Discovery 4 2.7 TDV6- opinions

I have a 2.7 D3 which will turn 7 this year, and I have had it from new. And it has about 100k on it.
I have replaced
- lower control arms
- front wheel bearings
- compressor
- alternator
- thermostat housing

I have also voluntarily replaced the transmission pan with the steel pan and flushed and replaced the transmission fluid.

Will need to replace the timing belt this year, it hasn't reached the k's but it needs doing get at 7 years nevertheless.

I regard that as not bad for 7 years and it has done some quite significant tough rocky off-road work and some tough, hot touring towing a camper, so the control arms and bearings are probably related to that. The D4 has an upgraded compressor which hopefully may last longer than the D3 Hitachi ones did.

There are not a lot of mud terrain options, the widest you can go without modifications is 265/60/18. But there are quite a few good AT options. As above Gordon has a great list of options on his GOE site.

One thing you may want to look at is induction cleaning, its more about preventative maintenance than any thing but can be well worth it.

Have a read of this it explains it better than i can

Land Rover and Jaguar TDV6 induction cleaning and maintenance - Pickards Automotive | Car Service Centre | British and European Specilists | Melbourne

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Originally Posted by kimmo85

Hi Guys,

New to this here and am hoping for some valuable advice. I am looking at a 2010 model Disco 4 with the 2.7L to buy and I have found one with approx 80,000 kays on clock.

I have tried searching, but wanted to find out the general reliability of this car/engine combination. it has had full service history but I have tried reading up on this with no help.

Is there any issues I should know leading up to 100,000 kays? timing belts? bushes etc? air suspension?

Are they a more reliable engine than the 3.0? Ive been told the 3.0 (especially early models in the D4) are prone to numerous mechanical failures - or is that bull ****?

I will be using the car daily and doing a bit of 4wding at times.

Any opinions, advice etc would be greatly appreciated.

Kim

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Gidday Kim,

I have a 2010 2.7l D4 with most of the required after-market accessories to be able to go anywhere and everywhere. I bought it 2nd hand with 52K on it in 2013 and have put an additional 50K on it over a mix of Vic highlands, beach work, mud, snow, river crossings, bitumen highways and now - north Queensland Cape driving with complete reliability.

I have owned a number of Discoveries and had a D2 built for war previous and I can reliably say that the 2.7l D4 walks all over a D2 for comfort, reliability, off-road capability, economy and looks.

The fuel economy is brilliant averaging around 8.2-8.7L/100Ks on the highway pulling a Kimberley camper and rising to 10.5-11.2L/100K off-road.

I have a long range tank fitted and recently drove from Canberra to FNQ pulling my trailer. I left full of fuel, filled up in mid-western QLD and arrived in Cairns needing to fill up so was very impressed!

I have had the ECU reflashed which gives the benefit of having most of the performance of the 3.0L without the increase in fuel consumption and.....had a software fix to negate the EGR valves opening. This is a 'must-do' on all D4s regardless of engine size as the EGR (2 of them) will eventually coke up and stick open significantly reducing engine power and eventually - bringing on limp home mode. Replacing the EGR valves (The recommendation is to do both at the same time) is financially eye-watering at $3000+ so the software fix is worth it and far cheaper!!!

I have also done the steel pan auto conversion to allow regular oil and filter changes. The run-for-life transmission oil and plastic pan used by LR may be a good thing in the cold climate of a EU winter but I just can't agree to using oil for over 100K's while towing in our much hotter climate.

Apart from a K&N serviceable air filter, that's all I have done to this brilliant car and am 100% pleased with the performance and off-road capability.

I was fortunate to score a 2nd set of 17" wheels with the car so have a great choice of tyres for off-roading and a good selection with the 18" standard road tyres.

If your potential vehicle has been dealer serviced then you should have no problems with any recalls and fixes (There weren't that many compared with the later 3.0L D4s)

Finally and depending on how hard you use your D4 - it is a competent, comfortable and dependable vehicle that will take you to the majority of off-the-beaten-track places and bring you back home with ease. Enjoy the hell out of it!!!

Catmatt,that fuel economy,is that the dash read out,or do you work it out yourself?
I work mine out and it is nowhere near as good as that,although the dash read out says it is similar to yours.

The best i have ever had out of mine is 9.2l/100,empty,towing nothing,on a long (600k) run,never going over 100k's.

Maybe your power upgrade/EGR blank off has done the trick:)

is it a Bruce Davis upgrade?

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Originally Posted by scarry

Catmatt,that fuel economy,is that the dash read out,or do you work it out yourself?
I work mine out and it is nowhere near as good as that,although the dash read out says it is similar to yours.

The best i have ever had out of mine is 9.2l/100,empty,towing nothing,on a long (600k) run,never going over 100k's.

Maybe your power upgrade/EGR blank off has done the trick:)

is it a Bruce Davis upgrade?

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Scarry,
Like you I was a bit sceptical of the dash read-out so got an IOBD dongle that plugs into the OBD port and downloaded the appropriate App onto my smart-phone. It gives me real-time information while driving so allows me to set a benchmark to compare fuel readings as well as make my own calculations with fuel load-V-kilometres travelled and..........I'm pleased to say that the dash readout is as my old grandad would say - "Close enough for amateurs" :-)

The ECU upgrade and EGR fix was a "Quantum Blue Tune" through Steve Smith Motor Pro in Victoria. I sent him the ECU and he turned it around in a day so my vehicle was only disabled for 3 days complete. I think this is what is adding to the improved fuel economy.

BTW - I'm a true-believer in getting straight onto cruise control as soon as the road opens up as the ECU will drive the car far more economically than my right foot and my Kimberley camper has a very low profile and creates minimal drag behind the car.
Cheers M8