Buy three new u joints and a cv for the driveshaft and install them before you start heading east. If you don't know how to install u-joints, learn before you leave.

I had a customer who made it all the way from FL to NY last summer. On the George Washington Bridge at 4am in the morning his front driveshaft blew out. He had the truck towed to a shop to the south of me in Danbury, CT. They told him he needed a new driveshaft. I rebuilt one I had on hand for him but warned him about the likelihood of damage to the transmission casing. He assured me his mechanic knew what he was doing.

The next day I got a call from the guy in desperation. He was over a thousand of miles from home and his transmission was ruined. I had a transmission on hand that he came and picked up. About $800 in parts and $1000 in labor and the guy was able to limp back home to FL. He said enough was enough and as soon as he got home he was selling the truck.

This stuff happens all too often to be casually dismissed.

 

Or take the driveshaft out, engage the CDL, and drive it home in RWD.

 

In any event it seems like all the engines chosen for the american Discovery series are both unreliable and faulty. I dont have the money for an engine swap either so I'll have to rely on strict routine preventive maintenance. The seller assures me that the 04 has received all its routine servicing, and that the drivesahft does not make any noises or have any visible damage. I already asked him about the overheating and he says there's no such issue at the moment. If the purchase goes through I'll be sure to check everything out prior to my trip home. I'll look into the new driveshaft parts as well. Have previous experience installing u-joints in Disco driveshafts so I should be fine thereafter.

 

Interesting... has anyone tried this before for a long distance? I tried accelerating my D1 after I removed the shot driveshaft and all the Disco did was rev really high. However my high low cdl was not operational. The cdl in the 04 is operational though from what the seller tells me. Nevertheless its worth investigating.

On a side note does anyone know about the radiator cap in the D2 models? Is it plastic like in the D1? Spike made a dam good thread about switching out the plastic cap with a copper hose piece (purchased from any local hardware store). Trying to cover all my bases.

 

May have just found the answer to my question regarding the front driveshaft: 1994-2004 Land Rover Discovery Upgrades - Four Wheeler Magazine

Not sure about the price tag but I'd bet its worth it!

 

D2s do not have a radiator cap: just a cap on the expansion tank.

 

Do you know what service has been done for this disco?

04 Disco's are pretty dang good rigs....any used car is all about maintenance and nothing else....


You can buy a used BMW, Chevy, Ferrari whatever...if it was poorly maintained than you have a problem plain and simple.

So what service has been done on this rig? If you do not know....you might get suprises that these guys are talking about...

 

Agree, if you want the most reliable Discovery..it is the D1, but that is not to say a properly maintained D2 can not be reliable...it all comes down to maintenance...really and honestly too..if this engine craps out...in goes a SBC

 

speaking of which... i need a price quote on a tranny shift cable all the way down to the selector bar tab and xyz switch. i snapped my cable trying to get the xyz off and then tried rebuilding the xyz but i can't tell if it worked or not because i can't re-attach the snapped cable! *genius*