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Thread: Learning About Discovery V8i 1998

  1. #1
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    Learning About Discovery V8i 1998

    Good day everyone,

    First of all, I have to thank and appreciate moderators/administrators of this site to allow me an account here. Secondly, I have to admit that I’m a rookie as far as owning a 4x4 is concerned. Now this rookie, because of his long time itch for owning a multipurpose, all terrain, modifiable kind of a vehicle has ended up buying a Discovery 1 V8i and has already started learning hard lessons hoping they’ll make him tough one day.

    I have prevously owned a Mazda Tribute V6 which is an SUV not a 4x4 and is no way near this machine that I just bought. Motivation for owning a truck with muddies came from an earlier accident in which I rolled over my Mazda on a steep fire trail and was rescued and towd away after spending almost two hours in wilderness on my own. I was planning to buy a budget 4x4 to begin with and upgrade it gradually as I learn necessary skills. I saw this vehicle on Gumtree with an ARB bull bar, BFG muddies, a decent roof rack and fell for it.

    1EAEF212-342C-4FA4-8E18-735FE041F390.jpg

    While the vehicle was generally in good condition from outside, the upholstery was in a mess. It took me 2-3 days and a whole lot of upholstery cleaners and damp lint free clothes to turn brown seats into grey textured ones; but now, all five seats and floor carpet are in very good condition overall. Hand brake and transfer gear gaiters were all ripped and new have been ordered. Same with driver seat diaphram.

    Both front doors and one rear door were not opening with remote key and every time I had to insert key in front door locks to open them. Watched a video on YouTube, followed the steps and serviced all three faulty locking mechanisms. The video can be found here.
    How to Fix the Door Handle - Landrover Discovery 1 - YouTube

    I have also cleaned all eitht plugs in this vehicle which had mostly carbon residue but not much oil or white substance to be worried.

    Took the vehicle to Blue Mountains National Park and after just a few K’s of gravel road, the rear side started to make a noise similar to our old school bell; as if an iron rod is hitting against a metal plate. Rear lower shock absorber bushes were shredded into pieces and only an orange trace line was present on driver side bush washer. Came home and found that the shock absorbers were after market ones; Maxi Trac from Repco. Called them and got part numbers for the bushes. They were in stock with an outlet in Blue Mountains area. Bought them, opened pack, fitted them, only to know that they were wrong size; way smaller than previous ones. Anyway, opened passenger side rear shock to retrieve cracked old bush that was still hanging around, took it to a suspension supplier near Blacktown and bought similar sized bushes. Fitted them myself all rear bushes upper and lower and now the vehicle is mostly noise free on rear side. The only minor noise is coming from passenger side sway bar joint but only when the vehicle is rocked with force. During normal road driving and on bumps there is no noticeable noise. Front shock bushes have also gone and I will have to replace them soon.

    Under the vehicle, oil is leaking from primarily two locations. Most of the leak takes place while driving along with a bit of oil burning smell. The previous owner told me that he had done a major service on this vehicle a few days before posting ad and I have seen a brand new air filter and clean engine oil and transmission oil with rite levels. Brake oil and power steering oil are also full but I cannot say about transfer case oil and differential oil.

    LICATION 1: After the vehicle is driven about 20 k’s, I can see oil drops on rear part of oil sump and front part is dry. It seems like oil is coming from above somewhere. Upon inspection I found both driver and passenger sides of oil sump seal wet. I tried to see with a torch light while bonnet was open and found that the rear of engine was oily. I am driving this vehicle 20-30 k’s every day and keeping an eye on engine and transmission oil levels which have not dropped so far. After driving this vehicle drops just a couple of drops under oil sump but does not leave a puddle even if parked for 3-4 days. Its always that initial 2-3 drops just after parking.
    QUESTION: How dangerous could it be? Is it possible to fix? If so then how costly?







    LICATION 2: the second location is front of transfer case. I had a good look with torch light while laying under the vehicle and noticed that oil was coming from above and dropping from front corner of transfer case which is a bit sloppy by design. It seemed to me as if there is a little hole on front top of transfer case where this oil was coming from as the area below that tiny hole had all residue dirt and mud washed out. Again, the vehicle drops just 1-2 drops of oil fron here after driving and does not leave a puddle even if parked for days.
    QUESTION: is it by design? The oil looks very clean. Is it possible that diff oil was replaced and excessive volume overflows? How dangerous could that be and how costly could that be to fix?



    Three out of four wheels on this vehicle are having oil drops. The oil drops maybe overnight and spreads all across the wheel when driving. After inspecting the brake clippers and the area around flush valves/nipples I found no oil trace. Brake lines were dry too. The oil is not present on brake disks but present on the wheel hubs (the disk like part that’s just adjacent to the wheel). Front and rear both diffs are completely dry underneath.
    QUESTION: Where is the oil coming from? How dangerous could that be? How costly could that be to fix?





    As I said earlier, I’m a rookie 4x4 owner si I will need advice from Land Rover senior and experienced users to get me going through my new adventure.

    Every bit of advice that I receive at this forum will be much appreciated.

    With best regards,
    Umair
    Last edited by pop058; 25th March 2018 at 02:04 PM. Reason: sp in title

  2. #2
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    Congrats on your first Discovery. As you have discovered they do leak oil.

    My recommendation would be to:
    • Check engine, transmission and power steering oil levels to find a potential culprit but also to make sure too much hasn't leaked away
    • Check the oil levels in the transfer case and diffs if you think they are leaking.
    • Check tightness of the drain plug on engine, transmissions and diff
    • Wash the oil off the engine and under-carriage carefully with degreaser - avoid water near electricals and high pressure on hoses and paint and electrical
    • Go for a run and come back and wait for it to leak and locate the cause(s)


    I also have a '98 V8. I've reduced my leaking significantly but it still leaks, just a drop at a time not a puddle. I found steering pump and trans oil cooler pipe were the worst. Putting an additive into the engine oil to stop leaking helped but it took a couple of hundred kays to work.

  3. #3
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    Disco 1 leaks

    Hi and welcome to D1 ownership. Most oil leaks are easy to fix but by design they will leak again if you keep the car long enough.

    Oil cooler lines are major culprits, clean and check if it is cooler lines just replace with new. Rear mains seal and engine sump also leak, a good mechanic can do the rear main without to much $$. Swivel hubs are another nasty, some do there own but its a crap job so that is done by my mechanic. Transfer case is a remove and reseal if its bad, keep an eye on levels, the fill plug is on the rear half way up behind the flexible hand brake cable, half inch drive same as diffs.

    They all seep so don't worry to much as long as its not pouring out. I certainly wouldn't be adding additives to fix leaks if you plan keeping the car long term but that's just my opinion
    Discovery 1 4.6, true trac front and rear, superior engineering arms,old tourer now bush toy
    Discovery 4 3.0 HSE MY13 ECB Bull bar, winch, spot lights, aux fuel tank, Kaymar rear bar, duel wheel carriers, 18 tuff ant wheels 265/65/18 BFG KO2's for play

  4. #4
    Roverlord off road spares is offline AT REST
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    The leaks from the wheels would mean replacing some seals in the hub as you have oil leaking from the axle. Seals are not dear and if you are handy with tools and a workshop manual then it's just your time plus parts. buy quality seals like Coreteco , cheapies will mean you will need to do it again.


  5. #5
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    I got Pirtek to make up some new hoses and leak proof connectors for the oil cooler and power steering lines on my V8. And bought a set of new auto trans cooler lines from Island 4x4. No leaks from those sources any longer. Small leak from oil filter which occurs no matter how tight it's done up but that's all for now.

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