Advice on a circa-10k Rangie or Disco

Well went for a drive today ...

Cousins had two Discos. One had had some repairs around the alpine roof - non-standard glass and rust forming. Looked a little tired too - lots of paint crazing in the gutters and faded on the doors just under the window strip. The other was a manual so no good (must be auto).

It also reminded me that my legs are too long to fit in a Disco comfortably.

Rover City had a Disco for 10k that looked to be in worse shape than my 2k Rangie. Not good.

Other yards that had Discos listed turned out to be barren. Hate that.

Waiting on some info on some private sale Rangies.

Should I be wary of high km (250,000+) Discos or Rangies with the V8 Auto? When does the Auto tend to go bang?

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Originally posted by Steinzy+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Steinzy)</div><div class='quotemain'>at about 250,000 they tend to burn out the low range/high range selector motor, $400 bit of gear that looks like a $40 windscreen wiper motor, normally the gbox ecu is at fault - it will more than likely have dry joints - tv repair man can fix that . [/b]

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I didn't know about that one. Maybe I had better pull the ECU out and run over it with soldering iron (I'm an electronics tech by trade). Having said that, a bloke did give me his old faulty transfer case EC that had burned out. I shall have to look into that.

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Originally posted by Steinzy@
Make sure it has the stacker and the sub in it (HSE) and that it has a mag for a spare - make sure the load cover is there for the tail gate

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Mine had the original steel spare, not an alloy. From what year did they fit an alloy spare - just interested, that's all. Mine was also missing the load space cover (I now have one) as it seems owners take them out and lose them.

<!--QuoteBegin-Steinzy
check out www.rangerovers.net for a heap of usefull info[/quote]

I agree (after all, I wrote some of the pages and provided a number of photos for that site. https://www.aulro.com/afvb/ )

Ron

There are plenty of sub $10 disco's down here, i recently saw a 96 ES disco V8 auto, 220k's, leather , alloys for $7800 ! Some even dual fuel for around $10k. The ZF auto tends to let go around the 300k mark more or less.

Also if you are mechanically minded you can pickup a mid 80's rangie for anywhere from $2k up, there are some good ones about if you look.

Dion,

I just bought an 87 Hi-Line for $4K, plus an engine (unexpected) for $1K, so for $5K I've got a good Rangie. Fiot it's age it's in goiod order.

I personally think Rangies are the better vehicle. Discos are okay as well and much better than your Paj/Prado and can match the 'big guns' off-road (Patrol/'Cruiser). But Discos are plentiful and they're a wider selection in better condition and also have the later 24 spline axle design (94 onwards that is, earlier Discos still have 10 splines).

As far as Rangies go, best models IMO are the 87-89 Rangie pre-viscous coupling. The 3.9's are also good, the EFi system is a hell of a lot more reliable. Tghe sour note is that the viscous coupling tranfers are fitted to all 3.9 Rangies and at 250K they're prretty much stuffed, the viscous unit starts to seize or they're already done so (mine seized at 260K on Aquarangie)

With the older EFI Rangie (L-Ject 'flapper' type), make sure threy runs smooth and don't 'surge' at idle or anything. This EFI system is a bugger if you have issues and they're not overly easy to find.

Your 2 door Rangie you''ll get next to nothing fo unfortunatley, especially if it needs work but is a good base for a off-road 'flog' vehicle and would suti that sort of buyer.

Anyway. good luck with the purchase. Rangie or Disco, whatever you buy they're both bloody great vehicles, plus they're Land Rovers and that's what matters.

Trav

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Originally posted by aquarangie
Dion,

I just bought an 87 Hi-Line for $4K, plus an engine (unexpected) for $1K, so for $5K I've got a good Rangie. Fiot it's age it's in goiod order.

I personally think Rangies are the better vehicle. Discos are okay as well and much better than your Paj/Prado and can match the 'big guns' off-road (Patrol/'Cruiser). But Discos are plentiful and they're a wider selection in better condition and also have the later 24 spline axle design (94 onwards that is, earlier Discos still have 10 splines).

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One thing is that the mid-90s Discos have ABS etc, and are also a few years newer than most of the Rangies. So for their age hopefully they are not so tatty. I've seen some really tatty vehicles. I'm a bit of a stickler for how a vehicle looks (my Freelander looks just like it did when it left the factory floor, even though its 3.5 years old).

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
As far as Rangies go, best models IMO are the 87-89 Rangie pre-viscous coupling. The 3.9's are also good, the EFi system is a hell of a lot more reliable. Tghe sour note is that the viscous coupling tranfers are fitted to all 3.9 Rangies and at 250K they're prretty much stuffed, the viscous unit starts to seize or they're already done so (mine seized at 260K on Aquarangie)
[/b][/quote]

Thanks for that. Most seem to have 200+ on the odometer that I am looking at (Rangies) and even a Disco at 280k ...

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
With the older EFI Rangie (L-Ject 'flapper' type), make sure threy runs smooth and don't 'surge' at idle or anything. This EFI system is a bugger if you have issues and they're not overly easy to find.
[/b][/quote]

So that's the pre-87 EFI models? Hmm ... two I looked at are 86 ones. Think I'll pass on them.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
Your 2 door Rangie you''ll get next to nothing fo unfortunatley, especially if it needs work but is a good base for a off-road 'flog' vehicle and would suti that sort of buyer.
[/b][/quote]

The amount of work it needs is pretty minimal. I've just been a shocker. It starts and runs and goes in Hi/Lo/CDL etc ... I run it every few weeks (to move it to mow my yard :oops: ). I think it needs a brake bleed, a few small leaks, and that's about it. I was hoping to get maybe $2k for it ... maybe.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
Anyway. good luck with the purchase. Rangie or Disco, whatever you buy they're both bloody great vehicles, plus they're Land Rovers and that's what matters.[/b][/quote]

Yeah I know. It's all come about due to some recent family events; instead of me having the Freebie, my wife having a runabout and then the Rangie for serious off-road; my wife won't have a runabout and we'll tame down the offroading and combine those two (hence a Disco or Rangie instead). Plans change and so do vehicle requirements.

On your comment about the viscous dying, does the Disco have the same viscous coupling as the Rangie?

What's a rebuild of a 3.9 and a ZF auto run to? If I see the right high km vehicle, and factor in a rebuilt of the engine and auto, I could be tempted ... that way I get a later body shape and a known engine/trans.

The Discos all have LT230 transfer cases, another advantage over the Rangie.

Regards to older Rangies, what I meant as far as the EFI goes, all 86-89 3.5's have the older 'flapper' style injection (known as Lucas l-jection EFI), the 3.9's have a hotwire EFi system which is more sophisticated but much more reliable as I mentioned. I had my 93 Rangie with the 3.9 for 4 years and it started first time every time. The EFI was teriffic and never let me down.

My ZF auto died at 260K, I've heard of many pasing the 300K mark, but the cheaper the Disco/Rangie the more likely you''ll be up fitr a rebuild. I paid $2700 for mine about 3 years ago, I have heard of them being done cheaper so it's good policy to buy one with high 100/low 200K on the dial.

The 3.9 could set you back $3-4K for a total rebuild pending on whyere you get it done (parts alone are almost $2K 8O ). The 3.9's will keep going into ther 300K mark if the service history is spot on.

Rangies especially older ones are a bit of a lottery to find in good nick. Good late 80's Rangie can fetch up to $10K with many thousands spent on them. The trick is to be patient, have a good though look and I find if the's something not right, walk away. There's plenty of crap amongst the gems as far as older Rangies go which is unfortunate. Any 15 plus year old Rangie will need some sort of mechanical work but the trick is to find one with the lot or some iof it done for the right price.

If you plan on spending a few $$$ on repairs, cheaper ones are okay or if you don't mind a bit of DIY work to save you a few dollars in the long term.

$2K is a bit steep for your ol' dunga, especially with no reg I'm sorry. But who am I to say that you won't get that for it. A mate had an 80 2 door Rangie with a dodgo auto bocx but in immaculate condition and got $3K for it (that was about 4 years ago now). He would of been happy with $1500 to $2K but the extra was a bonus https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

Anyway that's really it. Once again, good luck with it.

Trav

Discos don't have viscous couplings - standard center diff

Thanks guys. I'm feeling stupid, of course Discos have a locking centre diff and therefore not viscous :roll:

Trav - you're probably right. Anyway, its much of a muchness; if it doesn't sell complete, I'll just part it out. But that's another story https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

I'm going to look at an 89 Rangie tomorrow or the day after hopefully, seems fairly promising but only seen 1 exterior photo. And then maybe a Disco with fairly high kms too.

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Originally posted by DionM
I'm going to look at an 89 Rangie tomorrow or the day after hopefully, seems fairly promising but only seen 1 exterior photo. And then maybe a Disco with fairly high kms too.

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The 89 Rangie, that woudn't be the one at Nothgate would it? The pics it looks okay but beig a 17 year old rangie it's hard to tell.

There's also a 93 in your price range for $9K. The obnly drawback it';s go ABS and possible air suispension unless it's already been converted to coils. see link below-

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/addisplay.as...arch&origpage=1

Something to keep in mind.

Trav

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Originally posted by aquarangie

The 89 Rangie, that woudn't be the one at Nothgate would it? The pics it looks okay but beig a 17 year old rangie it's hard to tell.

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That's it. Its near my work.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'>
There's also a 93 in your price range for $9K. The obnly drawback it';s go ABS and possible air suispension unless it's already been converted to coils. see link below-

http://www.tradingpost.com.au/addisplay.as...arch&origpage=1

Something to keep in mind.
[/b][/quote]

Yeah, going to ring up about that one too. I don't mind - I want ABS, and the EAS wouldn't be so bad (I'm electronically minded).