Please allow me to introduce myself....

[Infrno]

Hey there - I'm Michael, new to having a full blown 4WD and in that new to Land Rover's as well. I bought this one pretty much on a whim, in that I needed a new car after having my previous car (Commodore wagon - ew) written off in a recent ice skating double twisting pirouette into armco incident. My nic Infrno comes from my penchant for fire. I'm a combustion and flame effects engineer - great fun work when you can get it!! We went through the usual suspects for replacement - Cruisers, Prado's, Pajero's etc but none ticked as many boxes as the Disco. 7 Seats (for us, the three kids and some), 4wd (Obviously), the V8 was nice (never had one and always had wanted one) and the price. So far, after having to change the front tyres to drive it home (massive vibration issue over 70km/h due to the tyres being out of round on the front) I've been very impressed. I actually like this thing and I'm resisting the urge to spend lots of coin playing. I just took out the front drive shaft after another vibration developed this week, the info on this forum was gold in diagnosing it, and RAVE is an awesome resource on how to deal with it. Holiday here today - so the diff's locked and its being driven carefully until a replacement is found. I'm looking forward to seeing what's been done before, and of that what I can apply to my new toy!! Cheers, M.

[lordmorpheus]

You have a 2003 with a center diff lock?

Welcome aboard!

[Savannah Buzz]

Welcome - the front shaft can be rebuilt, you will find a write up in our Discovery 1 area, the first listing is the technical section - and there are many things covered, including propshaft rebuild. Takes 3 U-joints, two for front shaft, one for back. Write up covers D1 and D2.

1. Check fluids every day for 1st week, then every Saturday afterwards. Leaky reputation is well earned. Oil warning light comes on at 7PSI, so you can drive around on 9 PSI.... aftermarket oil PSI gauge is a darn good idea. I think they "value engineered" it, and put the money in the alarm system.

2. Heat gauge is not linear, not very reliable, and is basically an idiot light with a pointer. Above 9:00 position things are getting too warm. 8:00 - 9:00 is 135-235F. Suggest you attach a data reading code scanner to see what is really happening.

3. Your thermostat is mounted in the plumbing, sometimes the adjacent small holes in the mount flange get plugged with junk, no longer allow bubbles to pass, bubble can build up and change operating point of the stat with serious consequences.

4. If above 32F, use the 15W40 diesel rated oil (more cleaning chemicals, really cleans the internals) - Shell Rotella is one good brand. 5000 miles on the oil change interval, despite what owner's manual says.

5. About time to be thinking about a water pump, you should also search our forum for oil pump issues.

6. Be sure you viscous clutch is working properly, (should not free wheel when warm, or even turn a whole revolution) - summer is approaching. The Rover gods have tilted the Earth once again to give you a shot at the mortgage-sized electric bills.

[Infrno]

Thanks Guys!!!

Lordmorph - its listed as a MY03 - but it could be the late 02 update? Either way - it's definitely got the diff lock... I'll investigate further, may need a sig file update.

Savannah - I'll see if I can get a quick change over unit or upgrade first up - not enough hours just at the moment to be playing around too much, and the risk is taking out the transfer case if I stuff it up is too high.....

So far, fluids are good, not leaking to the point of being obvious if at all. I reckon it does need a total fluid change out though, just to be sure I'm kicking it all off on the right track for its life with me. But I'll check all your points (unwise not to take advice that's given from experience).

I'm looking forward to playing some and seeing what I can do to this thing!!!

M.

[Savannah Buzz]

Have fun, post early and often, pictures of Rover atop Ayers Rock, etc. You are in an area with all sorts of places to off road. Up to Williamstown and back through Birdwood, plenty of photo ops.