Do I have traction control and central locking?

[isuzurover]

OK, these are definitely a noob questions, however I have only ever owned "real" landrovers before :wasntme: (just kidding).

I bought a 300Tdi Disco1 manual for my better half to drive. I believe it is a 1997 model and has 2x SRS airbags, ABS and alloys fitted as standard.

1. Should it have ETC and HDC? (I searched but nothing turned up surprisingly)
2. I assume it should have had central locking originally (certainly doesn't now)? If so, where should I start looking for the problem?
3. The heater matrix leaks - how easy is it to replace (I am guess ing hard as it was disconnected), and any tips or how-to threads.

Thanks, and I am sure I will be along with more questions later... It is quite nice to drive, if gutless compared to the 4BD1T.

[loanrangie]

These were only available on the D2 at least ETC, not sure about HDC.

[isuzurover]

These were only available on the D2 at least ETC, not sure about HDC.

Ahh - OK. That rings a bell.

Has anyone managed a retrofit? After all - the sensors and actuators are there, so I assume there is just some software/hardware missing?

[nice1guv]

OK, these are definitely a noob questions, however I have only ever owned "real" landrovers before :wasntme: (just kidding).

After a first comment like that :mad: I probably shouldn't even bother helping you.

1. No D1 had traction control or hill descent (they both started from the D2).

2. Depending on model, it may or may not have central locking, they certainly all didn't get it.
Did you get any remotes with it? Check the battery in there first.
Even if the remote doesn't work, they usually will still centrally lock from the key in the driver's door.
If not, I would pull the drivers door card off and have a look for a central locking motor on the locking mechanism.

3. I haven't done it, but believe a leaking heater matrix isn't that bad to replace.
See this tutorial: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-tutorials/82846-replace-heater-core-quicker-than-radiator-d1-softdash-rr.html

With a few tweeks it should move along quite nicely.
First thing to check is the slack in the accelerator cable.

:D

[isuzurover]

Did you get any remotes with it?


Even if the remote doesn't work, they usually will still centrally lock from the key in the driver's door.


3. I haven't done it, but believe a leaking heater matrix isn't that bad to replace.
See this tutorial: http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-tutorials/82846-replace-heater-core-quicker-than-radiator-d1-softdash-rr.html

With a few tweeks it should move along quite nicely.
First thing to check is the slack in the accelerator cable.

:D

Thanks - no remotes/fobs with the key. However I expected that by the mid 90s at least there would be central locking liked to the driver's door??? Seems not the case?

Thanks for the links.

[woko]

if its a 97 model it should have central locking, maybe not a remote but should have central locking
its more than likely got the door actuators burnt out (its common).
cheapest way is to replace with a aftermarket central locking kit.

[101RRS]

All updates on should have had key and later fob operated central locking. No TC, HDC.

Garry

[Casper]

OK, these are definitely a noob questions, however I have only ever owned "real" landrovers before :wasntme: (just kidding).

I bought a 300Tdi Disco1 manual for my better half to drive. I believe it is a 1997 model and has 2x SRS airbags, ABS and alloys fitted as standard.

1. Should it have ETC and HDC? (I searched but nothing turned up surprisingly)
2. I assume it should have had central locking originally (certainly doesn't now)? If so, where should I start looking for the problem?
3. The heater matrix leaks - how easy is it to replace (I am guess ing hard as it was disconnected), and any tips or how-to threads.

Thanks, and I am sure I will be along with more questions later... It is quite nice to drive, if gutless compared to the 4BD1T.

No TC or HDC and I don't know why you need it, they are not quick enough on acceleration to need TC and just put it in 1st low on hills and release the clutch and feel all the Patrols and Landcruisers run into the back of you.

Worst case scenario when you have ABS you can ride the brakes a little going down hill to regulate your speed going down hill or a couple of handbrake clicks also works.

It will have central locking, but the drivers door is the only actuator lock so if that fails the whole lot do.

Even some of the fob ones only activated the drivers door and that did the rest so just check the drivers door actuator.

Heater core is a pain but isn't rocket science, even a County or Deefer owner could do it :p

Cheers Casper

[isuzurover]

No TC or HDC and I don't know why you need it,

I don't care about HDC and consider it too fast to be useful. However a 4x4 without traction "aids" (diff locks, TC, LSD) is really only a 2WD when the going gets tough enough.

[Casper]

I don't care about HDC and consider it too fast to be useful. However a 4x4 without traction "aids" (diff locks, TC, LSD) is really only a 2WD when the going gets tough enough.

Doesn't matter though as if you really want to go in the tough stuff your more than likely to go get some diff locks, lift it up a bit, put some bigger bags under it etc any way, some of which will pretty much render the electronic aids irrelevant.

Nothing wrong with them if they are there but I personally don't know enough about a TC system to be able to retro fit it and would prefer a couple of grand cash and the nuts and bolts of a couple of ARB air lockers and a good compressor.

It's like road tyres, great for what they are made for but crap when the going gets rough so you get off road tyres.

Cheers Casper.

[German Grüner]

Take in mind that ETC is an aid involving brakes, so it is not a complete aid...
Suspension travels, short tail, high clearance from D1 are enough good so you will not miss it at the start.

Central locking:
Check drivers door lock, or, less work, check behind glove box in search of a genuine alarm module. If present, you can work to get alarm, remote, inertia switch, etc..

Regards

[isuzurover]

Doesn't matter though as if you really want to go in the tough stuff your more than likely to go get some diff locks, lift it up a bit, put some bigger bags under it etc any way, some of which will pretty much render the electronic aids irrelevant.

Nothing wrong with them if they are there but I personally don't know enough about a TC system to be able to retro fit it and would prefer a couple of grand cash and the nuts and bolts of a couple of ARB air lockers and a good compressor.

It's like road tyres, great for what they are made for but crap when the going gets rough so you get off road tyres.

Cheers Casper.

TC + LSDs (EG Truetrac) is at least 95% as good as lockers (ARB etc...).

The reason I was asking was if the vehicle had TC, then 2x TT LSDs is a simple and cheap way to make the vehicle much better.

Lifts and big wheels do not render TC irrelevant.

I prefer manual lockers, but TC certainly has its place. Sam/Strangerover proved in some of his comp vehicles that TC+LSD was easily a match for the ARB or Detroit locker crowd.

[POD]

I have a 97 Discovery series 1, have just deregistered it and am starting to dismantle it. No offense to the disco lovers out there, but it is certainly no Rangie.
This car had central locking fitted but was not working when I bought it- here's what I discovered (pun intended);
All of the actuators except the one in the driver's door are just passive gear-driven gadgets with a small electric motor. The one in the driver's door is the master actuator. The master actuator has a bit of solid-state circuitry in it that acts as a timer, there are 2 little switches in it that sense position. When the master actuator is unlocked by the key, it trips one of the microswitches and sends current to all the other actuators so that they also unlock. The timer circuit cuts this current off after approximately 1 second. When the timer bit dies, the master actuator will continue to feed power to the other 4 actuators until all the smoke leaks out of them and they no longer move.
I was fortunate enough to have a few slave actuators lying around that had stripped gear teeth but good motors with the smoke still in them, so I just had to buy a working master actuator and repair the others. Aftermarket central locking is probably cheaper than buying a full set of 2nd hand genuine ones.

[Jojo]

A bit late for a reply to this post but better late than never. Everything of importance has been said already, so I'll confine myself to just a few add-on comments.
If you mean CDL with central locking, then, yes, the D1 had this feature as well (but, as said, no of the other gadgets, hence no "three amigo"-feature with D1s). No easy easy to retro-fit unless you also find an ECU out of a more recent vehicle.
Central locking for the doors was standard from 1994 (IIRC) on five door models, but has sometimes been disabled due to faulty motors and other electrical problems (now, how do I know this...). You most likely will have to replace at least one of the motors (most likely the control unit in the driver's door) but check for a blown fuse first.
Two door models had optional central locking. Key fob operation was only available from 1997 (IIRC) onwards. Hope this helps...

Cheers