As some of you guys may know, I used to have an 04 D2. Sold it back in January. I loved it, but it was my daily and it just couldn't take the abuse. So I have a good daily now and have saved up some cash, and I'm ready for another LR. And I have chosen to get a D1. I'm gonna look at a few this weekend. I would consider myself very familiar with D2s but I know that D1s are somewhat different. Anything specific I should watch out for?
Thanks.

 

D1's are simpler animals. (and therefore better in my book)

Biggest problem tends to be perpetually deferred maintenance.

Head gaskets are less prevalent than the D2, but 20 year old vehicles probably need them at this point.

If you go for a 1997 or 1998 bring an OBD reader and use it. It may help to figure out what ails the truck.

Fuel pumps are pretty common. Check for pressure at the rail.

Bad grounds can also be simple fixes as can vacuum leaks. IACV is another simple fix that can seem profound, but isn't. ($50 to replace or a can of throttle body cleaner if you are lucky).

Pull the PCV off the passenger side valve cover to see how gunked up it is.

Check the front swivel ***** for pitting. That repair tends to be pricey once you add up all the bits a pieces in there.

The worst ones are those that have had a lot of 'mickey mouse' repairs. Very difficult to unscramble some of those eggs.

ABS is much simpler in the D1 and often owners simply disable it by pulling the fuse and living with the light on the dash (or pulling the light). There is a method to read the codes in that system which requires a jumper between pin 5 and 15 on the OBD port. New front sensors can now be found cheap ($30-40 for both fronts).
http://www.rswsolutions.com/index.ph...code-procedure

Rust is always an issue. Front floorboards seem to take the brunt of it.

 

Pin 5 and 15! 16 is always hot!

 

You are correct! I was going off of faulty memory. I added a link as well.

 

Thanks for that. I'm going to look at a red one this weekend. Hopefully will be able to take it home for the right price. The fuel pump is on its way out though but I did replace mine when I had my D2 so I don't think it would be too different.

 

If i've said it once, i've said it a hundred times. The sunroofs. They leak. A leaking sunroof will be a major pita. If you have a garage dont worry. If it's an SD, your even better off. If it has the dual floodgates and you plan on driving it in the rain, have them checked and repaired. And good choice on a D1. Throw up some pics when you can.

 

Hopefully, if this one is solid, I will pick it up in the morning. More picks coming if I actually buy it. Sunroofs only leaked on my D2 when I would take it to the car wash. Never used them anyway so I don't really care if I don't have them. This one is a '99 SD so no sunroofs. Looks like it will need a fuel pump, idle air control valve, and a window regulator. But the seller says it runs and drives so I don't think that it's too bad. I guess the fuel pump issue arises intermittently on a hot start.

 

That looks like a pretty clean unit. I personally think the sunroofs are great, especially the rear one. On a hot day it literally sucks the hot air right out! I wouldn't want to be w/o it. But I do hear you on the leaking situation -- usually kinked/cracked or plugged drain hoses.

Some other weaknesses on these rigs are the plastics inside are cheap and brittle and break easily, most D1's are going to need headliner work by now, unless it's already been replaced. The windshields are low ..at least for me and I'm always looking out the shaded portion (I bought a non-shaded windshield to put in). The upholstery stitching doesn't hold up the best, people commonly mis-route the serpentine belt (really easy to do) and it makes it seem like there are big electrical problems, so look for that. Battery cables on a vehicle this age are probably due to be replaced, they're probably corroded and it leads to a lot of electrical symptoms. Seems like a lot of guys need to go back and re-do the brakes which can take a lot of time.

Let us know what you end up buying ..love to see what you get.

 

Oh another thing too, D1's tend to have a lot of built-in oversteer and overall funky handling compared to most modern vehicles that can be really annoying to some owners. It can be hard to keep them going in a straight line. Most of the reason is because these vehicles were built on the Range Rover platform and use the same windshield, cowl, doors and much of the chassis but with a lot more weight in the back, whereas your previous 04 benefitted from a lot of steering/handling refinements.

One of the peculularities to help build in some understeer ...a poor-mans-attempt, because when these vehicles were designed, L/R was cash-strapped, was to specify front tire pressure of around 26lbs and rear tire pressure somewhere in the neighborhood of, like 35 psi. Double-check those pressures in the manual ...I'm going off memory. 26bls for the front tires is really kind of low (Ford got into a LOT of problems with their Explorers in part because they specified 24 psi pressure ..below what Firestone even said was safe). I wouldn't go less than 28 or 30. But if you go even pressures all the way around many people find the vehicles wander all over the road. Of course it depends on the tires you have too. I wonder how it would handle with 10 ply tires?? That' one BIG problem later DII's don't suffer from!

Also these rigs tend to feel underpowered for the size of motor. Thirsty too. And you really need to use high-octane fuel, otherwise they tend to carbon up really bad. I always put in Top Tier gas (more additives).

Finally, if it were me, I would remove the plastic cowl piece and fabricate and install a mesh screen (of about 1/4" mesh ...not too fine), over the fresh air inlet, then replace the cowl cover. Rodents can easily climb into that fresh air hole and make a nasty, and smelly, nest on the blower motor.

All in all these are great vehicles, build like a tank. I'm not trying to talk you out of one ..or spook you. The engine on mine is probably the smoothest running motor I have! These vehicles are a lot of fun!

 

Oh yeah there's another really annoying thing about these D1's that bug a lot of people: In stock form, the front drivers' seat doesn't go very far back. It's just the way it's designed. If you're the type who appreciates leg room, and a more stretched-out position, it can be annoying, especially on long trips, compared to more ergonomic vehicles like a Jeep, or GM vehicles. Also depends on how long your legs are too.