I bought a 1999 discovery S a couple of weeks ago from a garage and since I bought it within two hours the central locking on the offside front door stopped working (the other doors unlock but not that one) and the gears I've noticed are very different to my previous disco (1995)

It's hard to get it into first, second is a bit iffy and reverse is also a bit of a nightmare. It had a "garage" service when I bought it and the guy said it had a new clutch. I've tried to call him regarding remote locking and he won't take my calls (not happy to say the least)

I have read a lot of threads on here in search of the answer and I want to try and change the gear box oil but I have NO idea how or where to start. I'd also like to try and sort the central locking as it has now stopped locking the offside front door too and when I press the lock button on the fob it makes a bleeping noise which it didn't do before.

If anyone can help, i'd really appreciate it as i want to really look after this one (my others where a bit neglected)

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I hope you can all give me some great advice.

Cheers

It sounds like the gearbox has been filled with the wrong oil. My guess is that EP90 has been used. This is damaging to the gearbox.

Have a read of this. It should help.

http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f16/buying-crock-****-if-you-already-have-76002.html

Cheers Ratty,
I'll be getting on to the company I bought it from (langford garage maldon) and hopefully will get a reply as there is never an answer to my calls.
How do I drain the oil out of the gear box? And how do i fill it back up again?
Also, as the garage I bought it from is a bloody long way away from me, would I be able to get my local garage to fix any problems and bill the original garage?
Callie

the repairs can be done by a garage local to you, it happens quite alot as iirc the repairs have to be carried out to the customers satisfaction and without hinderance or financial cost to the customer. you do need to have the authority from the origional garage before any work can commence tho - preferably in writing so that they cant pull out of the deal. if the gears were stiff when you got it then DO NOT try and fix it, let the garage deal with it - if they find out you have tried to repair anythin then they can blame you for any fault and refuse to carry out any remedial work.

hope you get it sorted, recessions mean garages will argue the toss about anythin to try and save money. long as you argue you should be ok.

When I test drove it I said the gears were very different to my disco and he told me that it's because it had a new clutch and being that I know nothing, I believed him. I didn't have any problems engaging them but they are spaced out very differently to what I've got used to.
It's only been the last week that the gears have really started to play up. I'm going on holiday on Friday so i am going to have to wait until I get back to get it sorted, am I going to cause any damage?

I have emailed the garage I bought it from and we will go from there. My husband is in sales so he can be very persuasive so I'll let him do the talking lol.

Thanks for all your great advice
So glad I found this site!

Callie

Anyone person or company that sells vehicles for profit has to by law provide a warranty for the vehicle, unless it is sold as scrap and you recovered the vehicle on a trailer(this dosn't sound like your case)

Sometimes you will be given a warranty book with items listed that are covered...this is rubbish and is a mechanical insurance policy for the dealers benefit not yours(it lets them claim money back for repairs on said items)

Any vehicle sold by a dealer has to be fit for use and i'm sure any judge will agree with you that you expected to have a reasonable use of the vehicle before any items would need replaceing, even consumables like brake pads and exhursts.

The gearbox problem may be related to the clutch perhaps? maybe its needs bleeding and it not dis-engageing properly. The clutch pedal should not feel spongy

Yeah I also discovered quickly after buying it that the front lamp washers don't work and neither do the front fog lights (both were advertised on the spec of the car)
I am not very happy at the moment with the garage that sold it to me and have e mailed them but not got anything back as yet.
I feel like a bit of a mug for not checking these things first and for believeing the guy when I queried the gears. The clutch is not spongey but quite stiff.

ho god... that sounds like a bit of a nightmare there...

if the MOT your disco currently has was done by the same garage, I would check every single area that is prone to rust... just in case.
They might have given it a dodgy MOT so it could be sold and next time you go for MOT you'll find all kinds of areas covered in rust holes...

The MOT wasn't done by the same garage (but I'm sure the garage owner "knows" the MOT garage but the service that was done was done by the garage I bought it from. I have no doubt that it was a dodgy service and not a full one like I expected. When I got it home and looked through the books, I have loads of reciepts for a car that isn't mine! I'll be going off on one at the garage soon if I don't get an answer from them soon!