Thread: Land Rover Discovery 1997 tdi

If you don't know the history of a 'new to you' car, then replace the timing belt anyway.
I'd be replacing the idler pulley(s?) too while it's apart.

You are buying a 14 year old car.
A reasonable assumption would be Yes, money will have to be spend, the amount does vary on how much you will do, the history and state of vehicle and what you expect of above mentioned car.
That model if looked after can be a perfect companion.

I just sold one and I spend a lot of money on it but can tell you that any minute you could have jumped in and driven around this great island of ours.

Timing belts need doing every 80k km's roughly, change all belts and hoses before any mayor trip and keep old ones as spares, make sure radiator is in perfect(not good but perfect) state and has correct fluids.
Install a low coolant alarm, an absolute must and perhaps a EGT(exhaust Gas temperature) gauge. Try to never exceed 720 degree C.

To get a bit more oopmh, I installled a better intercooler, silicone hoses and put it on D-Gas(diesel Gas). Do a search on here and see.
Gives plenty more(20%) torque for vey little input.

Nice cars if the right one comes along, after that you can install snorkel, bull bar, difflock or locks and the list goes on.
A 50mm lift kit is also very common with no adverse affects.

Enjoy

Push the garage to change the timing belt. Make sure they use a proper kit with the cast crankshaft pulley. Bearmach do them, in the UK they are about 80GBP a set which includes everything including a new idler pulley, gaskets etc.

HTH

Ivan

Thanks for that info

Garage said they will be doing a service, will check that they do the timing belt too!

The VIN number is SALLJGMF7VA744141, what belt kit do they need to install? How much is the cost of replacing timing belt anyway?

With much searching Ive also found out that 'Ruby' has a R380 gearbox and engine number starts 18L which means its with EDC. Do these have related problems?

cheers BB

No EDC in Australian delivered Tdi models, the EDC stands for Electronic Diesel Control and refers to the introduction of 'fly by wire' electronic computer controlled fuel injection pump, and EGR system. A good way to ruin a simple and very reliable engine!

JC

I've had my 97 300Tdi Auto for 8 years and near on 200,000kms and I would still be happy to jump in it now and fill it up and drive to WA (with a couple of top ups on the way).

It's comfy, reliable and reasonably fuel efficient though the more additions that are hanging off it the more fuel they use so keep that in mind when doing add ons.

As far as timing belt goes, no garage will see that as a normal service change, it's a fairly major job and one best left to a LR specialist.

As far as not being serviced in 60,000 kms, thats not a good thing, I've pushed mine out to 20,000 before with oil analysis but it's not just the oil changes that you do at a service so I started noticing the little things that I would normally tighten up, lube or just clean while doing a service tended to suffer so I only push it to 10k at the most now but has lately ended up at around 8k for when I have the time to do it.

There is no doubt that you will have to spend some money on any car to get it to a point where your comfortable with it as you don't know what you've bought until you have it and can start playing with it.

I have always said to people that if your after something that you can drive for 3 to 5 years and neglect, buy a Nissan.

Landys are what I call a tinker car, they always need a bit of love but if you give it to them they will be like a faithful dog and never let you down and like a good dog, tend to become part of the family.

Good luck with Ruby, nothing wrong with giving a landy a name, I have Casper and Cleo (Wifes Disco) and most of my freinds with Landys have named theirs as well.

Cheers, Casper

If you are brave pull up the front carpets and check for rust. My 97 was in a pretty bad way when I got it, hopefully yours isn't too bad. Also around the alpine windows can be problematic for rust.

Hi Barney Bill,
Agree with Casper, nothing wrong in a name, I've had an 86 Rangie called "Scrappy" despite the name which is what my wife named it when we picked it up, with a bit of TLC, a two inch life a set of BFG muddie, a locker in the rear axle Scrappy went anywhere and everywhere, as Casper said, Scrappy became part of the family and an object of joy.
I've just bought a 97 Tdi for the right price, it's been neglected, needs some TLC, already had some fruit on it but it was owned by a young diesel mechanic. Vacuum pump had an oil leak, tappets were well lets say out of adjustment, the timing belt well I can assume it's been changed because the crankshaft nut wasn't as tight as it should be, by a long way.
Head gasket as mentioned would be a good idea, this will incorporate a new timing belt by default, the garage won't step up for this as a service item its to involved.
Accept a few oil leaks it's Land Rovers way of making sure you do regulkar oil changes. One good thing, amongst a lot of others, I've had three 300Tdi's now and I don't know what it is but when ever I get in one I just know I'm going to get where I wanted to go. Fuel consumption is excellent, they are comfortable, wear a hat or a cap if the roof lining rubbing on your head starts to annoy you.
I've also got an 86 Rangie I recently picked up for a song which has now become affectionately know as "Stig of the dump", "Stig" for short

You'll love it and welcome to the family.