Thread: Discovery 3

Lots,just browse thru the forum.
Main issues are timing /fuel belts and oil pump,transmission service and air suspension components.

Originally Posted by loanrangie

Lots,just browse thru the forum.
Main issues are timing /fuel belts and oil pump,transmission service and air suspension components.

thanks mate I’ll look out for this!

Originally Posted by Markyy192g

Hi I am thinking about buying a discovery 3 is there anything I should be looking out for? Thanks for any advice it’s appreciated!

They have built in gremlins direct from factory.
leaking oil / fuel cooler on the tdv6 oil leaks in the V it's like a 125mm pool that ends up every where
Then the oil gets into the radiator, great mess.

Cracked dashbords on disco 3 and rr sport.
seems they like to break crank shafts??
?any major work is body off.
replacing intake manifold gaskets is a nightmare.
motor is jammed in hard against firewall, need small hands and lots of fingers.
I own a TD5 and prefer it over any tdv6.
if the tdv6 is running properly it's a pretty gutsy motor.
buy the petrol maybe or a good TD5 or maybe the v8 diesel or the older v8 petrol.

Originally Posted by Keegan

They have built in gremlins direct from factory.
leaking oil / fuel cooler on the tdv6 oil leaks in the V it's like a 125mm pool that ends up every where
Then the oil gets into the radiator, great mess.

Cracked dashbords on disco 3 and rr sport.
seems they like to break crank shafts??
?any major work is body off.
replacing intake manifold gaskets is a nightmare.
motor is jammed in hard against firewall, need small hands and lots of fingers.
I own a TD5 and prefer it over any tdv6.
if the tdv6 is running properly it's a pretty gutsy motor.
buy the petrol maybe or a good TD5 or maybe the v8 diesel or the older v8 petrol.

Do you actually own one? They are a great car when maintained properly.

I would never advise anyone to ever buy one, in fact... Don't buy one.

Having said that they are an UNBELIEVABLE vehicle.

The are just impossible to work on, ours has just had its 500 000 km service which included front and rear belts , turbo cross over pipe, HPFP and air springs.

Many people complain or are stressed about the presence of the air suspension and the 27 ECU's on them, none of these bother me at all.

It's the engine bay area, they do go reasonably well, and do have the aforementioned issues, but even that doesn't fuss me, they are just SO hard to work on.

A/C compressor, turbo, cross over pipe, timing belts ( in all reality on a 2.7 they could be done in well under a day) to

Try changing the power steering pump!

But as I said before, they are UNBELIEVABLE.

They are like meth (I imagine)

Once you have given one a go, it's hard to get rid of.

Originally Posted by shack

Once you have given one a go, it's hard to get rid of.

Unless............
You work on them every day and every day after years you still find yourself cursing the designers and bean counters for delivering to the world a great capable comfy vehicle and making it not only a bastard to work on ( unless you pull the body , even then average) That's not including the bobcat you need to get in to clean the crap it drops from wheel arch liners etc but one that requires continuous maintenance.

The final nail in the coffin ( and I've had D3 and RRS )for me anyway, was the sort of travel that I'm doing now ( remote, but in Broome at the moment ), where even I wouldn't want to fix anything major ( although this would have been mitigated somewhat had I owned any of the power plants other than the V6 diesels) .

Still getting daily calls from the 3 workshops near my home that I trust to look after my customers while gone
All managers of these workshops have mentioned that even though my name is mud ( payback for all the years of info seeking ) they think I deserve a break for having to work on these , even though not the main reason. That's to say that regular workshops ( and they have mechanics I can trust ) also do not like to work on them

Well maintained petrol version if you really have to have one ( V8's the pick ) more fuel , less dramas as they age.

If you really really have to have the TDV6 in a D3, (and I can't believe I'm typing this ) the EU3's seemed to have less crank failures ( 05-06 ) but a weak timing belt tensioner housing on the oil pump which should have been rectified by now.

You should be able to pick up something half decent for little outlay at least unless covid tax

good luck

Originally Posted by discorevy

Unless............
You work on them every day and every day after years you still find yourself cursing the designers and bean counters for delivering to the world a great capable comfy vehicle and making it not only a bastard to work on ( unless you pull the body , even then average) That's not including the bobcat you need to get in to clean the crap it drops from wheel arch liners etc but one that requires continuous maintenance.

The final nail in the coffin ( and I've had D3 and RRS )for me anyway, was the sort of travel that I'm doing now ( remote, but in Broome at the moment ), where even I wouldn't want to fix anything major ( although this would have been mitigated somewhat had I owned any of the power plants other than the V6 diesels) .

Still getting daily calls from the 3 workshops near my home that I trust to look after my customers while gone
All managers of these workshops have mentioned that even though my name is mud ( payback for all the years of info seeking ) they think I deserve a break for having to work on these , even though not the main reason. That's to say that regular workshops ( and they have mechanics I can trust ) also do not like to work on them

Well maintained petrol version if you really have to have one ( V8's the pick ) more fuel , less dramas as they age.

If you really really have to have the TDV6 in a D3, (and I can't believe I'm typing this ) the EU3's seemed to have less crank failures ( 05-06 ) but a weak timing belt tensioner housing on the oil pump which should have been rectified by now.

You should be able to pick up something half decent for little outlay at least unless covid tax

good luck

How am I ever going to sell mine (which I don't want to do) with so much negativity on this forum

Originally Posted by Pippin

How am I ever going to sell mine (which I don't want to do) with so much negativity on this forum

Don't try and sell it to anyone here. Easy!

And I'm with the rest of them. If I knew then what I know now I'd have bought the V8 HSE for the same price as the lesser specced TDV6 and been several $k in front even now (5 years in).

Look, I'm sure there are "oodles" of people who buy them, drive them and never have an issue. I've just never met one. Mine was a nightmare for the first 3 years of my ownership (prior to me buying it, it had already done a crank, both EGRs, a turbo, handbrake module and compressor), and it's been great for the last 2 years (because it has hardly been out of the driveway). I love driving it, but every time I turn the key I play "will it get me home again" roulette.

The one big winner is that even when it's on the side of the road waiting for a flat-bed, it still looks good. I do have a bit of Stockholm syndrome, in that I love it but it keeps me hostage.