worth when the work is complete.

D) Walk Away.
Sell it for spares and buy a different car with the money that the others would cost.

Whaddya reckon (and remember my marriage may depend on the answer being right)!

TD5.jpg
Click to expand...


I would definitely repair the car. The easiest (and therefore cheapest) way to do it is to buy a 2nd hand full engine with all ancilliaries. Find a good 15p engine and drop it straight in.

If you want reassurance go remanufactured engine, but you'll need to use bits off your existing engine.

The cars will be worth nothing without a good engine and is too nice to just give away, imo.

Dave

PS Are you absolutely certain about the cracked liner? If not, it could need just a head and you have bought a new one already, I believe?
 
Last edited:
thebiglad said:
PS Are you absolutely certain about the cracked liner? If not, it could need just a head and you have bought a new one already, I believe?
Click to expand...

Yes, I saw the dye penetrant test performed - a circumfrential crack about half way down.

A second-hand lump is going to go in. Thanks for all the advice!
 
My dilemma was buy a D3 or a low mileage D2 with service history, speaking to a dealer recently and reading on here, thank goodness I went for option 2... 25,000 miles with D2 quibbles is livable in my book, the D3 stories of mot horrors would leave me sleepless
 
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