The Missus demands a Disco... HAAALP

[tony66_au]

My lovely wife keeps me on my toes a lot with cars and her wants and needs (Car related) and now she wants a Disco.

I told her I know nothing about them annd have no desire to learn so she points at the PC and says I was reading that the Series 1 Disco is a good version and based on Rangie chassis and driveline and Id like one of them please.

The "Please" was a bit forceful but im no good at sleeping with an eye open so the search began.

Yup she was right about the RR Classic platform share which is a good thing coz I know Rangies but knowing Landrover I reckon theres more to this than meets the eye.

Id rather and end of series S1 Disco but what are the pitfalls?

And yes, a bit of work is expected.

Suggestions?

Traps for new players?

Cheers,
Tony

[Vern]

Now tony, from looking at you property, you definitely need more cars:p, 10's just not enough:D.
D1 is pretty much the same as late RR classic, drive line and chassis is the same, just gotta find a good one.

[tony66_au]

Ahhhhh theres more than 10 here........, easy double that lol but the scrap bin is looming which will cut that down by 5 or 6 parts cars.

I really have to come up and say Gday one of these days too.

So Jenna was correct in her research!

Her main motivation is to be able to tow and run over wombats without making 11k insurance claims and I suggested that the 4 speed Rangie was a bit too agricultural for her (MINE MINE MINE ALL MINE) so she wants what she wants.

I assume a 3.9 lt efi end of series run would be preferable?

[disco 3 door]

Hi Tony,
My handbrake loves our D1 3 door diesel (even though she won't drive it) manual. She says it has taken us to a lot of out of the way places. You will soon learn the vehicle as it is not much different than the RRC.
Regards Shane.

[pop058]

I have had an 84 and an 88 RRC and Nan hated them both. We now have 96 D1's (one each :D) and she love hers. :)

[tony66_au]

Cheers Shane, Looks like its an option then eh?

I like the Mechanics of the RRC and id prefer a later Rangie but the D1 has its charms. If only they had a fold down tailgate eh?

[bee utey]

If only they had a fold down tailgate eh?
I think women like the short reach needed to load through the big rear door, a tailgate requires reaching over it. My mate's missus has a RAV4 for the same reason.

And perhaps its the perceived shortness (they're not) of the D1 that appeals to women who go in parking lots.

Personaly I much rather the Rangie!

[tony66_au]

Yup, im a Rangie fan over a Disco and there is no logical reason for it.
Jen is nearly 6 foot tall though so im thinking it may be a personal pref after 13 years of owning an RRC for her.

[dullbird]

I think women like the short reach needed to load through the big rear door, a tailgate requires reaching over it. My mate's missus has a RAV4 for the same reason.


And perhaps its the perceived shortness (they're not) of the D1 that appeals to women who go in parking lots.Personaly I much rather the Rangie!


No its because Women think Rangies are bloody ugly and discos are better looking;)...

Rangies are old and musty:D

getting in a rangie feels like going around with yeah mate to her Grandads place and sitting in his unit on the sofa he bought only 40 years before, whilst listening to the clock tick:eek:......

Its awkward!!!:p

[tony66_au]

LOL Yeah yeah, Ok so they are a bit old and musty.

But so am I and she loves me!

[shorty943]

Nothing wrong with the Disco.

There's a pretty neat D1 (pre-update) for sale close to me. I had a quick look over it yesterday.
Deep green gold pinstriping, manual, interior is neat and tidy, pretty low K's for its age.
V8 though, so a bit thirsty. Owners only want 4,500 for it ONO
And no, I don't know them or am getting any kickback, just thought I'd post this for info sake.

[tony66_au]

Ta Shorty, So whats the difference between the Pre and the update version?

Im looking for a 3.9 unless someone can steer me right on the Diesel pitfalls, engine types etc.

I currently drive a turbo diesel as my daily driver (Mondeo) and its a great thing.

My eye was caught by the 2 door Disco's years ago when i drove a mates 2 door oil burner out the back of Gembrook and it was a ripper thing.

[pop058]

IIRC the update happenned in 94.
200TDi changed to 300 TDi.
3.5 to 3.9 for the V8s.
LT77 to R380 for the 5 speed boxes. (not sure about transfer case changes)
radio down in the console (sort of) like RRC to up in the dash.
A few other bits and piece that our learned colleagues will mention I am sure.

HTH

[Saitch]

Just asked my wife her opinion as we've had a few Series, an '85 & '89 RRs & at present she drives a '97 300 TDI auto. For a daily drive the D1 is her preference but off road she preferred the Rangies because they were 5 speed manuals. Just her preference!!
Good Luck with it.
Steve

[tony66_au]

My Rangie is a 4 speed old school version with Zeniths which is pretty much the way i like it, a bit musty but more oily than anything but with great visibility.

I think im beginning to understand her motivation on the Disco now too.

Pop, Thanks for the quick rundown. Id prefer a manual D1 but if it comes down to it an auto will do as well and she happily drives both.

As the weather warms im going to finish the black rangie off and throw it at her for a bit to see if I cant budge her on the Disco but I fear its inevitable that I make her happy Discovery wise.

Tony

[bee utey]

No its because Women think Rangies are bloody ugly and discos are better looking;)...

Rangies are old and musty:D

getting in a rangie feels like going around with yeah mate to her Grandads place and sitting in his unit on the sofa he bought only 40 years before, whilst listening to the clock tick:eek:......

Its awkward!!!:p

Silly me, I was thinking of sensible women...shoulda known...:wasntme:

[disco 3 door]

IIRC the update happenned in 94.
200TDi changed to 300 TDi.
3.5 to 3.9 for the V8s.
LT77 to R380 for the 5 speed boxes. (not sure about transfer case changes)
radio down in the console (sort of) like RRC to up in the dash.
A few other bits and piece that our learned colleagues will mention I am sure.

HTH

Axles changed from 10 spline to 24 spline.
Minor facelift with headlight & grill change.
Both manuals & autos have their fors & againsts. It all depends on what the vehicle will be used for. You will not have the get up & go with the diesel but the fuel economy is 1 tank of diesel to 2 tanks of petrol approx.

[tony66_au]

Axles changed from 10 spline to 24 spline.
Minor facelift with headlight & grill change.
Both manuals & autos have their fors & againsts. It all depends on what the vehicle will be used for. You will not have the get up & go with the diesel but the fuel economy is 1 tank of diesel to 2 tanks of petrol approx.

24 spline good offroad and 10 spline fine for shopping trolley duty I assume?

Are the oil burners all 4 cylinder Turbo? and I assume the TD5 is a series 2 thing.
Im fine with TD anything and what I cant fix "The Amazing Phil" can fix for me as happens more often than not with cars my Wife and kids ride in.

Most towing will be 6 x 4 with 3 or 400 kg but I may chuck a tandem stock crate behind it too from time to time with 2500 kg combined weight.

I know the Rangies behave really well with this driven sensibly and id hope the Disco One would do the same.

I drove one (V8) years ago from Marysville to Melb suburbs and found it a lot of fun in the spur and surprisingly tolerant of hoonish driving sailing in and out of the corners with me flicking the Auto between 3rd and 4th for engine braking in and squirt on the way out of corners (Was my Little Brothers Disco and I was following him home) and I know Jen will do the same given the chance.

The Wife has been on Wiki BTW because her questions are way too informed lol, she isnt giving me wiggle room on this at all and being an optimist im thinking that at least she doesnt want an X5 BMW.........

[disco 3 door]

24 spline good offroad and 10 spline fine for shopping trolley duty I assume?

Are the oil burners all 4 cylinder Turbo? and I assume the TD5 is a series 2 thing.
Im fine with TD anything and what I cant fix "The Amazing Phil" can fix for me as happens more often than not with cars my Wife and kids ride in.

Most towing will be 6 x 4 with 3 or 400 kg but I may chuck a tandem stock crate behind it too from time to time with 2500 kg combined weight.

I know the Rangies behave really well with this driven sensibly and id hope the Disco One would do the same.

I drove one (V8) years ago from Marysville to Melb suburbs and found it a lot of fun in the spur and surprisingly tolerant of hoonish driving sailing in and out of the corners with me flicking the Auto between 3rd and 4th for engine braking in and squirt on the way out of corners (Was my Little Brothers Disco and I was following him home) and I know Jen will do the same given the chance.

The Wife has been on Wiki BTW because her questions are way too informed lol, she isnt giving me wiggle room on this at all and being an optimist im thinking that at least she doesnt want an X5 BMW.........
Hi.
Early Discovery 1 will be 200 tdi which is a 2.5 turbo with intercooler,
Discovery 1 update (1994 on) will be a 300 tdi which a2.5 turbo with intercooler,
Discovery 2 has the td5 which is also a 2.5 turbo with intercooler.

[Pierre]

IMHO, the best D1 combo is 300tdi with auto. Add an additional trans oil cooler. Look at the alpine windows for rust, and the floor as well. All the mechanicals are simple, with the later (VA,WA vins) scoring a quieter transfer case with better gear design.

They are simple, robust and need basic maintenance, just like RRC. Diesel gives about 10l per 100km, a bit more if working very hard. Most examples now over 200,000 km.

We had WA vin in the above spec, and two of the kids have TA vin in the same spec, all with good results. Ours went all over Oz, never failing to proceed. Then we got a D2a (03) TD5, and still got it.

Expect to pay $6k for a good one, and $8k for a mintie.


HTH

Pete

[DiscoMick]

Another vote for the 300Tdi with the four-speed auto. V8s are too thirsty and the manual is too clunky for the city, I reckon. The ZF autos have a good reputation.
D1s are dirt cheap too because they're relatively common. Just make sure its been serviced well and check the front footwells for rust under the carpets.

[disco 3 door]

Rough ones are cheap. Good ones they are starting to ask good dollar & not many good ones advertised on Carsales, Trading Post or internet.

[tony66_au]

Im not fussed if its a roughie if its cheap and id rather spend money getting work done to my standards than trust an unknown mechanic.

My Mechanic is a diesel and hydraulics guru anyway and seriously OCD about his work so id rather he fix it and know its done right.

[SouthOz]

Buy a stickshift car they said - It will be fun they said... - Custom Meme | Make a Meme (http://makeameme.org/meme/Buy-a-stickshift)

Say no more.

Dave

[tony66_au]

Its been a week or so and it seems she has found the Series II's.

The story goes something like this, "Love of my life" (Herein referred to as LOML or Bwana) snuck out and test drove a Series 1 3.9 and then tried out a Series 1 Diesel.
Both cars Auto, under 200,000 km and with good service books by Ritters and ULR so it seems she was paying attention when I explained about good and better workshops.

Neither steed was suitable it seemed and the diesel had a scary lag when she took off and even giving it a mighty but dainty bootfull (Yeah right lol) of loud pedal made little difference so now all of a sudden she was not so enamoured with Series 1.

I have driven early auto diesels and knew what she was referring to re the lag and its not all that bad but the sales woman being a smart cookie steered Loml to the Series II TD5 and she drove a Manual and an Auto and fell in lust.

SO! My problem now is the order has changed to a TD, early 00's and she is toying with the idea of a manual.

She came back raving (Rave.. yeah I know its ominous) about height adjustment etc and although she didnt say EAS I still got chills thinking of the P38, there was also something about electronic brake distribution? which I suspect is a form of brake retardation or similar so one again im in your hands folks.

Main questions are do all the SII have EAS?
Whats the Electronic Brake Force Distribution?
And are there any pitfalls to her choosing a manual over an auto?
She wants one for Christmas which being a sensible girl means I have plenty of time to find what she wants aaaand have no chance of escape.
She also freaked me out coming home with the height of the S II and checking the garage door height with me to make sure she could usurp my car from its garage spot........

So im screwed either way but I will have a new toy to play with and the S II look great.

Thanks in advance and no you cant have my wife.

[Graeme]

Some D2s have rear (only) self levelling suspension (SLS) instead of rear coils but all have coils up front.
EBD is a braking feature that maximises braking by detecting even slight wheel-slip using the wheel speed sensors.

[tony66_au]

SLS I can cope with especially hydraulic with accumulator pods.

And so EBD is an advanced ABS?

[Graeme]

SLS is air, not hydraulic. Some comments from people experienced with SLS would be appropriate although I don't recall much in the way of problems being reported as long as longer shocks aren't fitted without placing a spacer under the air spring to prevent the bag from being pulled off the bottom section when fully extended. I was going to convert my coiler to rear SLS but got a D4 instead to get full air suspension amongst other reasons.

EBD is on top of ABS. ABS prevents a wheel from staying locked whereas EBD increases or maximises the effort of other wheels to compensate.

[tony66_au]

Thanks Graeme, I did a bit of research between posts and the seven seaters I noted tend to have SLS which makes sense.

I don't intend to add a lift kit or similar at this stage so that wont be an issue and rear only sounds good.
I have Benzes with rear SLS (Hydraulic) and its a great system and I have worked on early airbagged S class Benzes as well so knowing its bagged is not such a worry.

The EBD sounds interesting.

Ta,
Tony

[tony66_au]

I must've run over a few chinamen in my travels because the search/research continues.

I found out that the MY99-00 SII has Diff lock bits but no ability to engage as they thought it wasnt needed but couldnt be buggered removing it until 2001 and then put it back in 2003......
So now im looking at a 1999 TD5 Manual with 380 k on the clock for around $8500 on road.

Clean enough with climate control and it seems about right for the money and everything works.

Is the mileage too high?

Obviously Turbo and clutch may be a weak point at these miles but both are replacable.

The other question is can I find a way to use the disconnected Diff lock? I assume its a matter of fitting and hooking up a lever?

I suspect the end of my search is near!

Cheers,
Tony

[ROMAROVER]

just bought a nice d1 auto tdi and drove it back from Sydney great simple car, I have previously had a tdi and before that a nice v8 and 3 x td5 defenders, I gave up on an 80 inch LR as a project idea, as I reckon the d1 is the new restorer choice , my latest one is ok just a few little leaks, should be easy. Great tourer/ off rd champion without costly electronics of later models.

[Basil135]

If the bits are there for the diff lock, then yes, you can get the other bits easily to enable you to engage it from inside the cab.

Rear SLS is great, and the only weak spots are the air-bags themselves, and the compressor. The airbags are cheap enough & easy enough to replace, and I seem to recall that people are re-building the compressor IF it fails.

Of course, the other option for the compressor is a wreckers. ;)

Considering the age of these models now, the mileage is a tad on the high side at 27k per year, BUT that isnt always a bad thing. It could well have been used as a highway tourer, and sat on 100km/h all day long.

I would think any 14yo vehicle is going to need the clutch attended to, if it hasn't been done already. Provided you are ready for things like that, then it sounds good.

Oh, and dont forget the Disco sized bow you will need after you wrap it for Chrissy... ;)

[tony66_au]

If the bits are there for the diff lock, then yes, you can get the other bits easily to enable you to engage it from inside the cab.

Rear SLS is great, and the only weak spots are the air-bags themselves, and the compressor. The airbags are cheap enough & easy enough to replace, and I seem to recall that people are re-building the compressor IF it fails.

Of course, the other option for the compressor is a wreckers. ;)

Considering the age of these models now, the mileage is a tad on the high side at 27k per year, BUT that isnt always a bad thing. It could well have been used as a highway tourer, and sat on 100km/h all day long.

I would think any 14yo vehicle is going to need the clutch attended to, if it hasn't been done already. Provided you are ready for things like that, then it sounds good.

Oh, and dont forget the Disco sized bow you will need after you wrap it for Chrissy... ;)

Thats a good idea lol, Merry Christmas Hon!

Im reliably told that the air compressors failure is usually due to dust ingress and its one area LR didnt quite get right for Aussie conditions, then again im sure they were not designed to last 13 or 14 years anyway so its par for the course.

Id be a bit annoyed if the clutch let go soon after purchase but an attempted low rev 3rd gear takeoff would fairly quickly give me an idea of friction material left anyway.

I do like the SII Update cosmetically but the 99/00 MY seems mechanically competant and im not looking for a glamour ride and neither is the boss because keeping cars clean here in Winter is an exercise in futility anyway.

As always thanks for the info!

Tony

[Homestar]

Another vote for the 300Tdi with the four-speed auto. V8s are too thirsty and the manual is too clunky for the city, I reckon. The ZF autos have a good reputation.
D1s are dirt cheap too because they're relatively common. Just make sure its been serviced well and check the front footwells for rust under the carpets.

Wouldn't have put Mirboo North in the 'City' category myself - unless it has grown substantially since I went to school there...:D

[tony66_au]

Wouldn't have put Mirboo North in the 'City' category myself - unless it has grown substantially since I went to school there...:D

LOL yeah its HUGE!

Sat in bumper to bumper traffic this morning for the15 min trip to Leongatha barely breaking 100 Km per hour although the traffic was lighter on the way back..........

A cog box would be fine around here and on the odd occasion we go to Melb its usually to the Burbs anyway.

[tony66_au]

Looks like I found one and off to check it out this week.

1999 TD5 7 seater manual with 290 k's and full service history.

The only worry is that its had 15 thou services instead of 10k services but a drive should tell.

Im also planing on doing a soft 3rd gear takeoff to check the meat on the clutch plate but im not sure if it applies to Diesels?

[CraigH]

My d2a has SLS and ACE suspension and I love it! The most common thing that seems to go is the air bags will leak due to age. Second thing is if you neglect the air leak your compressor will be working overtime and eventually give up...

Good luck looking

Craig