Thread: my Discovery II maintenance stuff

Just a general story here on a few recent things with my V8 D2. Some good, some not so.

Had it serviced last week (188k’s) by local mechanic, went in running like a dream, came out running even better, new oils everywhere, greased uni’s, air/oil filters and thorough check over.

A few additional things worth a better look included a slight vibration beginning at 110kmh and check for location of a small coolant leak (both been there since bought 11 months ago and have not worsened). Just for info, it looses about ½ litre in 300klm.

Verdict is the leak is likely to be from the head gasket at the back of the engine along with some oil and the vibration is likely to be combination of gearbox mounts and rear tailshaft balance. I’ll get the latter fixed up in a couple of weeks or so.

But .. Head Gasket…, geeze its been 20 yrs since I did my last one and although that was on my old ‘83 Rover SD1 Vitesse, I really don’t want to do this one (same V8 Buick engine, just more stuff piled on top of it nowadays). However, mechanic is not really in his prime these days and doesn’t want to do the job so initial quotes from LR specialists range from $1,600 to $2,800. Was a bit deflated, when do I tell SWMBO? Should I consider fixing it myself? (with my house only ¾ renovated “playing” with the Landy would not go down well!). So after a quick chat with mechanic he asked I come over.

He popped it up on the overhead ramps and invited me for a look. The good news said he, is the engine mounts, steering bushes, front tailshaft, brake pads and a wheel sensor are all relatively new, it has a FSH and generally in very good condition. Previouse owner did maintain the car well. Since then I/mechanic have also replaced the brake discs, SLS compressor, SLS airbags, Airfilter Housing, Rear Wiper Arm and added 5 new AT tyres. It’s no secret here that I paid $12k for this car when I could easily have spent $16k-$18k for the same year and model. And have since spent about $2800 on all the above (saving a couple of thousand $ mainly buying off eBay in the US).

Mechanics opinion, spend the $2k-$3k fixing this one up, between him and I we know enough about this one now not to take chances on swapping it for someone elses disaster about to happen kinda thing.
No need to do it straight away, just keep an eye on it and top up with correct mix coolant. When it does go for fixing, also get a few other bits done like the front crank seal (main source of oil leak) and put new bearings in the rear diff to eliminate all present driveline clunks and the car is basically all good again. Funding will come from the saving through cheaper wine, no more European beer and selling a kidney. (not necessarily mine).

Ok, just getting over that, then yesterday, checking hoses and connections, for no real reason I un-clipped the little plastic moulded pipe that runs between the expansion tank and top of radiator and clipping it back into position the damn thick cracked! WTF is going on I said to the car, gimme a break! Patched up the crack with tape and off to Lance Dixon, Doncaster for a new one (closest to me). Good news is the replacement was only $37, actually pretty cheap considering it’s a 5 piece assembly and about 1.8M long.

While I was there, got heaps of advice on coolants and other things to service/look for and also how the SLS functions and confirmed mine is working normally (read my other thread), they also checked the recall had been done on the ABS Modulator.

At home again, swapped the hose over in about 15 mins, no trouble, now looking at the old one, due to ageing it was really brittle, it’s not rubber but plastic and any compression or flex and it would instantly snap! It’s not something you can test, without it breaking so I’m pretty happy to find this out now and not in the middle of a 4WD trip/remote camping. I advise any aging D2’s to get this replaced asap in the comfort of your driveway.

In short, my faith has been tested, found true and I’m still part of the Land Rover crowd.

bye for now..

those plastic hoses - ie the thin walled ones - are utter crap. Mine were fracturing if I bumped them at 100,000k. I replaced all mine that carry water with honest to god rubber water hose. I am told by my mechanic that ford actually use something similar for low pressure return fuel hose!!!!!!!!!

Anyway having the proper high temp rubber hose is an easy DIY service item.

As for that leak, 1/2 a litre in 300k is not a slow leak!

My opinion is that the head gaskets are usually right unless there is an overheat, but sometimes you just get unlucky with them.

I just took delivery of a new low water sensor from David Jones (search this site) and thats a great long term investment for $160 delivered. The sensor screws in as the radiator plug blank.

Also the correct coolant is absolutely vital on all alloy motors as is proper changing of the coolant at intervals - and litmus testing in between. All very low cost compared to new engine/heads removal etc.

Good luck matey.