Thread: discovery 3

Welcome Laurie, you have come to the right place we are all landrover nuts here. I also have a D3 TDV6 ands it's the best vehicle I have ever owned.

Welcome mate. At the risk of of using another [arguably] brands vernacular...

”It’s a LandRover thing!”

Nobody understands unless you’re a LandRover tragic...

Enjoy the forum...

Cheers

Matt

Originally Posted by Laurie 123

hi I am a new member to Aulro and a new owner of Discovery 3 tdv6 diesel.This is my fifth Land rover having owned series 1 ..1952 model ..Awesome vehicle go just about anywhere stock. ...1 series 2 lwb and 2 series 2 swb. I have always been a LR man and argued the point with sooo many off roaders even to the extent i was to buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee wk or wh with the Quadra drive 2 system. I know they are great off road with the two locked diffs ,but to me just didn't have the edge on LR , but now that i have this discovery 3 the more reviews i come a cross the more doubt full i am becoming when people keep comparing them to Toyota.What is it about these vehicles that make people see them as rubbish. I love this vehicle. Upon lying underneath it for at least 1/2 an hour just looking at every detail of the chassis and suspension and how well every thing is put together has got me stumped. I have done the same with Double cab 70 series and to be quite honest i cannot see that these vehicles are built any more solid than the Land Rover 3. The bushes and a frame are huge for its size and the air bag suspension especially the rear are massive and a huge payload ! Andrew 4xoverland,who did the BOON track in a discovery 4, what ever his second name says they are the best ever for all round but will never make an Overlander because of being plagued with problems..To be quite frank about it i actually don't believe him. Can anyone please assure me and give me some great examples and reviews as to what these wonderful vehicles really are !!

Gday Laurie and welcome to the forum

Have had our D3 for close on 8 years and its driven most highways of Australia and Tasmania, plus done the Kimberley's twice and several other trips off road , and cant see us getting rid of it in the near future.

I think the main problem with L/R is they have been at the forefront of design in the last few discovery models, and they have put faith in electronics and ECU's and it is this that has put people off. Our car hasn't been faultless , but if you add a code reader to the top of your tool kit list , you will be a long way towards having good service from the D3. Most faults that trigger the car to go into limp mode are things like bad earths and things like that , the code reader enables you to clear the faults and with the help of people on the forum you can usually solve the issue yourself.

There is a few issue's that have given the cars a bad reputation , 1 is the oil pump housing on some of the range never had enough strength on 1 corner of the housing where the bolt for the timing belt tensioner went into , and when a new timing belt was fitted usually not long after the housing failed. This was rectified with a more beefed up housing being made , but for some reason no bulletin was put out warning owners of the issue. My car was 1 that had the weaker housing and I fitted the beefed up version when I did the belt change. The brake light switch seems to be another culprit that causes electrical gremlins, my own view is it could be due to the cruise control running thru the switch, but I am most likely wrong.

Anyway , you are in the right place , plenty of info on here. You will find that theses cars being made by Ford, that a lot of parts like the brake light switch, can be purchased from your Ford dealer as they are fitted to the Ford Territory and a few other cars.

Enjoy the D3

Cheers Ean

H

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

Gday Laurie and welcome to the forum

Have had our D3 for close on 8 years and its driven most highways of Australia and Tasmania, plus done the Kimberley's twice and several other trips off road , and cant see us getting rid of it in the near future.

I think the main problem with L/R is they have been at the forefront of design in the last few discovery models, and they have put faith in electronics and ECU's and it is this that has put people off. Our car hasn't been faultless , but if you add a code reader to the top of your tool kit list , you will be a long way towards having good service from the D3. Most faults that trigger the car to go into limp mode are things like bad earths and things like that , the code reader enables you to clear the faults and with the help of people on the forum you can usually solve the issue yourself.

There is a few issue's that have given the cars a bad reputation , 1 is the oil pump housing on some of the range never had enough strength on 1 corner of the housing where the bolt for the timing belt tensioner went into , and when a new timing belt was fitted usually not long after the housing failed. This was rectified with a more beefed up housing being made , but for some reason no bulletin was put out warning owners of the issue. My car was 1 that had the weaker housing and I fitted the beefed up version when I did the belt change. The brake light switch seems to be another culprit that causes electrical gremlins, my own view is it could be due to the cruise control running thru the switch, but I am most likely wrong.

Anyway , you are in the right place , plenty of info on here. You will find that theses cars being made by Ford, that a lot of parts like the brake light switch, can be purchased from your Ford dealer as they are fitted to the Ford Territory and a few other cars.

Enjoy the D3

Cheers Ean

Originally Posted by Ean Austral

Gday Laurie and welcome to the forum

Have had our D3 for close on 8 years and its driven most highways of Australia and Tasmania, plus done the Kimberley's twice and several other trips off road , and cant see us getting rid of it in the near future.

I think the main problem with L/R is they have been at the forefront of design in the last few discovery models, and they have put faith in electronics and ECU's and it is this that has put people off. Our car hasn't been faultless , but if you add a code reader to the top of your tool kit list , you will be a long way towards having good service from the D3. Most faults that trigger the car to go into limp mode are things like bad earths and things like that , the code reader enables you to clear the faults and with the help of people on the forum you can usually solve the issue yourself.

There is a few issue's that have given the cars a bad reputation , 1 is the oil pump housing on some of the range never had enough strength on 1 corner of the housing where the bolt for the timing belt tensioner went into , and when a new timing belt was fitted usually not long after the housing failed. This was rectified with a more beefed up housing being made , but for some reason no bulletin was put out warning owners of the issue. My car was 1 that had the weaker housing and I fitted the beefed up version when I did the belt change. The brake light switch seems to be another culprit that causes electrical gremlins, my own view is it could be due to the cruise control running thru the switch, but I am most likely wrong.

Anyway , you are in the right place , plenty of info on here. You will find that theses cars being made by Ford, that a lot of parts like the brake light switch, can be purchased from your Ford dealer as they are fitted to the Ford Territory and a few other cars.

Enjoy the D3

Cheers Ean

LR gets a bad wrap because as developers or early adopters of new technologies there are bound to be teething problems. Toyota, Nissan etc. sit back, watch and pick-up the technology once all the kinks have been ironed out often quite a few years later.

As Ean said there are a few issues but you find that with all makes.

I thought long and hard whether to go down the Cruiser / Patrol route because of the LR “reputation” I am very glad I didn’t

Love my D3. Just got back from a day up at the Sunshine Coast. No off-roading. Just a real pleasure to drive on the highway.

My parents and sister are Pajero owners. Dad asked “ How much did you pay for the Disco?” Told him. “You could get a Pajero much cheaper than that.”

We went to Stradbroke Island. Parents took the motorhome so we chauffeured them around. On and off-Road. Not long after we’d started, I hear a voice from the back say, “It’s very comfortable back here.”

Discovery 1 - Pajero 0.

Also remember that this forum and any like it are skewed strongly towards the negative. People are posting looking for solutions to problems. You don’t get many people posting “Had my D3 for 6 years without any problems. What should I do.”

There is talk of “ common” problems. But what does that mean in terms of percentage of D3s sold?

This forum is a great resource. Just don’t get caught up worrying about ‘all’ the problems people seem to be having. Took me awhile.

Oh dear Laurie what have you done.
You will be besieged with never ending pestilence and plague.
You will travel over rough ground in greater comfort making you soft and less a man than your detractors, your recovery gear less used than others and your children will not be needed as alternative traction aids in tricky situations.
What kind of monster have you become?
It’s fascinating to contemplate that if all Land Rovers are so bad yet so called “mechanics” don’t want to work on them, how do they make an income when no other brand apparently breaks down.

It’s a bunch of parts bolted together and will wear out eventually, that’s why new car dealers exist.
Enjoy it maintain it and remember that nothing lasts forever.

It's just Toyota propaganda from Toyota owners trying to justify their purchases and sooth their fragile egos by putting other makes down. LR owners rise above that. We just get on with it.