Purchased my first discovery, what should I expect to go wrong first :-)

joshhill31 · 1st March 2014, 03:53 PM

Hi all,

I've just purchased my first land rover, it's a discovery 2 2004 v8 with 160000kms
We've had freelanders, defenders and such in the family or through work but this is the first I've owned myself and I'm anticipating the need to get my hands dirty at some point soon.

The car drives fine at the moment, but other than the service recently done by the dealership from which it was purchased I have no further service history. It was well under list price so I anticipated some further money needing to be spent to get everything up to scratch. Question is where or what should I be checking, as I said it runs fine, hasn't lost oil or coolant in the first 2500kms I've driven no major leaks squeaks rattles or noises that concern me... all seems dare I say, a bit too good to be true.

So I'm putting out there to those that know best, if this was your car, what would you be having checked, changed or replaced first?

Many thanks, loving the forum so far!

**Landover** · 1st March 2014, 04:31 PM

Get yourself an engine watchdog so you can keep an eye on engine temps. Heat is the biggest killer that can cause head gasket or slipped liners. The dash guage only hits hot when it's to late. Life is a gamble, you may be lucky and got yourself a bargain.

Hope it treats you well.

Cheers,
Dave.

**bee utey** · 1st March 2014, 04:42 PM

The small black nylon pipes connecting the radiator and the throttle body heater to the header tank will be brittle and ready to snap at the slightest provocation. Use new OEM pipes or purchase a quantity of 8mm heater hose and replace them first of all.

**Robgw** · 1st March 2014, 04:43 PM

I've owned a 2001 D2 V8 for 2 years now. Drives amazing but I have taken time to renew a few things that may go after 10 years based on advice.

I swapped the real Air Suspension out for springs, one had a slow leak.

Cooing system!. Needs to be tip top... So i put New hoses, radiator flush and service, water pump gasket.

All fluids, diff's, breaks, auto, changed and new Auto Filter.

**Gary S11** · 1st March 2014, 07:23 PM

Originally Posted by Landover

Get yourself an engine watchdog so you can keep an eye on engine temps. Heat is the biggest killer that can cause head gasket or slipped liners. The dash guage only hits hot when it's to late. Life is a gamble, you may be lucky and got yourself a bargain.

Hope it treats you well.

Cheers,
Dave.

See " engine temp" thread in the disco 1 page for a great little gauge that does amazing things for under $20.00 ..Gary

**loanrangie** · 1st March 2014, 09:40 PM

In the words of little johnny howard, be alert but not alarmed

.

**Freightdog** · 1st March 2014, 09:44 PM

1. Radiator will start to weep and need replacing. Replace it.
2. One or more high tension leads will fail. Replace them (fun job!).
3. One of those sh1tty little brittle pipes that have coolant flowing through them will break whilst you are fixing 1 & 2 above.
4. Coolant will start to weep out of the ends of the head gaskets. I was going to do the heads, but opted for "Irontite" All Weather Sealant - google it. That was 40k ago, works like a charm and no coolant loss.
5. Front drive shaft double carden joint failure. Get it overhauled.

Mine is a 2000 model, all this happened between 1 and 3 years ago, so you are fast approaching that window.

Mine has 150k on it and runs like a wet dream.

Road Stone · 2nd March 2014, 07:43 AM

What a positive attitude, what could possibly go wrong

Agree with all the above, change hoses especially the two small plastic ones from the header tank. In fact over the last 12 months have changed all the hoses.

Throttle body gasket is another one that goes on a regular basis.

02 sensors will give you codes dependant on when they were last changed.

Great car to drive

Cheers Jerry

**superquag** · 2nd March 2014, 10:01 AM

Vacuum hoses. - The engine room gets devilishly hot...

joshhill31 · 2nd March 2014, 03:14 PM

Thanks for the advice guys, gives me an idea of things to look at. A cooling system service and check was going to be first on the agenda. Just a quick question, the temperature guage on the dash always reads a little over half way, it never goes any further but is this normal?

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