Thread: New, no idea & big dreams!

Hello and welcome

With the engine swap, yes you can but honestly if you have the money to buy a 4.6 and have it fitted you will be forever happier. I didn't have the time or access to workshop to do it myself so I paid to get it done and it was one of the best things I have ever had done to the old girl.

With the speedo have you taken the cable off and tried to turn the centre if it turns freely then it has snapped which means replacing it.

As for the wiring I've owned mine for over 12 years and as something goes womboon I just try to figure it out and ask lots of questions on here; there are some seriously knowledgable and helpful people on here and search is your friend as often there are quite comprehensive threads here on problems that (we all have) if that doesn't bring up anything then we are all here to help each other

Good luck with it

Hello there and good to hear another female has joined me in the eternal quest of fixing Discos
Not to scare you but it can be a lot of work....
However - you seem to have the right approach, first up I would suggest you get yourself a RAVE workshop manual disc, it has great exploded sketches of pretty much everything on your Disco and the relevant description what you're supposed to do with it

I also have a manual Disco, Diesel however, but also had some issues with the speedo after replacing my clutch earlier this year.
First question: does the rev meter work? And everything else on the dash?
If not check your fuses, then check with a multimeter whether you have power at the plug that goes onto the little black thing on the T/case where the cable hooks up to.(yes, I know, my terminology is VERY mechanical... haha)

The little black thing could be buggered, take it off, try shine a light into the T/case end where you should see a square slot for the cable to sit in, if that end is stripped (rounded), thats where your $1k could go, if its fine carefully take the black thing apart, give it a bit of a clean and tiny bit of grease on the magnet and plug it back in - make sure its nice & flush & square on the T/case (as to make sure the cable sits in its right position)
if it still doesn't work and you have power at the cable and all fuses are fine, I would try get a new little black thing next....

Good luck with it!!

You can't legally put an earlier engine in a later model car, unless you get it (earlier model engine) to comply with ADR's and Pollution requirements of the later model car.
As I have no idea of where you live in Australia I don't know your local State motor regs., but usually if you replace an engine you have to get a blue slip (NSW) to show change of engine number to your local RTA (NSW). You would then likely have to have a pollution test to see if your motor complies with the standards of the year model of the car. Contact the HQ of whatever state government motoring dept. is in your state and ask for info relating to what you wish to do. Best to get a Rave disk from this forum and let all know what area you live in, as help may be close by and there are NO stupid questions so don't be wary about asking about anything, good luck, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Tank

You can't legally put an earlier engine in a later model car, unless you get it (earlier model engine) to comply with ADR's and Pollution requirements of the later model car.
As I have no idea of where you live in Australia I don't know your local State motor regs., but usually if you replace an engine you have to get a blue slip (NSW) to show change of engine number to your local RTA (NSW). You would then likely have to have a pollution test to see if your motor complies with the standards of the year model of the car. Contact the HQ of whatever state government motoring dept. is in your state and ask for info relating to what you wish to do. Best to get a Rave disk from this forum and let all know what area you live in, as help may be close by and there are NO stupid questions so don't be wary about asking about anything, good luck, Regards Frank.

Not quite correct, but very true...

The engine from the earlier vehicle - if the earlier vehicle complied with the same emissions legislation is acceptable.

Which is what I said " unless you get it (earlier model engine) to comply with ADR's and Pollution requirements", Regards Frank.

thanks a tonne guys for your responses.

Blitz: We have checked out the cable and it isn't buggered, well as far as I could tell. I had a mate helping me He disconnected the cable from the transfer case and twisted it... the cable turned at my end (I was looking at the area where it clips into the speedo on the dash) so I assumed it is in tact!

I'll have to pull the dash back out and check out the wiring. Things started to go wrong when my mate re-fitted the dash after we pulled it out to check the speedo. There were some shoddy bits of electrical tape in there so I might just need to tidy it up a bit. *fingers crossed*

Discovery-94: I LOVED your totally technical terms for everything & it gave me a good laugh. Much the same approach I take when trying to explain things to mechanics! (I get some odd looks some times)

Everything on the dash works except for the speedo & odo. I just found a good explanation of what MAY be wrong on a UK forum..... so sounds like I know what I might be doing tomorrow! With your explanation Discovery-94 & the one off the other forum, I'm sure I'll get pretty close to working out where my issue lies!

If I get the speedo working & my electrical gremlins sorted I don't see why I would really want to go taking the engine out & moving it into a 97 model. (Except the 97 model has a lot nicer body than mine).

Tank (Frank!): I'm down in VIC. Thanks for the heads up on the info re: putting an older engine into a newer car. Probably something I should have already known! I wouldn't really want to go getting it engineered.

Now to hunt down a Rave disc!

Thanks again!!!

If I get the speedo working & my electrical gremlins sorted I don't see why I would really want to go taking the engine out & moving it into a 97 model. (Except the 97 model has a lot nicer body than mine

A 91 engine will not really fit easily to a 97 as the 91 engine has V belts and completely different front to the 97. The real stopper is that the crankshaft is different at the front, as the 97 has a long keyway to run the oil pump which the 91 doesn't.

You could fit it with all the 91 ancilliaries like the alternator, aircon pump,timing case , water pump etc , but then you would probably have to rewire and get new hoses.

All Rover v8s are BACKWARD compatable ie the 97 engine will fit into the 91 with all the 91 accessories, But not Vice versa as the engineers weren't clairvoyant and their crystal ball was dirty.

Re the speedo. I am surprised it is not electronic ( my 92 RRC is), but often the problem with the cable ones is the little right angle drive thingo at the top of the cable just behind the speedo, if a disco has one. if not there are plenty of speedo repairers around. Manly speedometers have a good reputation or of course a wrecker.

Regards Philip A