Discovery 3 Of DISASTER !!

[Dr Drone]

Hi folks.

Iv'e just joined the 'club' here & as new I guess again to the LR
addiction. My first ever was a bastardized 82/3 RR 5 sp 4 door with a EFI
3.9 L while living in Cairns 07/08 with a clearly past hard life & as many
electrical issues which was largely courtesy of its previous owner who
cared very little for it but at 2K cash as-is with whatever Reg remained
my first experience into LR & was not to be my last...unreliability issues
aside I was HOOKED! It was to be a long time roving the countryside before
my next LR relationship which came again in 2013 with a V8 Auto 95 MA
update Disco 1 well equipped & looked after & with relatively low Km (175
km) a steal at just around $4.5 K bought in Melbourne driven back to
Alice. A few worn bits replaced here n there & (ok a couple others which I
broke along the ways) aside from the dreadful thirst & limited range as a
result, I jumped at the chance to upgrade after a genuine buyer made me an
offer. Cashed up with the proceeds of that s ale & savings, the missus &
I agreed maybe it was time to upgrade & jump a series from 1 to 3.

After a solid 2-3 months of serious forums surfing & asking many owners &
mechanics about the 3's we were pretty solidly convinced the later model
would be a better car all round. My budget was relegating us to V6 Petrol
only but hey, after the 23-25 Lt/100km 'Ark of the OPEC Covenant' 95 D1 V8
Dinosaur I reckoned 2 cylinders less and at just 10 years old the fuel
economy was still gonna be a welcomed change for the better.

After almost as long again I found a 05 Petrol LD3 on Ebay. Blue with 229
Km (high'sh but original) with air-suspension in working order/complete.
The seller in Brisbane insisted it a great/reliable car he only having had
it 6+ months bought from elderly couple, & only using it to tow his boat
around Brissy. Of course I wasn't going to part with my hard-earned $$$ so
readily & so had my adult nephew a LAME go have a look at it on face value
which he returned gushing reviews, still, nothing less then a RACQ
pre-purchase 'Master Check' was going to suffice & so it was. The seller
through this all remained very amicable & accommodating, even towing the
car to the inspection shed & picking up. I had already deposited $500 of
the asking $12.000 so the balance was all that remained (pending the
report didn't return a catastrophic issue in the waiting) & so it was the
report was completed with the usual 'scuffs on paint work smudges on
seats, a park brake inop, rotors below wear lim its etc...' They did a
REVS check & made specific note to say the car lacked any service record &
that the oil was dirty & recommended a service asap. However they stopped
short of doing a compression check citing the engine management system
wouldn't allow it (huh??) ah well, beyond which & suggesting that timing
belt change be carried out before purchase (which in Petrol V6 are chain
not belt so N/A) what more to do ? I of course flew across Saturday
morning, bank check in hand with a cash balance in the other. He kindly
added that he had the rear rotors replaced prior to RACQ check as they
were very thin (thanks very much) and after a drive around the block & up
the road to the speed limits, satisfied we exchanged money & goods I then
began my trek back to Alice North along the Bruce Hwy.

About 50 km out of Gin-Gin I began to feel vibrations through the cars
drive train/body, lowering speed lessened it & I pulled over twice but
couldn't see anything obviously leaking/loose etc...But, did pick up a
whiff of what smelt like a Melbourne Tram (brake burn) Hmmm??? I proceeded
on with caution & got as far as 60 km North Of Gin-Gin & this began again
only worse ! I immediately pulled over....Again that brake smell. While
checking each disk rotor lo & behold the rear left rotor was almost purple
and radiating SERIOUS heat...Yup the culprit for sure but what ??
Initially my thoughts went to a sticky caliper/pot etc... One thing was
for sure ...I was staying put at least until things cooled off...I called
the seller, he was lost for ideas (& so was I)!

This car was starting to display some pretty parochial LR hate forum
reading to mind at this point & I was struggling to stay chipper. A few ph
calls made & by well into the night a tow truck from Gin Gin was on its
way. Time being a good Samaritan in a ute stopped to check on my issues, a
former mechanic the young fella insisted that the park brake shoes are
rubbing in that rotor & the subsequent friction was leading to heat, heat
to expansion which was causing a thermal runaway & the vibrations courtesy
of brake dust not being able to clear the rotor/P-Brake cavity which was
effectively causing the cavitating thus vibration that was being
experienced earlier. The 'penny dropped'. Old mate who (so kindly had rear
rotors changed) did in fact trust this task to his local BP grease-monkey
who didn't bother to back off the park brake shoes for brand new rotors
which had no wear/tear & thus no give/tolerance, so by 400 km further
along these were now so damn HOT they eventually s aid ENOUGH & that it
didn't catch fire was a miracle. Me & the car was towed back to Gin Gin
where I bedded down for the night in the back ( A bigger miracle I really
needed though was soon to be needed...The WORST is still to come...)

During this entire debacle, I was in frequent touch with my Nephew in
Brisbane who was preparing to meet me in Bundy the next morning first
thing with a ute-boot full of tools & jack to give these brakes the proper
adjustment before I continued on my way back to the Alice. God Bless him
work done by midday (now Sunday) I'm confident the worst is behind me.
Cruise control set at 100 km/h I'm Alice bound for sure GPS tracking the
Old Rosedale Rd via Town of 1770 Agnes Waters on route & I'm Isa bound.

46.5 Km onwards (in disbelief) the Engine light glows bright Yellow...NO
NO NO NO NO NOW WHAT???? I'm going from 6 to 5 to 4 to 3 Cylinders then
CLANK CLANK CLANK CLANK stop...Silence ! Not even a turn-over of starter
motor. Complete engine seizure !!!! Go to remove key from ignition...The
keyless entry assembly disintegrates in my hand & falls to the foot well,
the car cannot be locked & if it was wouldn't open again that's for sure !
My mobile now will only make some calls but mostly none on the whole it
too has died. Another good Samaritan stops & kindly calls another tow
truck & this time Its terminal.
I spend rest of Sunday sitting in the car in some junkyard dogs wrecking
yard .... Utter DISBELIEF !!!!
Monday the kind Towie drops me & car into BMG Landrover Bundy, a few hours
pass before a somber faced service manager comes to customer waiting room
shaking his head like a Dr approaching a family member to deliver the
ominous.

Spark plugs all removed, the passenger side bank of three pots come middle
cylinder appears to be full of water & some metal frag's thanks to the
peering of the Endoscope. That's all for now...As it turns out that kind
information slugs me $450.00 !!! So here...while ya down there mate,have a
boot too !!
After talking to the 'Master' Land Rover mechanic (sounded 21 y/o) he
seemed more lost than me as to what to do...Not a good feeling as a I
stare at a $150 p/h rate for this gargantuan task of engine swap & the
rest.

Circa forward 2 weeks to today....24th Feb 2015. The LD3 is being towed to
British Off Road Sunny Coast where a kindly voiced Pommy accented gent
named Chris is now in close communication with me in my ever unfolding
nightmare. A second hand 130Km V6 Petrol engine sourced literally day
after the event from Victoria has been acquired & will be on route within
the week. Chris concurs that a tranny mod enabling future services a wise
choice. The inevitable "Onion Syndrome" is about to unfold, (more you peel
away more tears).

I share this biblical passage to share as much as to care. All things
considered in passing I have come away with a number of Philosophies...

Sure I checked the oil before handing over my coin. Black as sin but who
of us haven't driven a car with same ? Plus the 'Buy-it-itis' I've come a
LONG way to be here, I'm not going home without a Disco 3 !

Sure I could have elected to have the car fully serviced taking one day
longer before leaving...Flush fluids replace with new etc... This kind of
failure was inevitable so, where/when then would the failure occurred, 500
km West of the Isa in the dead Desert as opposed to 40 or 50 km out of a
major town ?

I thought I was jagging a great deal...$12.000 cash for a 05 LD3. Of
course I was aware 'things' were going to be needing attention. No service
records no history...still, how much worse could it get ?

Say I did make it back to the Alice? Car, cash paid, owned, brimming with
pride, cocky even. Sure I;ll get these & other things addressed, but hey
meantime lets go for a wander into the stick's eh love ? 20 km in ANY
direction here is RDA (Remote Designated Area). What then of this
breakdown anywhere out here? When 1ltr milk is freighted here at obscene
cost what then of getting a whole engine delivered to the Alice then
fitted, by service fellas here who by their own admission haven't ever
changed an engine in these things which we all know is a body-off task !

So my 'bargain' buy is more BASKET CASE. I've committed. I'll see this
through. I studied too hard & hypothesized endlessly. Weighed up the
options. What I lose in coin I'll gain in knowledge which in the end is
ultimately priceless. It would be so easy to hate this car after all this
and detract & deride, sour grapes dangle ever so close to my lips. But for
all my research and studies, I never once found a story even remotely
close to mine.

I have seen however what these machines are capable of in the REAL off
road world & I'm always impressed. I was always of the belief anyways, Id
rather buy a car cheaper then add all the bolts n bits I deem it needs
that makes me more familiar with it & that "I KNOW IS DONE & DONE WELL".
This could likely have happened with a car another 10 or 15K more & then
some. But more likely not.

In the end, its true when they say. "There's no such thing as a free
lunch" Eh?

[loanrangie]

Did you write War and Peace , my head hurts just looking at your post.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using AULRO mobile app

[Ean Austral]

Not a good start to your D3 ownership.


I can only hope the engine swap delivers a trouble free D3.




Cheers Ean

[Graeme]

You've certainly been thrown in at the deep end! You were brave to head into the outback in an unknown vehicle of that age but didn't have much option other than to have it trucked home and drive it locally until proven.

The 2.7 engine at least can be removed without removing the body so expect the petrol V6 can too but it may be an easier task to remove the body.

[PhilipA]

Dr Drone, what a crock.
Just be assured that it has happened to other buyers like the bloke a couple of months ago who bought a D3 TDV6 and it seized on the way home from Melbourne from a spun bearing.
At least 4 litre V6s are cheaper to replace.
You can be considered VERY unlucky as you did all the right things and still got bitten.

229 KK is a lot if it is not maintained properly.

I remember my son bought a Jackeroo V6 where the oil was so black that it is still staining the concrete in my garage 10 years later, but it went fine after a change. He also didn't check the CVs which of course were both cactus.
Regards Philip A

[sumo]

Mate I'm Hearing You!!!, But if it makes you feel better I went thru the same ordeal with a a 04landcruiser 4.7l petrol v8. took it for a 50k test drive beautiful!, another 40k trip home and put her in the garage and sat there gloating and beaming like nothing else to my neighbour, Hmmm the next morning got in started her up only to listen to greatest filthiest god dam racket of all time from the bottom end,..my face ended up at my knees!, and in five minutes this thing was called the greatest piece of puss ever put on earth....The fight I had with the dealer went on for two months,
In the end it got fixed and paid for by them, but all trust went out the window, the service book was right up to date by a Toyota agent. But the end result was that the thing blew up 12mths later, so I have distanced my self that far from Toyo their dealers and their antics,its not funny. So Now I just trundle around in the old deefer which has cost me less in 18yrs than that piece of crap did in five hrs

[CountP]

I have been tempted to upgrade from D2 to D3. D3 prices are coming down but experiences like this scare the crap out of me.

[rar110]

I have been tempted to upgrade from D2 to D3. D3 prices are coming down but experiences like this scare the crap out of me.

Stick with vehicles that have a good service history. It's no guarantee but should provide reassurance. I think it's realistic to expect 400,000km + out of a properly serviced motor & tranny. I know some trannys give up a lot earlier even when looked after. Same goes for diffs if oils changed every 50,000km. Maybe I'm dreaming.

[Silenceisgolden]

I have been tempted to upgrade from D2 to D3. D3 prices are coming down but experiences like this scare the crap out of me.

"One swallow does not the summer bring". It can happen to any make, any model, especially when not serviced properly. Statistically you are probably more likely to lose your job than to have an engine die like this.

[NavyDiver]

Ouch, I brought mine second hand with little issues only. i chose diesel. Sorry to hear of all the mess you had. any car can be a mess and it sounds like you got a big one. DOH

Hope its all fixed.