Thread: If its made it this far is it likely to break?

Originally Posted by Disco-tastic

Haha thats exactly my experience. Currently trying to get rid of a suspension error as well as replacing all the suspension bushes.

Me too. I’m hearing my compressor running for around a minute after starting in the morning (which isn’t normal for me) so I suspect I have a leak somewhere. Will be doing some diag this weekend with leak detection fluid. New struts so I guess valve block or another connector somewhere.

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Me too. I’m hearing my compressor running for around a minute after starting in the morning (which isn’t normal for me) so I suspect I have a leak somewhere. Will be doing some diag this weekend with leak detection fluid. New struts so I guess valve block or another connector somewhere.

If the car doesn't settle overnight it may not be a leak. The dessicant in the air dryer attached to the compressor may be blocking the passage of air through the compressor, causing it to take ages. You can get rebuild kits for them off eBay. It may also be that the dryer cap has cracked.

I think with mine i will buy a rebuild kit and go through the whole thing. Its just such a pain to remove...

Originally Posted by Disco-tastic

If the car doesn't settle overnight it may not be a leak. The dessicant in the air dryer attached to the compressor may be blocking the passage of air through the compressor, causing it to take ages. You can get rebuild kits for them off eBay. It may also be that the dryer cap has cracked.

I think with mine i will buy a rebuild kit and go through the whole thing. Its just such a pain to remove...

I rebuilt mine a couple of years ago and recently had the exhaust error which led me to find wet desiccant which I remedied and the errors went. From that and now the long run time I conclude I have a leak which is why the desiccant is getting wet - constant in but no out ( if the system is sealed correctly then all air in equals all air out and thus the desiccant gets wet when inbound air is taken but dries when the air is exhausted - in a perfect world).

Seems like the common theme is that no matter what I spend there is every chance I am going to be spedning some money in repairs one way or another. Seems the idea of getting a cheap girl that has obviously had enough done to her to get her to 370,000 k's and then pouring the cash in from there could be the way to go.

One more inspection tomorrow and will decide from there.

Originally Posted by MJR

Seems like the common theme is that no matter what I spend there is every chance I am going to be spedning some money in repairs one way or another. Seems the idea of getting a cheap girl that has obviously had enough done to her to get her to 370,000 k's and then pouring the cash in from there could be the way to go.

One more inspection tomorrow and will decide from there.

Agree. Most problems occur with vehicles of all ages so the less your base cost, and assuming you are aware you might spend more on it, then you’re quids in

Originally Posted by DiscoJeffster

Agree. Most problems occur with vehicles of all ages so the less your base cost, and assuming you are aware you might spend more on it, then you’re quids in

@cripesamighty has the highest km car I think as a roadmap but think if you did some heavy R&M before 250k km then set your sights on 500k km after that as a goal.

I’m on 6 monthly oil changes and coming up 3rd auto flush nearing 250k and touch wood everything stock and never an issue outside LCAs, brake parts, brake light switch and tail lights. I don’t tow I will say.

Doesn’t mean I don’t think about DazzaTD5 disaster tales every other minute and what I should do to preventatively. Still don’t have a fault reader and never had anything system fault (other than tail light cascade fault)

Now focused on suspension and coolant projects as described above.

Top notch car and fun to work on I would say.

I took a fairly big punt with my D3 purchase. I bought it in vgc with 509,500km on it with little documentation at time of purchase. Most of those kms were racked up as a tourism vehicle doing big trips. The vehicles documentation I was supposed to get sent, got lost in the mail from Vanuatu, so I am running blind except the last few services I got permission to access through the main Perth dealer.

The thing that caught my eye was it had a Long Range gravity fed tank (no pumps), rear ladder, front barwork, and rear barwork with tyre swing arm, which I figured would help recoup any money lost if it went poopy in its pants two days after I bought it!

So far, so good, but a bunch of stuff is getting looked at or replaced in the near future due to time/distance factors or some glitches occurring recently. It will likely cost a pretty penny, but final amount depends on what needs doing, and how much I can do myself, of course! Either way I went in with my eyes wide open and contemplated the risks.

My theory of complicated/expensive things is - if I can’t afford to maintain a new one, don’t buy a second hand one expecting cheap running costs. That helps with most choices. Of course I also told myself I’d never buy an early D3 or RRS with single Canbus (pre 2006/7), with a high mileage TDV6, or without documentation, and in this case promptly did all three. Well, in my defence, it did have a green oval...

Originally Posted by PerthDisco

Top notch car and fun to work on I would say.

Far out. I'd love to see your vehicle history if you think a disco is fun to work on.

I reckon you need to be a double jointed under-fed oompa-loompa sized russian gymnast to work on the thing comfortably.