Prepping for interstate travel

**jazzaD1** · 9th August 2012, 10:36 PM

I have a 93 200tdi Discovery that has been off the road for 2-3 years, the furthest it has travelled in that time has been maybe 3 or 4 km for a test drive and that was a couple of months back

I have a road trip planned to Brisbane from Ballarat in March/April next year, so now I have a deadline to have it well and truly sorted for the 3500km round trip

If you were in this situation (or have been before), which parts would you be pre-emptively replacing?
I have a timing belt kit to put through it after i get it registered, since the previous owner had no idea when it was changed last.

I am in the middle of repairing some rust in the passenger floor, and just tidying it up in general

My previous discovery was a V8 and was plagued with all sorts of little problems due to a lack of preventative maintenance

Once I have it well set up and prepared, I will be using it quite often to go away in and go offroading, and eventually will become my daily driver

when I first bought it, I had plans of just quickly doing what was required for roadworthy to get it on the road quickly and cheaply, but recently I have changed my mind about that, and think in the long run it will pay off to spend a bit more now and replace any parts needed to make it as reliable as possible

since I am 'bringing it back from the dead' so to speak, and plan on keeping it for a long time, it will be worth it to do this partial restoration, for lack of a better term

I know it is a discovery and they have their quirks, but I hope that I can make it as reliable as possible

**Nomad9** · 10th August 2012, 12:01 AM

Hi Jazza,
I would be looking at a battery, checking all the hoses, replace serpentine belt and any other fan belts. You don't say how many klms it has done. Change the engine oil, diff oils, transfer case and gearbox oils. Grease the propshaft. Tyres, check for flat spots evidence of cracks. Globes, an easy one. As part of checking and possibly replacing some hoses, especially the top two heater hoses you will get to replace the coolant, check the radiator. Filters possibly, fuel filter, oil filter, air filter, drop a bit of fuel and check the condition.
I'd do this then run it for a week as a daily drive and see if anything rears its head. You could replace the main drive belt, you could go on for ever..........Brakes, check they don't pull, check the hand brake works. A lot of this depends on how well you know the vehicle and what has been done and replaced before, klms etc etc.
Thats it from me.

**finallyrangie** · 10th August 2012, 08:20 AM

if you're changing things make sure you have the white expansion tank and change the plastic plugs in the radiator for brass ones, and maybe check turbo hoses, the previous answer pretty much covered it though, the skys the limit and it just depends how far you want to go, don't forget to keep the old belts etc, never hurts to have spares on a long trip.

good luck with the trip

**jazzaD1** · 10th August 2012, 12:12 PM

it has done 240,000kms
I bought a white expansioin tank for my v8, i think it is the same as the tdi, just mounted differently, the previous owner has put a brass plug in the radiator at some point

**Judo** · 10th August 2012, 02:20 PM

Originally Posted by Nomad9

Hi Jazza,
I would be looking at a battery, checking all the hoses, replace serpentine belt and any other fan belts. You don't say how many klms it has done. Change the engine oil, diff oils, transfer case and gearbox oils. Grease the propshaft. Tyres, check for flat spots evidence of cracks. Globes, an easy one. As part of checking and possibly replacing some hoses, especially the top two heater hoses you will get to replace the coolant, check the radiator. Filters possibly, fuel filter, oil filter, air filter, drop a bit of fuel and check the condition.
I'd do this then run it for a week as a daily drive and see if anything rears its head. You could replace the main drive belt, you could go on for ever..........Brakes, check they don't pull, check the hand brake works. A lot of this depends on how well you know the vehicle and what has been done and replaced before, klms etc etc.
Thats it from me.

I think more or less covers it.

I would say:

1. Road worthy items such as lights all working.
2. Replace all fluids. Oils + radiator coolant
3. Check/grease wheel bearings.

**Saitch** · 10th August 2012, 02:41 PM

Chech all the rubber mounts/bushes as my front sway bar bushes just gave up the ghost at 280k

**Discomark** · 11th August 2012, 10:54 AM

Also good insurance to fit a digital temp monitor to the engine block or cooling system. This can give you sufficient warning if the head gasket or cooling system lets go and hopefully save a warped head or worse. Many TDI owners have fitted them ($120) due to the poor placement of the original sensor which is too high in the system to be of any use if coolant is lost. The other thing is you get an audible warning if the temp goes over a preset limit.

As the others have mentioned its good to carry bits of the usual perishables such as hose's and belts that are hard to find while on the move.
I have a spares kit stashed away behind the rear door panel as there is a bit of a void in there for storage thats out of the way. Also a wheel bearing kit sealed in a plastic bag in their as well. Just got to remember i put them there ; )
Cheers

Mark

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