spongy brakes are not mandatory on a DII

 

My daily driver is a 1991 BMW 535i 5-Speed, according to Car & Driver the best brakes in the world (at the time).

If I can get the Disco to half that kind of pedal feel and stopping power, I'll be happy.

I'm suspecting that there are some soft brake lines, and I've noticed quite a bit of grease on the driver's front wheel, so I'm sure the pads and rotor on that side have gotten greasy which doesn't help.

 

exactly, start with replacing the line with stainless and doing a complete flush on the braking system. you should see a difference, I did right away, no more Disco Two Step

 

I replaced the front drive shaft this afternoon. Smooth as silk now.

While under the truck, I noticed the driver's front hub is leaking. There is not only a lot of grease all over the wheel, but the ball joint and hub is soaked.

I'm suspecting the hub o-ring is leaking. The CV joint boot is in good shape.

There are a couple of other leaks, engine and transmission, nothing too serious.

I'll check the front axle lube level in the morning.

 

Naturally, a $2800 Disco is going to have issues.

After a trip to a salvage yard, where I scored a rear hydraulic step, and several other excellent parts, I've been working on some annoying issues.

Because the brakes are so spongy, I became suspicious that my Three Amigo lights weren't on. Trac, ABS and Hill Decent. So, I also picked up an instrument cluster. While fixing the broken switch panel that surrounds the cluster, I plugged the other cluster in, and started the truck. Yes, the odometer started flashing, because the ECU mileage didn't match the cluster.
But, the Trac, ABS and Hill lights lit up brightly. On closer inspection, the tamper seal had been cut very neatly on the original cluster, and apparently the bulbs for the Three Amigos had been removed.

After a few minutes of swearing, and a strong desire to take the truck back to the guy I bought it from, I decided that I would go ahead and just fix the truck properly.

Last night I ordered, the ABS shuttle valve switch repair kit, all four speed sensors, four new rotors and new pads. I received my new stainless braided brake lines yesterday. I did take the time to inspect the bearings to make sure none of them were loose allowing damage to the toothed rings for the speed sensors.

Unfortunately, even though I didn't drive the truck with the spare cluster installed, when I reconnected the original cluster the odometer on it started flashing. Looks like I'll have to install all the brake hardware and schedule a trip to the dealership to have the Odometer reset and the brake system bled.

 

More issues discovered on the Discovery.

Since I've been on vacation this week, I've had some time to tinker.

I installed some new shocks, and while under there, discovered that the rear air bags and self leveling system have been removed. I also noticed that the passenger's rear speed sensor wire has been severed.

I have a clatter/rattle in the front passenger's suspension which I thought was the old shock, but it wasn't. I'm now suspecting the front sway bar links or bushings.

The grill was loose and rattling, so I disassembled everything, and realized that the auxiliary electric fan was seized. After breaking three of the mounting bolts trying to get it removed, I finally got it out. The motor was rusted so bad it was difficult to get it out of the shroud. But after a couple of hours, I reinstalled it with a new motor and it's all working well after replacing a fuse.

I changed the oil and filter, and found that the transmission had too much fluid in it, but thankfully the fluid is bright red and not burnt.

I had the center muffler replaced with a Flowmaster, leaving the rear resonator in place, so it's not loud at all, but it just has a little more rumble.

I had intended to change the coolant (back to Dexcool), but... I realized that the thermostat is going to have to be replaced as well, so I ordered one and I'll wait until next weekend to install it and change the coolant.

All the brake components are still sitting here. I haven't taken the initiative to install it all yet. I did however take the time to take all the slack out of the steering box, so it's much better to drive.

I also topped up both axles.

My wife and I took the Disco on a trip last week, around 420 miles round trip. Naturally it used a lot of fuel, but it was worth it. I did learn that the tires are taller than stock, and throws the speedo off about 6 mph slow. I managed to avoid a ticket, but only barely. The speedo showed 65, but I was clocked at 72, unfortunately it was a 55mph zone. DOH!

 

I honestly don't know if I would go back to Dex-Cool. It's more like Dex-Uncool.

 

What motor did you find that fit as replacement for the condensor fan and how much and where did you get it?

 

It ended up being a little bit of a hack.

Several years ago, I picked up a 12" electric fan from Advance Auto, unfortunately it wouldn't fit, and my local Advance didn't have a 14" which would have been pretty close to a direct replacement for the entire unit.

I ended up taking the motor out of the 12" fan, but it only had two mounting tabs, and because of the depth of the new motor (roughly 1"), I ended up mounting it inside the Rover shroud after drilling two small holes in the plastic. It's pretty solid.

I was barely able to get the original fan off the rusty motor, and installed it on the new motor, it wasn't a perfect fit, and the fan vibrates a little, but it like I said, this is a temporary hack. The parts store is ordering me a 14" fan, which should bolt into place pretty well. The new 14" fan is something like $69.00

 

I haven't done it yet, I'm waiting for the new thermostat.

I've never had any problems with Dexcool, but my biggest concern is the quality of the coolant that is currently in the truck. It's green-ish, and I'm not sure how it's going to react to things like the thermostat or other plastic bits.

My wife's BMW which consists mostly of plastic throughout the entire cooling system, seems to be responding well to the Dexcool swap, the green stuff seemed to cause all kinds of havoc with the plastic parts.

As for cooling efficiency, I have found that a bottle of Red Line water wetter brought her car down a few degrees when I added it to the Dexcool.

I'm not 100% confident in Dexcool, I have limited experience with it in a Lexus, Toyota and converting my wife's car, so the jury is still out.