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I bought my first car which is a LandRover Disco 2001. it has a 117 miles on it and is practically new. i will gets some pics soon. Mostly im interested in taking care of the care myself as much as i can. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Great start. Look in the tech section of our forum for a list of things to do to new -2 u Disco, many repairs with pictures. Download the complete factory set of manuals for free, includes owners, shop, electrical, etc. It is called the RAVE, link below.
D2's have a few quirks, one is a noise that sounds like a chirp, just before the front drive shaft (prop shaft or propeller shaft) flies apart and spears a hole in the transmission. Write up in tech section on how to DIY rebuild before that happens.
Change oil early and often. Lots of owners run diesel rated oil for extra cleaning of the engine. One brand is Shell Rotella, cheap and easy to find, 5000 mile interval on oil change.
Don't ever let it run hot or even approach hot. At your truck's age, think about a water pump (about an hour to DIY).
Welcome Aboard. Nice purchase for a first car. Post some pics of it. Make sure to drain and refill all your fluids, including the front and rear differentials and the transfer case. And do not forget the transmission.
And make sure you take care of those original factroy non greasable universal joints before they do self destruct and wipe out your transmission and cats like Buzz spoke of. Get that drive shaft rebuilt ASAP or you will hate it if it grenaes on you.
I am impressed that you got a Discovery and want to do it yourself. Be prepared for lots of surprises. You will get lots of good advice on here as well as a few people that just do not know what they are talking about.
And be careful who you do let work on it. Especially with those shiny lug nuts. The factroy standard ones are easily damaged if the not properly done. They are a different size than most. If yours are in good shape you are lucky. If they are damaged, they can be very difficult to remove, so look them over good before you run into a problem on the road.
If you do not have AAA, you may want to join it. If your Discoveryt does break down on the road, make sure it is flat bedded as towing it with a regular tow truck can damage it quickly and be expensive to repair.
Look at the sticky about the maintenance and get it caught up so you can enjoy it for a long time to come.
__________________ HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU FROM. Danny Lee 97 Disco Driving MEANANDEROVER
Welcome Roxie.
X2 on reading through the tech section. Two most important things to start; make sure all the fluids are up to snuff, ideally change them, and rebuild your front propshaft.
Then work through the maintenance list.
This post has a link to the RAVE manuals. They are the factory workshop, and other, manuals.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Danny Lee 97 Disco
If your Discoveryt does break down on the road, make sure it is flat bedded as towing it with a regular tow truck can damage it quickly and be expensive to repair.
If it's broken down in such a way that it can't be put in neutral, then flat bedding can be bad. This is what happened to my center diff in just such a situation.
In a case like that a tow truck with the Rover's rear wheels on a dolly would be better, which is what I actually told them I wanted.
__________________
Tom Rowe
Four wheel drive allows you to get stuck
in places even more inaccessible.
Your wardrobe will need a few enhancements, if I may be so bold.
Box of blue nitrile gloves
pairs of heavier gloves, like "grease monkey brand", these are coated
Navy blue coveralls - hides grease.
Safety eye protection glasses - goop drops in our eyes when under the truck. Might also consider a full face shield (keeps grease off your face)
Hair protection. Something to tie up that long hair and keep it out of the way. Very easy to get snagged in a rotating belt, etc., and pull your head into the machine.
Clothes that you don't mind destroying.
Waterless hand cleaner, with pumice; like Go Jo, etc.
thanks for the information about the prop shaft, i rebuild muscle cars with my mom sometimes. so i know i can do this know that i have the manual. Mostly i want to increase fuel economy naturally by taking care of the care. Is there any other quirks i should know about?
Install aftermarket oil pressure, volt meter, and water temp gauge. Rover instruments stink. Or use a ultra gauge or some other style of scanner. These units suffer from head gasket issues, heat is the enemy.
Oil change early and often, lots of things to deal with lube on the bottom side, including the swivels (CVs).
A number of D2s have had oil pump issues, you'll see posts with pictures of oil pumps shattered into several pieces and still pumping, just not the right pressure. Water pumps can go after 85K about any time, 1 hour fix.
If there are salvage yards in your area, worth the price of admission to see how the Rovers come apart, you can pick up nice parts from time to time as well. We have a number of dismantlers that can offer select parts from their stock. A number of on line sources, plus the high priced dealers.
Pop in a new battery, D2s have lots of electronics, you want to avoid a dead battery when truck is locked, alarm system will think it was attacked and immobilze the ignition.
As for fuel economy, that will be a challenge. RAVE means Rovers A'int Very Economical.
New Girl
