Discovery 4 2.7 TDV6- opinions

[kimmo85]

Hi Guys,

New to this here and am hoping for some valuable advice. I am looking at a 2010 model Disco 4 with the 2.7L to buy and I have found one with approx 80,000 kays on clock.

I have tried searching, but wanted to find out the general reliability of this car/engine combination. it has had full service history but I have tried reading up on this with no help.

Is there any issues I should know leading up to 100,000 kays? timing belts? bushes etc? air suspension?

Are they a more reliable engine than the 3.0? Ive been told the 3.0 (especially early models in the D4) are prone to numerous mechanical failures - or is that bull ****?

I will be using the car daily and doing a bit of 4wding at times.

Any opinions, advice etc would be greatly appreciated.

Kim

[LandyAndy]

At 80K time to change the tranny oil/filter.There is a steel pan option which many change over to make futher oil
filter changes easy.At least you have an option of decent tyre sizes compared to the 3.0lt.
Andrew

[kimmo85]

thanks mate!

so no big inherent problems with the 2.7s? I will never tow with it or load it up.

What are the biggest sized Mud terrains I can fit with the suspension -ie. 285 18s?

I have had a few Land cruisers and Patrols in the past but also always had a soft spot for discos. I will not be smashing up unpassable tracks like I did In my cruisers and patrols, but also want something half capable for high country trips etc!

any other advice would be much appreciated!

[Disco-tastic]

Hey kimmo

The 2.7 has a couple of major things that can go wrong.
1- the oil pump housing can Crack and fail, leaving the motor without oil. There is an upgraded part which is much stronger.
2- the high pressure fuel pump has been known to leak which drips diesel onto the hot exhaust, which can cause a fire. I believe there was a recall to have this fixed.

Both are known and there are threads here that have heaps of info on them. Use the search button at the bottom of the web page to search (mobile search is crap in comparison).

The 3.0L motors have had some big end bearing issues, but im not sure if a consistent cause has been identified.

One question: if your not towing or travelling long distances, does it have to be a diesel? A few people here have owned both and say the V6 amd V8 petrols are thirstier however they are cheaper to maintain and are therefore cheaper to run overall.

Cheers

Dan

[cripesamighty]

I think you might find that your D4 does quite ok up those 'impassable' tracks! My sister and bother-in-law sure found that out after going from a GU Patrol to Prado and then lately onto their D4, which ate the other two off-road.

After you get your new beastie, sign up for one of Gordon's driver training courses (gghaggis on this forum runs Green Oval Experience) and he will show you how to get the most out of it. The off-roading booklet he supplies is awesome. Good luck with your choice.

Also, as Dan just mentioned, use the 'search on AULRO' button below to look up pros and cons of diesel/petrol options to suit your requirements.

[LandyAndy]

thanks mate!

so no big inherent problems with the 2.7s? I will never tow with it or load it up.

What are the biggest sized Mud terrains I can fit with the suspension -ie. 285 18s?

I have had a few Land cruisers and Patrols in the past but also always had a soft spot for discos. I will not be smashing up unpassable tracks like I did In my cruisers and patrols, but also want something half capable for high country trips etc!

any other advice would be much appreciated!

Google Green Oval Experience.
Its GGhaggis's on here site.He has a spreadsheet on his website showing all the tyre/wheel combos for the D3/D4/RRS and any modifications required.Whilst there check out his suspension rods for an extra lift off-road.
Andrew

[DazzaTD5]

Being the last of the 2.7lt it should have both the upgraded 3.0lt crankshaft and the later revised oil pump housing. in fact i've not had in a 2.7lt that was in that year model, they have all been the 3.0lt, must be all at that change point I guess.

The D4 is an improvement over the D3, the later 3.0lt D4 is an improvement over the 2.7lt..... I guess...hrm although I change out more secondary turbos on later D4 than i do the turbo on the 2.7lt.

*The handbrake is still crap and expensive when it fails.
*Still changing out failed brake pedal switches.
*Havent changed any door lock actuators on a D4.
*Mark at Autocode is close to a EGR fix for the D4.
*While I've had a few DPF issues on D4s, none have been on any that I do the service work on. (unashamed plug).
*The D4 somehow looks prettier than the D3.
*I think the auto folding side mirrors are going to crap out sooner or later.

All jokes aside, its a good vehicle....

Regards
Daz

P.S maintenance items at that typically 100K havent changed, service the auto, do the lower control arms...

[scarry]

Mine is MY12,so four years old,never had an issue,except for a corner valve,part of the air suspension system.

The D4 2.7 were an improvement over the D3 2.7,different crank and uprated oil pump casing as others have said.

You can run 17' rims if you want on the 2.7.

Just make sure the service history is very good.

The 2.7 spec won't have auto folding mirrors.

EGR blank off is available from Bruce Davis,with or without engine power and torque upgrade.

[kimmo85]

Thank you so much for the fantastic feedback guys! I appreciate it, its good to get on a forum where there is constructive and useful feedback! Even though there are a few things that scare me I think I will get the D4! As much as ive tried Its hard to find anything else that would like in comparison!!

Cheers
Kim

[SimmAus]

It's not called the Permagrin club for nothing...
Awesome vehicle; keeps me smiling like a retard whenever I drive it and walk back to it in the car park.
Don't forget to post a pic - it didn't happen otherwise
;-)

[AnD3rew]

I have a 2.7 D3 which will turn 7 this year, and I have had it from new. And it has about 100k on it.
I have replaced
- lower control arms
- front wheel bearings
- compressor
- alternator
- thermostat housing

I have also voluntarily replaced the transmission pan with the steel pan and flushed and replaced the transmission fluid.

Will need to replace the timing belt this year, it hasn't reached the k's but it needs doing get at 7 years nevertheless.

I regard that as not bad for 7 years and it has done some quite significant tough rocky off-road work and some tough, hot touring towing a camper, so the control arms and bearings are probably related to that. The D4 has an upgraded compressor which hopefully may last longer than the D3 Hitachi ones did.

There are not a lot of mud terrain options, the widest you can go without modifications is 265/60/18. But there are quite a few good AT options. As above Gordon has a great list of options on his GOE site.

[mikeyp]

One thing you may want to look at is induction cleaning, its more about preventative maintenance than any thing but can be well worth it.

Have a read of this it explains it better than i can

Land Rover and Jaguar TDV6 induction cleaning and maintenance - Pickards Automotive | Car Service Centre | British and European Specilists | Melbourne (http://www.pickardsautomotive.com.au/pickards-blog/land-rover-and-jaguar-tdv6-induction-cleaning-and-maintenance)

[Catmatt]

Hi Guys,

New to this here and am hoping for some valuable advice. I am looking at a 2010 model Disco 4 with the 2.7L to buy and I have found one with approx 80,000 kays on clock.

I have tried searching, but wanted to find out the general reliability of this car/engine combination. it has had full service history but I have tried reading up on this with no help.

Is there any issues I should know leading up to 100,000 kays? timing belts? bushes etc? air suspension?

Are they a more reliable engine than the 3.0? Ive been told the 3.0 (especially early models in the D4) are prone to numerous mechanical failures - or is that bull ****?

I will be using the car daily and doing a bit of 4wding at times.

Any opinions, advice etc would be greatly appreciated.

Kim

Gidday Kim,

I have a 2010 2.7l D4 with most of the required after-market accessories to be able to go anywhere and everywhere. I bought it 2nd hand with 52K on it in 2013 and have put an additional 50K on it over a mix of Vic highlands, beach work, mud, snow, river crossings, bitumen highways and now - north Queensland Cape driving with complete reliability.

I have owned a number of Discoveries and had a D2 built for war previous and I can reliably say that the 2.7l D4 walks all over a D2 for comfort, reliability, off-road capability, economy and looks.

The fuel economy is brilliant averaging around 8.2-8.7L/100Ks on the highway pulling a Kimberley camper and rising to 10.5-11.2L/100K off-road.

I have a long range tank fitted and recently drove from Canberra to FNQ pulling my trailer. I left full of fuel, filled up in mid-western QLD and arrived in Cairns needing to fill up so was very impressed!

I have had the ECU reflashed which gives the benefit of having most of the performance of the 3.0L without the increase in fuel consumption and.....had a software fix to negate the EGR valves opening. This is a 'must-do' on all D4s regardless of engine size as the EGR (2 of them) will eventually coke up and stick open significantly reducing engine power and eventually - bringing on limp home mode. Replacing the EGR valves (The recommendation is to do both at the same time) is financially eye-watering at $3000+ so the software fix is worth it and far cheaper!!!

I have also done the steel pan auto conversion to allow regular oil and filter changes. The run-for-life transmission oil and plastic pan used by LR may be a good thing in the cold climate of a EU winter but I just can't agree to using oil for over 100K's while towing in our much hotter climate.

Apart from a K&N serviceable air filter, that's all I have done to this brilliant car and am 100% pleased with the performance and off-road capability.

I was fortunate to score a 2nd set of 17" wheels with the car so have a great choice of tyres for off-roading and a good selection with the 18" standard road tyres.

If your potential vehicle has been dealer serviced then you should have no problems with any recalls and fixes (There weren't that many compared with the later 3.0L D4s)

Finally and depending on how hard you use your D4 - it is a competent, comfortable and dependable vehicle that will take you to the majority of off-the-beaten-track places and bring you back home with ease. Enjoy the hell out of it!!!

[scarry]

Catmatt,that fuel economy,is that the dash read out,or do you work it out yourself?
I work mine out and it is nowhere near as good as that,although the dash read out says it is similar to yours.

The best i have ever had out of mine is 9.2l/100,empty,towing nothing,on a long (600k) run,never going over 100k's.

Maybe your power upgrade/EGR blank off has done the trick:)

is it a Bruce Davis upgrade?

[Catmatt]

Catmatt,that fuel economy,is that the dash read out,or do you work it out yourself?
I work mine out and it is nowhere near as good as that,although the dash read out says it is similar to yours.

The best i have ever had out of mine is 9.2l/100,empty,towing nothing,on a long (600k) run,never going over 100k's.

Maybe your power upgrade/EGR blank off has done the trick:)

is it a Bruce Davis upgrade?

Scarry,
Like you I was a bit sceptical of the dash read-out so got an IOBD dongle that plugs into the OBD port and downloaded the appropriate App onto my smart-phone. It gives me real-time information while driving so allows me to set a benchmark to compare fuel readings as well as make my own calculations with fuel load-V-kilometres travelled and..........I'm pleased to say that the dash readout is as my old grandad would say - "Close enough for amateurs" :-)

The ECU upgrade and EGR fix was a "Quantum Blue Tune" through Steve Smith Motor Pro in Victoria. I sent him the ECU and he turned it around in a day so my vehicle was only disabled for 3 days complete. I think this is what is adding to the improved fuel economy.

BTW - I'm a true-believer in getting straight onto cruise control as soon as the road opens up as the ECU will drive the car far more economically than my right foot and my Kimberley camper has a very low profile and creates minimal drag behind the car.
Cheers M8