I have a family member that got a summer job in Yellowstone National Park and they will be driving a 01 Discovery. The park is 1,200 miles one way.

I am a little concern about any problems that may come up and me being over 1,200 miles away. Is there anything I should look at before the road trip? The discovery has 105,000 miles and did Mikes major service at 100,000 and haven't had any problems for a year now and its running great. I will do a trans service, oil change, new air filter, wheel alignment & rotation all before the road trip. Should I do anything else? I wont have access to the car for 4 months. Also, a little concern about the head gasket, I haven't replaced it yet and its not showing signs to damage yet.

Any insight would be helpful. Love the Discovery!

 

Make sure your cooling system is in good working condition and you should be okay. Check coolant level and check for leaks. If the coolant hasn't been changed in a while maybe flush it out and put a 180 thermostat in there if you haven't already.


It'd probably be cheaper to fly though then drive the disco

 

sounds pretty good. would add a radiator flush/fill and conversion to 180 t/stat if not done already. oh, and how about that front prop shaft? AAA?

 

I put in a new thermostat last year, I got one from Napa Auto Parts. Not sure it it was a 180 thermostat, its that something I should replace just to make sure? I did the coolant flesh 5,000 miles ago, replace heat plate, and new coolant lines.

Also, did the front prop shaft a few years ago and did the water pump at the same time.

Did the alternator, starter, new negative cables 2 years ago and new battery last week.

 

180 stat would be good. you got the Early Mike service don. that's good. if you're not breaking down between every oil change and if you don't have any lingering problems....take off.I'd think road trip is lighter driving than in town, stop and go.

 

Everything said above plus:

1) Grease your drive shaft
2) Check your spare tire and make sure your jack works and you have a tire iron
3) Get an ultragauge if you don't have one yet (it can show you a pending code before the CEL and if you are starting to run hot or over heat before the factory gauge will tell you)
4) Change the drive belt or buy a new one for a spare
5) Small tool box with a good selections of sockets, extensions, screwdrivers, vise grips, flashlight, road flares, hammer, zip ties, needle nose pliers and a good pry bar.
6) the RAVE downloaded to a smart phone
7) 9mm or larger caliber handgun for protection from the crazy people in the world.

 

I just did the drive from SoCal to the Midwest 2200 miles and I hit a snag, crank position sensor went out on me randomly and stranded me in the middle of my trip. The truck just shut off on me, was miserable. They say every 5 years swap it as a problem part or keep one spare with you and know how to get at it, tricky part.... Was the worst experience of my driving career.


Id also advise a trans flush, sounds silly but my old fluid increased heat in the truck a fair amount so I stopped along the way and had that done. Instantly calmed the truck down temp wise.


I have since swapped the rad for aluminum, I have a 90s range rad fan I scored new for 10 bucks (no ring on the fan blades for wobble), water pump, and 180F thermostat. Plan to bypass the heater core to keep heat out of the cabin this summer with a flow through design. Ive also got a custom water cooling sprayer of my own design parts on the way as a special project and some special cooling mods on my list this month for another long trip coming up.


My personal advice is stay out of mid day heat, mind your traffic congestion, and +1 on Ultra Gauge. My temp on the dash is dead, the Ultra is worth its weight in gold and not expensive. Its a code reader and instant readout all in one for custom gauges.

 

good call on spare and jack check.

 

pressure test you're cooling system before you leave

 

Get AAA.
Get the 100 mile towing option.
You'll need it.

I drove my discovery 1200 miles in one shot no problem.
But I did have to stop in Salt Lake City and grease my driveshaft.
Glad I did.

Got 17.4 MPG on that trip.