Thread: 300 Tdi FAULTS

That list doesn't sound too bad!? Mind you that`s coming from a man who just bought a supposedly `nothing to spend` 98-TDi Disco with a stuffed head

Gotta love the old school technology 200 and 300 Land Rovers though - Good honest hard working sloggers that they are

Plus when you start looking at all the electronic problems the early 2000s cars can have and all the cheaply made modern stuff coming out of Asia these days these sort of no nonsense vehicles are well worth keeping on the road at virtually any price I reckon

Originally Posted by Druid 66

That list doesn't sound too bad!? Mind you that`s coming from a man who just bought a supposedly `nothing to spend` 98-TDi Disco with a stuffed head

Gotta love the old school technology 200 and 300 Land Rovers though - Good honest hard working sloggers that they are

Plus when you start looking at all the electronic problems the early 2000s cars can have and all the cheaply made modern stuff coming out of Asia these days these sort of no nonsense vehicles are well worth keeping on the road at virtually any price I reckon

Absolutely! parts and labour will run out to about $1300 for the things that needed fixing for roadworthy/safety/reliability. The other $700 went on coil spacers, longer dampers and a RTC 4 Way steering damper. I've ordered a set of ARB steps that will go on this weekend so I can reach stuff in the roof basket and clean the roof
As things wear out[or break]they'll be replaced with new, and if available better parts. The Duck is still at the mechanic's as I write....maybe ready tomorrow

Hey Will,

I just got a 300tdi 98 Disco 1 in March. It had a reasonably sized list of similar sorts of wear and tear. I'm currently putting some time and money into sorting them (busy work schedule means I have to get mechanic to do a lot of it). I'm with the rest of the crew here - even if you spent $10-15k on it - think about the sort of crap car (basically a lawnmower with a tupperware box on top) you'd get new for that money!

I say, spend money on the little tdi truck to keep her going.

Yeah Anth, I did get all those items sorted. I love my old Tdi 300 Disco. It's easy to drive, comfortable enough for me, and hasn't missed a beat since I bought it. Done about 6,000km now and just did my second oil and filter change.


I recently had a set of new Chinese made aggressive all terrain 10 ply tyres fitted. Brand is Hidea. Price was very competitive at $160 ea fitted and balanced. Size is 245/75R16LT


Cheers mate.

I only recently purchased a 96 Tdi, only 4K and very tidy. Bilstein all around, twin batteries, rola roof racks, bull bar, spotties, extra set of near new off road tyres on rims, CB radio etc etc. It came with issues, dont they all. It's a bummer you cant fix stuff yourself, but as others have said the vehicle is well worth keeping going and most of your list is minimal. I had to replace the head gasket on mine about 1500k after buying it, and so far touch wood its going okay. Only cost me $68 for the gaskets and a few hours. I carry a spare serpentine belt and spare timing belt. My tensioner was squeaking and jumping. I took it off, bearings fine, and ran some engine oil into the housing, it now hardly squeaks after quite a few k's and the jumping is near nothing. I have leaks from cooling hoses that look like were recently replaced and a power steering leak - I havent fussed with these yet but will when I get time and can be bothered. It's a great vehicle that's for sure...an improvement on the Series IIA I owned many years ago.

A very tidy looking Disco there theNEWT I have fixed all the issues with my Disco except the heater core. As my Landy is my daily driver and commuter as well I bought one of those 12V fan heater thingies, just to de-ice the windscreen and keep it clear during my 25km commute to work. I run it from the aux battery, just plug it in 10 minutes before I leave.


Only things I would still like to do to the Disco is brush a coat of ute liner on the floors and just throw some cut to size pieces of marine carpet in that can be easily removed and hosed off to remove mud, dirt and sand. I had some rust issues in the front footwells, the liner would also prevent rust reappearing in the future. I removed all the soaking carpet and underlay ages ago, except for a little bit under the centre console.

a lot of those leaks are very typical. my PS system is leaking all over, recently got all new hoses (yet to fit).

my cooling system needs changing fluid too and the hoses look oldish. I have a new full silicone set (yet to do).

the oil cooler pipes leaking. got new o-rings for those and the housing of the oil filter + gasket and new oi lthermostat (yet to fit).

gona pull out the vacuum pump too that has leak. just where it meets the engine though. not from the rivets, although whilst out i may as well pull rivets out and put bolts in.

got new intercooler hoses too (yet to fit). gona pull out IC and clean it and put new hoses on.

got ems2 (yet to fit).

that about covers my scope of works for now.

the other thing, i drove it to well known lad rover guy here today after i had done clutch n seals on boxes n block. few spcialised things i needed him to do and also spent too much time on car lately). anyway i noticed chirping sound again when cold. went away after it warmed up a bit. sounded very much like the old tensioner pulley sound. i only changed this (complete) about 1.5 - 2 years ago. doesnt sound right should last so little time.

when i get it back tomoro ill investigate further.

As mentioned in a previous post,if the life of the timing belt is unknown it is worth changing.Change the plastic coolant plugs for brass ones and if it still has its original black coolant bottle replace with cream/opaque coloured one.A low
coolant alarm and digital coolant temperature gauge are good insurance.