Land Rover Discovery

[retroray]

I need a bigger car and have been toying with the idea of a land rover discovery possibly more toward the td5.

I understand these can be money pits but does anyone have an experience running one of these?

[discostew38]

Yes and yes

I had a disco 2 V8 top of the range (more things to go wrong)
I sold my BMW E39 touring to replace it with the disco for towing our caravan
First thought on the way home from buying it was "want have I done" the BMW drove so much better
But I got used to it quite quickly i also used ours for green laneing which gave it a second purpose

[optimusprime]

I have an 04 plate Td5 , Gone thru the past 3 Mot’s with no advisories,
Its a non sunroof model, so don't have the leaks to contend with.
Non ace,so don't have to worry about that.
Air suspension on rear, replaced the original bags feb this year, so cant complain to much.

Just keep up with maintenance though,its still a landrover after all!

Chassis rot is the thing to watch out for on these, body is much better than the first gen disco.

[discostew38]

Posted before finishing oops

Problems
The biggest problem you will have now is rust the disco 2 had issues with the rear chassis rusting off mine was still fairly new so it had started but was still good when I sold it

Sunroof leaks
They all will have them or have had them
Very poor design and the drain pipes can become dis attached and the A posts can get blocked so the water ends up coming into the car not outside of it
I removed all the interior on mine water tested everywhere and fixed every leak
Because of the sunroof leak I should think by now body rust may also be an issue

Mine had air rear suspension as with all air suspension and age the bags can leak or pumps can go wrong but it's a simple system and I never had any trouble (and I would keep it on air some people swop it out for springs)

Mine also had "ACE"
It's a hydraulic anti roll bar system for better road handling
This is a fantastic bit of kit things can and do go wrong with them and you can get a bypass kit to fit std anti roll bars
Again I never had a problem with mine and if I did there is no way I would get rid of it

As I said mine was a V8 so very simple and they either work or they don't (linings were the main problem) I drowned mine a couple of times and it just keeps going "try doing that with a diesel"

I know the TD5 has a lot of issues but they are all known about so there is information on how to fix them

Mine was the last of the d2 so it had a diff lock (which didn't work) but I soon fixed that the early models didn't have that

The most common fault was the "three amigos"
Abs/hill decent/traction control lights come on
Main coarse is abs pump or wheel bearings you don't even need to buy the abs pump nowadays as they do a repair kit for it


With all its problems I still thought it was great and I miss it now

[mgmrw]

Following with interest.

I need 1800kg towing capacity, isofix and preferably on cheap insurance as a 3rd car.

TD5 tick all the boxes.

However, my budget is tight... £1500


I've looked at one, that was tatty but serviceable. Seller was a cock and haggling over £50 while refusing a test drive. So I walked away.

Guessing £1500 in td5 disco world is pittance.....

[jaykay]

I had s td5 and i loved it - paid £600 as an mot fail due to welding, sold for £800. Loved it, much better than the 300tdi i bought last year. Looming to buy another this year, i want a nicer one now tho. (Full leather and a decent colour) might look at v8's too.

[optimusprime]

This colour definitely the best!

[optimusprime]

Sept 2, 2018 22:30:31 GMT mgmrw said:

Following with interest.

I need 1800kg towing capacity, isofix and preferably on cheap insurance as a 3rd car.

TD5 tick all the boxes.

However, my budget is tight... £1500


I've looked at one, that was tatty but serviceable. Seller was a cock and haggling over £50 while refusing a test drive. So I walked away.

Guessing £1500 in td5 disco world is pittance.....

I’ve seen some cracking motors for 1500 ....and some right sheds for a lot more........
Avoid the bay of E though ..... they seem to attract a lot of overpriced stuff .....

[gtviva]

I keep looking at these and P38s but having been under a few it all looks very complicated requiring lots of big spanners and special tools?? Do you still have to pull the rear half shafts to change the brake discs on these or am I thinking of something else?

[discostew38]

Sept 3, 2018 17:06:03 GMT gtviva said:

I keep looking at these and P38s but having been under a few it all looks very complicated requiring lots of big spanners and special tools?? Do you still have to pull the rear half shafts to change the brake discs on these or am I thinking of something else?

Having had both (P38 and D2) I'd say buy the disco 
technically the under side of a p38 is the simplest of them all as it runs a more basic 4wd system the rear axle has a panard rod set up like a cortina 
the D1 has a A frame arrangement on the rear and transfer box with lockable diff
the D2 has a watts linkage on the rear and a transfer box that has a diff lock (but it's only connected on the later models) because they had traction control so the diff lock wasn't so important 
the p38 used the BMW diesel or the V8 petrol 
overall the p38 was much more troublesome 



still quite good off road but without traction or lockable diff they get stuck much easier

[optimusprime]

Sept 3, 2018 17:06:03 GMT gtviva said:

I keep looking at these and P38s but having been under a few it all looks very complicated requiring lots of big spanners and special tools?? Do you still have to pull the rear half shafts to change the brake discs on these or am I thinking of something else?

No you don't.
Can change discs and pads easily.

The only thing to keep an extra eye on,is the double Cardon front prop shaft,as they are not greasable ...( yeah great for an off road vehicle) and can be expensive to fix.
Same as the watts linkage on the rear axle, although someone makes a greasable replacement unit for this,however not cheap.( Andrew Knowles, Grove Engineering,on D2boysclub facebook page)

[optimusprime]

Sept 3, 2018 18:08:07 GMT discostew38 said:

Sept 3, 2018 17:06:03 GMT gtviva said:

I keep looking at these and P38s but having been under a few it all looks very complicated requiring lots of big spanners and special tools?? Do you still have to pull the rear half shafts to change the brake discs on these or am I thinking of something else?

Having had both (P38 and D2) I'd say buy the disco 
technically the under side of a p38 is the simplest of them all as it runs a more basic 4wd system the rear axle has a panard rod set up like a cortina 
the D1 has a A frame arrangement on the rear and transfer box with lockable diff
the D2 has a watts linkage on the rear and a transfer box that has a diff lock (but it's only connected on the later models) because they had traction control so the diff lock wasn't so important 
the p38 used the BMW diesel or the V8 petrol 
overall the p38 was much more troublesome 



still quite good off road but without traction or lockable diff they get stuck much easier

Diff lock is not as clear cut as just when the vehicle was built .... it was available as an option on those not fitted, plus some models that were not supposed to have,do, and vice versa .... it looks like the typical ‘just fit whatever was in the factory at the time” Land Rover speciality ......

Oh and you can run with centre diff and traction control ....best of both worlds ....

[mgmrw]

Sept 3, 2018 16:31:31 GMT optimusprime said:

Sept 2, 2018 22:30:31 GMT mgmrw said:

Following with interest.

I need 1800kg towing capacity, isofix and preferably on cheap insurance as a 3rd car.

TD5 tick all the boxes.

However, my budget is tight... £1500


I've looked at one, that was tatty but serviceable. Seller was a cock and haggling over £50 while refusing a test drive. So I walked away.

Guessing £1500 in td5 disco world is pittance.....

I’ve seen some cracking motors for 1500 ....and some right sheds for a lot more........
Avoid the bay of E though ..... they seem to attract a lot of overpriced stuff .....

Yeah, mixed bag. I'll keep my eyes open and see what's about. No rush