This year, I've made it a point to perform routine/preventive maintenance and now that winter is coming up here in Denver, weekend trips will be limited so will spend this winter doing some minor fixes to wrap up the list for this year (ie heated seats, cruise control just to name a couple minor things).

So far this past year, I've replace the following, some as fixes while others are preventive:
1. I've followed the high mileage service recommended tech section and a few other things
2. Viscous fan, tstat, waterpump, flushed coolant, new expansion tank and all coolant hoses
3. Power steering box (leaking bad) and hoses, the pump is still original
4. Serpentine belt, idler pulley
5. Fuel pump, fuel filter and relay (recently what left me almost stranded up the mountains)
5. Starter and cleaned the negative lead
6. For the intake, everything cleaned and IACV replaced
7. Rockers/pushrods service recently (with help of this forum last month)
8. And the brake/abs switch (almost got stranded as I could get out of Parking)

Now, back to almost getting stranded...my disco has never left me stranded up in the mountains but this last episode has made me nervous as I was in Grand Mesa 4 hours away and was having idling problems and made it home with two feet driving when I ran into traffic or had to stop.

I've been going through the list to see what other parts may strand me and thinking of two things, Alternator and TPS. Why TPS? Well, the tps went bad on my Lexus GS300 recently but that vehicle has a fail safe where the last 25% of the Throttle is mechanical and you can drive home in that state.

So my questions are.
1. Are there other parts that can fail that I should consider?
2. The TPS, if it goes bad on these vehicles, will I still be able to drive either back home or back to a nearby town?
3. Alternator, not sure if I need to replace as it still running strong from what I can test.

That failed fuel pump relay really got me thinking about other electrical parts that can fail without warning.

Thanks

 

if tps goes bad it should trip high idle limp mode unless it fails then it can be hard to keep running, buy an ultra gauge you can keep an eye on it


did you do water fording?


there is a sensor on the fuel sender that goes bad and shorts the tps, unplug it and tps will return

 

I generally don't tread a lot of water unless i"m crossing streams and have only done it a few times.

How high is high idle limp mode? I really just don't want to get stuck out in the middle of nowhere.

Any problems with just unplugging the tps to get back home if it does go bad?

 

Get an ultra gauge its cheap and can clear codes like $70 trust me you need it displays live data ESP engine temp,voltage, TPS

High idle is like 1500 rpm or more

 

On your alternator, I rebuilt mine. Was easy to do. Reason I did that was I always seem to get the 'bad' one of the batch when I buy remanufactured alternators and OEM alternators seem to have great bearings in them that seem to last forever and don't use China electronic parts. I have redone a lot of alternators over the years. Usually ya just need brushes which can be purchased for a few bucks. If I recall correctly, you should be able to see the brushes and where they ride if you look through the vanes towards the back of the alternator. I think you can do this when it's on the vehicle. As a side note, on my Jetta recently, I could clearly see that one commutator was worn badly (beyond repair) on my 10 year old alternator, and in that case it made more sense to replace the alternator than to try to fix. I bought the best Bosch unit from Autozone ($230) and it lasted 2 years before the clutch pulley went out. Fortunately it was lifetime replacement and I got a replacement. But I still had to remove the AC compressor, tensioner, electric fan and some other things to get it out.

In my case, I took my Discovery alternator apart anyway because that's one of the first things I do when I buy a used vehicle with a lot of miles. And I was having what I thought was intermittent charging problems. It was an original alternator. If it had been a parts store replacement, I probably wouldn't have put the energy into it. I think the commutator on mine (the place where the brushes ride) was fine, just needing a little polishing with some steel wool, or simple turning. Often I turn alternator shafts on a small lathe using a carbide bit to get a nice smooth area for the brushes to ride. If you don't have a lathe, you probably know someone with a drill press and conceivably a guy could put the armature in the chuck of a drill press, run it on low speed and get a nice job using a fine toothed file and fine emery cloth. Where the brushes ride is copper and machines easy. Maybe this is the time to convince yourself you need a Harbor Freight 8" (note that I didn't say 7") lathe. You'll use it far more than you thought you would, I can guarantee you will. They are more than good enough for what most hobbiests will do. You almost need an impact wrench to remove the pulley bolt too.

As for the replacement parts, as I recall there is a single assembly that sits in the back of the alternator which contains the brushes and regulator. Or, now that I think of it, I think there are two parts that fit together ...it's been years ago. The parts as I recall were about $35-$50 or so. You can buy them online but I took the part/s to a local alternator shop and he ordered the parts and they were a little more but not too much. But do a search for replacement alternator parts and the specialty houses are cheaper than the auto parts places and can get original parts. Bear in mind a lot of shops don't want to sell parts outright because they are in the business of rebuilding alternators/starters and don't make any money selling a $10 or a $35 part. And if ya burn it out (like some dufus' do) and the customer thinks it was DOA (when most of the time it was they who smoked it unknowingly), then the shop looses money or has to argue they can't take the part back and it's just not worth their hassle, just like it wouldn't be to you if you were in that business. That being said, it's actually better if you stop in with your 'work' clothes on (meaning, jeans and some grime) and have a face to face conversation with the owner and they get to know you a little and some shops are ok with helping out the fellow enthusiast because they remember when they were once in the same shoes as you. Expect to take the risk and not jack them around by even thinking of taking a part back to them (they aren't Walmart). Don't be offended if you get a couple polite "no's", or a high price ...which is the same basic thing. It's probably better to buy online for most people.

I ended up replacing the pulley on mine as well. I would definitely check the ribbing of the pulley. If the ribs are sharp-ish (meaning pointed) that means they are worn and can lead to a situation where the belt may slip. I was having that problem under certain situations so replacing the pulley resolved that. Takes about and hour, maybe two to rebuild the alternator.

Just remember one thing: The serpentine belt on the Discovery 1's can be put on differently than the original mounting sequence. On mine, and other's I've seen there isn't a belt diagram sticker in the engine compartment or anything in the owners manual (I don't think I recall a picture in the RAVE either). It's very easy to route incorrectly and 'think' it's on right. There will be decent belt tension but not ENOUGH tension and will slip at high speed. A lot of mechanics make this mistake. The most intuitive way is the WRONG way. The former owner of my Disco, and probably the mechanic working on it (and even me when I first got it) were chasing all sorts of electrical problems in the cluster, engine compartment and all over the place when all along it was the belt that was routed incorrectly.

Good luck. I'd start with a visual inspection first. Easy job to do. Not sure a rebuilt alternator will be any more reliable (probably less) than you replacing the parts yourself. I'm sure there are youtube videos on how to do it.

Take care.

 

Hey VSOP..

Can you please expand on your points: 5.1, 6, 7 above? What did you do? Probably some things I should do too..

Also, where is the fuel pump relay. Good thing to know.

Thanks

 

Tom - I have a bluetooth reader that works pretty well but looking at the ultra guage, it looks to have more diagnostic tools so I'll take a look at your suggestion. Price on the Ultra gauge is very attractive though And in testing the TPS, I unplugged it assuming worst case scenario and it goes into high idle limp so at this point so I'll probably leave the tips alone.

Mark - Thanks for the alternator info, I'll take a look at the alternator in detail when I get a chance and have read mixed opinions regards to aftermarket alternators.

Regarding the details on the steps I took:
Fuel Pump Relay - in the '98 it's located under the hood next to the wiper fluid reservoir, glad they put that their. I was confused last first because RAVE points to kick panel on passenger interior. Here's the link to my post: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...p-relay-69570/
Valve/Rockers - Here's my recent post: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...se-help-69316/

Starter/Negative Lead: I was able to find a used starter from 2004 disco, looked really cleaned but decided to take a apart and inspect and gave it a good cleaning. It was very dusty but all the brushes/springs and contacts were in very good shape. I got it on the cheap so took a chance instead of shelling out a bunch of money and there's been some mention that the DII starters were stronger but not sure the new old starter cranks better after replacement. The negative lead bolts to the frame and I made sure all contacts were cleaned up well, it gets really dirty. I believe I referenced this post for help and added my two cents at the end there: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...r-bolts-47443/

 

The neg batt goes to the wheel well and the frame

The ug is nice to have mounted since you can constantly monitor things ESP engine temp since the gauge is crap