Well I'm looking at a 1995 D90 and it has about 130k miles on it. It's clean, well kept, rust is virtually nil coming from a southwest climate. No engine rebuilds (which I'm wondering about) and having a Disco II, you hear about the microfractures in the block which would basically make getting a whole new engine worthwhile.

am I crazy to be looking at this car? should I just expect to basically do an engine rebuild? do the D90's have a history of microfractures in the block? or worse??

 

You have an opportunity to pick up a D90?!! Exit drool from my mouth. Get it.

If thats you're only worry you can always test the coolant for exhaust gases before buying it.

 

Very common for auction buyers of English vehicles to carry one of these, about $60, does 15 tests. Changes color if exhaust gas in coolant.

 

The 3.9 in the 95 and older land rovers is noticeably different from the 4.0 and 4.6 in the later vehicles. I'd not worry about replacing an engine that doesn't have any symptoms yet..... Unless you are just wanting to upgrade to something with more power.

 

thanks guys, you're right. i'll make sure i do the test before anything else. please let me know if there's anything else that you come up with.

 

look for rust in the following areas:

doors
bulkhead
footwells
outriggers
frame
rear crossmember

 

x2! Rust

 

X3! More rust!