Just hit a kangaroo in my 1 week old D3 at 100km/hr.....

[Russrobe]

Well the title says it all. Was 15km out of Margaret River, on the Landys maiden voyage, saw a roo on side of the road hit the brakes but of course BANG... too late. Stupid things

Devastated.

But in true Land Rover style i shoved the airbags back in and drove off 15kms to the nearest hospital. Had no coolant left as radiator got hit. Temp guage didnt go over half though so hopefully all okay, was only 19 degrees outside.
Had no reception so no choice really...

Windscreen smashed. Grandad was in the passenger seat and copped a piece of plastic in his eye from the air bag. Stupid thing nearly sent him blind. Just scratched it.

Sorry no pics. Couldnt get any. He's gone on a tilt tray.

[Russrobe]

Just hit the grille missed the bonnet completely hit the windscreen and then flew about 50M and landed 20M infront of me, after id stopped! Lucky there wasn't a car oncoming as it landing just off the road on the opposite side

[Russrobe]

110km/h speed limit i reckon i hit it at 100 as i had barely any time to hit the brakes.

[alien]

Sorry to hear this, hope your grandad heals quickly.
The airbags obviously did their thing as your both here to tell the tale.

As bad as it sounds it's good you didn't try to serve at speed.
There are many cases of horrific injuries or worse as vehicles have rolled into drains ect avoiding wildlife.

It will be interesting to see what the insurance company do.

[justinc]

Yes as Kyle said thank goodness you didn't touch that steering wheel..😮😮.

Hope your grandad is ok after all this. Best wishes to you 2 for speedy recoveries.

In the end it is only a car and can be replaced.

Jc

[Disco-tastic]

Mate thats terrible. Glad you and your grandad are ok. Hope the car can be fixed - it looked like a fine example - and you're back on the road soon.

Cheers

Dan

[cafe latte]

Sorry to hear this, hope your grandad heals quickly.
The airbags obviously did their thing as your both here to tell the tale.

As bad as it sounds it's good you didn't try to serve at speed.
There are many cases of horrific injuries or worse as vehicles have rolled into drains ect avoiding wildlife.

It will be interesting to see what the insurance company do.

Very true, I have been in the urban firies for about 6 months and already seen some horrible accidents, you dont want to roll a car even a 4x4 as it is amazing how badly they hold up when they go on their roof. Too many people swerve for roos, it is instinct to I suppose, but swerving thing will end a lot worse that hitting it square on.
Chris

[incisor]

Unless it comes through the screen and cuts your throat kicking to get out... Lost a mate that way

[Pickles2]

Russrobe, VERY sorry to hear of your misfortune. just had a bit of an issue with Gracie, but nowhere near as serious as yours.
I wish you and your Grandad well, and that vehicle will be speedily repaired.
Regards, Pickles.

[gotaflat]

Bugger mate. Its a real risk when we drive regionally anywhere and in any car.

Disco look after you and your grandad - your still here :) . We live in the wheat belt and I am surprised we have not hit a roo in a major way (nudged a few). We dont have a roo bar because the wife likes the disco front end and does not want a roo bar... (untill she hits one). :angel:

Hope you all recover ok...
did the roof get damaged and or A pillars when roo hit windscreen? that usually ends the life most vehicles unfortunately.

[RHS58]

Unless it comes through the screen and cuts your throat kicking to get out... Lost a mate that way

Terrible.

Had a family friend have a horse bum first through the windscreen of his Mini.
Jammed in tight and driver and passenger unhurt but covered in horse****.

[jonesfam]

Sorry to hear, you must be devastated.
Hope it all ends well.


If you drive in the country often I would put a steel bull bar on your wish list.


I have really belted some Roo's driving out to work & my bull bar is looking worse for wear but the car is all good.


Jonesfam
PS The "Don't Swerve!" thing takes a lot of self control.

[Russrobe]

Bugger mate. Its a real risk when we drive regionally anywhere and in any car.

Disco look after you and your grandad - your still here :) . We live in the wheat belt and I am surprised we have not hit a roo in a major way (nudged a few). We dont have a roo bar because the wife likes the disco front end and does not want a roo bar... (untill she hits one). :angel:

Hope you all recover ok...
did the roof get damaged and or A pillars when roo hit windscreen? that usually ends the life most vehicles unfortunately.
Im hoping fingers crossed the A pillars fine. Roofs untouched bonnet has small dent cracked radiator cracked plastic front grille but bumper looks fine. Looks like it hit dead centre of the grille bounced hit the windscreen then went flying forwards.

Only tell tale sign if a pillar damage is the passenger sunvisor is slightly off to the right so you have to squeeze it into final position. Hopefully thats just a bent bracket as it was down...

Grandad is ok thanks god he only has one eye and that was the one that got hit and scratched.

Happens so fast i didn't even see the roo hit.

Straight to Joondalup Smash Repairs. Wouldn't trust anyone else to touch it.

[Russrobe]

Unfortunately as much as i know airbags do save lives, in our case they did more damage than good. Neither of us was flung forward enough to touch it and they nearly as in came within 2mm of sending the passenger totally blind.

[Ean Austral]

Unless it comes through the screen and cuts your throat kicking to get out... Lost a mate that way


Yep , lost a friend when an emu did the same thing.


Cheers Ean

[shanegtr]

Unfortunately as much as i knk5w airbags do save lives, in our case they did more damage than good. Neither of us was flung forward enough to touch it and they nearly as in came within 2mm of sending the passenger totally blind.
From what I've read minor eye injuries are common when airbags go off - especially since most of them inflate quicker than our reaction time to blink or shut our eyes. Must have been a decent hit to the roo to trigger the airbags as a lot of animal strikes (cattle excluded :) ) that I've read about are not enough to trigger them.

[Russrobe]

Seems there was a plastic plate covering the airbag underneath the dash that should come out whol bit ours shattered and a little chunk of plastic is what did the damage.

That's crazy about the legs kicking once through the windscreen. Would never have thought of that.

Thank god it wasn't a massive roo and that Land rovers glass seems stronger than average.

[TerryO]

Sorry to hear what happened, hope your grandad heals up quick.

Regarding the engine and driving with no water in the radiator, just because the temp gauge didn't budge doesn't mean the engine is not cooked. Personally if I was you I would be hoping they write it off.

[Russrobe]

Yeah I'll get the mechanic to go over it with a fine toothcomb before its repaird Terry. Thanks for the heads up.

[Russrobe]

So anyway, first on the list of mods is now a bullbar!

[Oztourer]

Sorry to hear what happened, hope your grandad heals up quick.

Regarding the engine and driving with no water in the radiator, just because the temp gauge didn't budge doesn't mean the engine is not cooked. Personally if I was you I would be hoping they write it off.

That's how my engine cooked. No indication of over temperature until it was too late. I still need to figure out why. Wishing you all (Disco included) a speedy recovery.

[Russrobe]

Yeah, for the gauge not to rise above it's normal temp... Strange. It was definitely getting hot mine that is. I pulled over a couple of times and turned it off before idling to 80kmh(1500rpm) again. It was still leaking coolant this morning so there was still coolant in the system. Just hopefully enough.... Gauge is useless i'd say...

[jonesfam]

Try a Scan Gauge2.
Cheap enough & gives real time Temp readings.
Jonesfam

[schuy1]

Standard vehicle temp gauges will not give a true indication unless the probe has water around it. For it to stay low like that means there was no water to convey heat for it to read. And x 2 get a 'bar, beats the hell out off sitting on the side the road :D or worse. Glad you are all oki :)
It seems the newer cars airbags go off a lot easier than early models do.I know of an early model jackeroo that hit some big roos and the bags never deployed, yet when he upgraded to a later model they went off on a small wallaby!
As for hitting them, I hit a roo in the old valiant ute, He hit the bonnet, then the top of the screen and ended up in the back with all our swags and stuff! made a bit of a mess in his death throes!
Cheers Scott

[Russrobe]

Thanks schuy i was guessing it would run off coolant temp but wasn't sure. Mate this thing flew over 50M forward. Insane. Should have got a pic of just how far infront of the disco is landed after we had braked but i was a bit shaken up. Never hit one or had airbags go off before. I had to look aroubd to make sure that was what id hit as i didn't even see it jump.

[Russrobe]

Plus 6Metres to the right

[LandyAndy]

Sounds like you and your passengers were very lucky.
I doubt they will fix your pride and joy,too much risk of engine damage,plus airbags are expensive to replace.
I had 3 near misses between here and Perth with my brand new at the time D4.Since fitting the bar the most Ive had to do is tap the brake pedal to turn the cruise off when seeing wildlife.Not even daring me to take them on.
Many city people lobby against bar work,they dont realise that they are a must have in country areas.
You want to try travelling to Perth at 5am at the moment,no water in the bush so the roos are out in force licking dew off the road.At least they are flighty at that time of the morning and head for the bush,you have more chance of collecting an overnite roadkill from a roadtrain than getting a live one.
Andrew

[Stuart02]

Standard vehicle temp gauges will not give a true indication unless the probe has water around it. For it to stay low like that means there was no water to convey heat for it to read.

Yeah I had a root go through the radiator of a Prado I was driving once. Coolant dropped out so fast the temp gauge never budged. By the time I noticed it was losing power, the plastic engine cover looked like a cheese toasty. Oh well!

[Russrobe]

Well before this thread dies it needs pictures of the awesomeness that is, the South West of W.A. Never get sick of this place. If my Disco doesn't make it back to the driveway(touch wood it does), I at least know after my short 550km journey that there's no other 4x4 i'd rather own and I will be back in another in no time.

[PerthDisco]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune and even more amazed to hear of Roos and Emus gouging your throat out! That would not be fun.

We were down at Hamelin Bay over the weekend.

I have done that road through MR many times sans roobar and have seen many many roos on the side of the road particular close to built up areas regardless of fencing. Sue's Road a particular worry and I will not travel on it at night due to lack of mobile coverage.

Here's some photos of our weekend. Hit Bob's Track and Boranup Beach (with several dozen 4WD's) and was pleased to see a convoy of tricked Disco 4s and Defenders including a 6 wheeler on the beach on the Sunday. Track has become hugely rutted and rocky but a dream in Rock Crawl for first half.

Daughter took a good one of car and kelpie!

When you are back up and running I recommend the run a bit further south from Yeagarup Dunes back through Black Rock. A huge day but epic coastline. Anyone driven the beach all the way south from Yaegarup through to just before Windy Harbour?

[BobD]

I was also at MR caravan park over the weekend. We did a trip to Walpole and Broke Inlet on the Sunday via a road that crosses Sues Rd and runs from Rosa Glen to Nannup and on to Manjimup. Very nice drive and a great day. Just missed a mother roo and her youngster south of Manjimup at about 12:00pm in broad day light.


Been down Bob's track several times since Christmas. Now very rocky and rutted and a nice drive. The beach is usually soft and great fun. I always seem to pull out someone who hasn't let their tyres down. My daughter and her Partner live in Vasse so we often visit.


I actually had someone in a white D4 wave back to me on Sunday. Maybe it was one of you guys that went south for the weekend?

[jonesfam]

I would have thought a D3 or D4 would go into limp mode if there was a loss of coolant?
Or if not from coolant loss wouldn't the ECU have temp sensors separate to the Temp Gauge that would activate limp mode?
Where does a Scan Gauge get it's temp readings from? The ECU? Is it the same sensor as the Temp Gauge?


BTW My only experience of loosing coolant was in an XT 302 ute, the Temp Gauge went down to nearly 0 because there was no coolant in the system so I twigged something was wrong. Funny how an 18 year old idiot can have a brain at times.


Jonesfam

[PerthDisco]

Been down Bob's track several times since Christmas. Now very rocky and rutted and a nice drive. The beach is usually soft and great fun. I always seem to pull out someone who hasn't let their tyres down.

Due to the rocky section I keep tyres at road pressure and find the beach north of the access point is a doddle (winter and summer) as so many tyre tracks to stay on.

Last year we (foolishly) ventured for a look south of the access ramp and the three of us quickly sank in the loamy sand as the beach narrows which also presents the problem of how to turn around. After much digging and 12psi, Rock Crawl and Super Lift Mode the Disco was the only one that could get mobile to pull out the Prado and Navara to my great amusement.

Stay North!

[Russrobe]

I would have thought a D3 or D4 would go into limp mode if there was a loss of coolant?
Or if not from coolant loss wouldn't the ECU have temp sensors separate to the Temp Gauge that would activate limp mode?
Where does a Scan Gauge get it's temp readings from? The ECU? Is it the same sensor as the Temp Gauge?


BTW My only experience of loosing coolant was in an XT 302 ute, the Temp Gauge went down to nearly 0 because there was no coolant in the system so I twigged something was wrong. Funny how an 18 year old idiot can have a brain at times.


Jonesfam
Jones i wish thats what the gauge did for me. Unfortunately it sat in exactly the norm position about halfway. But there was still coolant in the system so injust have to hope that there was enough to do its job. It was still dropping coolant 12hours later the tow truck driver told me...

[Graeme]

For future reference, if coolant is escaping and the vehicle has to be driven then loosen the radiator cap to prevent pressure build-up so as to reduce the coolant loss rate, but tighten it again once stopped.

[Russrobe]

For future reference, if coolant is escaping and the vehicle has to be driven then loosen the radiator cap to prevent pressure build-up so as to reduce the coolant loss rate, but tighten it again once stopped.

Graeme, I noticed it stopped leaking when I started the engine back up. Hopefully whatever was left saved it.

[Russrobe]

Unfortunately got the bad news yesterday=(

Take note to anyone who drives a D3 in the country, hit a roo front on without a bull bar and don't ever expect to see your car again.

I for one will be buying a ARB or OL bar before I leave the suburbs ever again.

Looked at by assessor yesterday, towed to auctioneers today.

Just waiting for the payout before i start shopping again...

[~Rich~]

Is the most damage on the inside when the airbags went off?
Does not look that bad on the outside!

Seems a shame to write it off. :(

[Russrobe]

No damage inside accept for airbags and top half of dash replacement for the airbags.

Bill came to $18 000. Market Value is approx what i paid, $25,000 for a HSE v8.

They take into account residual value which is $9000.

$25 000- $9000 residual gives a max repair cost of $16,000... Was just over.

Airbags was where most of the value goes. Then the dash and the radiator and aircon condenser.

Bugger all damage really. I was sure they would fix it until yesterday...

[Marty110]

interesting - so was it judged an economic writeoff then? My dads Disco was assessed as going to cost more to repair than it was worth and he just opted to pay the difference himself, around $3k, and have the car repaired as it was what he was used to driving and he loved it.

[Ean Austral]

If it's an economic write off means it auctions under s repairable write off so nothing stopping you buying it at auction.

I was at an auction 2 weeks ago d3 HSE was same $32000 to repair so economic write off, sold as a repairable write off for $3300.

Cheers Ean

[Russrobe]

All depends on what it goes for on the day of auction i suppose. If it sells for Under $5000 it's worth buying, but if it goes for anything above that then by the time you spend the $18000 to repair there's not much leftover.

Have to take into account that any sort of written off vehicle is going to show up in inspection reports which will make it harder to sell also later on....

My last car had been a repairable write off before i purchased it and i was fine with it as it had been done properly and was straight and drove great, but i paid $5000 less than any other of the same spec on the market.

And when it came time to sell i had to do the same, which was fine for me as i'd already picked it up cheaper....

[BobD]

Yours looks good but with the doubt about the engine it would be a big risk, unless you know it is completely undamaged and isn't about to blow a head gasket due to being overheated.

[Disco-tastic]

Thats a shame russ. It really doesnt look that bad. If you're handy with the tools it sounds like you could fix most of that yourself - the dash would probably be the hardest part.

Or if it comes up cheap buy it and sell (or keep) as parts. The transmission would be worth $4k or $5k alone.

Best of luck finding a new one.

Cheers

Dan

[Russrobe]

Yeah as Bob said, I've just got the possibility of engine damage on the back of my mind. If i didn't have to drive it that distance I'd be far more keen on fixing it.

Looks like I'm off to NSW or Vic to find a replacement.

[loanrangie]

All depends on what it goes for on the day of auction i suppose. If it sells for Under $5000 it's worth buying, but if it goes for anything above that then by the time you spend the $18000 to repair there's not much leftover.

Have to take into account that any sort of written off vehicle is going to show up in inspection reports which will make it harder to sell also later on....

My last car had been a repairable write off before i purchased it and i was fine with it as it had been done properly and was straight and drove great, but i paid $5000 less than any other of the same spec on the market.

And when it came time to sell i had to do the same, which was fine for me as i'd already picked it up cheaper....

You could repair it for well under 18K i reckon, that would be their recommended repairer's cost but by sourcing 2nd hand parts where possible you could probably halve that estimate.

[TerryO]

Yeah as Bob said, I've just got the possibility of engine damage on the back of my mind. If i didn't have to drive it that distance I'd be far more keen on fixing it.

Looks like I'm off to NSW or Vic to find a replacement.

Russ given it was driven for quite a distance without fluid in the cooling system after hitting the roo personally I think your taking the right approach. How could you ever have faith in the engine?