New to the forum with a few questions. My mother bought her 99 LR Disco II used in 2003. The car has been seriously abused over the last decade and has been sitting for the past two years as it was used as as second vehicle. My father has decided that they don't need it anymore and is giving the LR to me as a second vehicle. I am planning on making it my primary vehicle and selling my DD as soon as I get it in better condition. First off my parents never ran premium fuel in it since they initially purchasedit. I warned them on may occasions that it is best to run the recommended fuel but they always filled it with 87 octane. Once I get ahold of it I am running only 91+ octane. My question is there much damage to be expected from running the wrong octane and will it clean or help it run better once I start it on the proper fuel? The next biggest issue with it is that about 5 years ago both the sunroofs started leaking and have been draining into the vehicle since then. My father has had issues with intermitent starting/electical issues within the last year. I am assuming this is due to water leaking from heasliner down into front dash. I had him fully charge the battery this past weekend and start it. He let it idel for about an hour and told me that he could not get the factory radio or climate control head unit to turn on. I am hoping that this is due to a fuse or corroded connection. If need be I will replace both the facotry radio and climate controls but I am keeping my finger crossed that it will be something a little more simple. Another issue that has arrisen this past weekend when the car was started. Both front and rear sunroofs opened on their own and the only response that they give when the button is pushed is a clicking noise. I had him throw a tarp over it to stop any more water from getting in. I am planning on making a trip down in the next few weeks to take apart the headliner and find where the water is leaking in. From the research I have done it is either the seals between the sunroof frame and body, or the plastic drains have broken off the frames. I am going remove headliner and reseal the frames and the drain tubes and then water leak test everything. It also has the "Three Amigos" issue which I will start another thread about once I get to that neck of the repairs process. Any advice/tips from seasoned veterans would be wonderful. I have always liked the look and ride of the LR and am looking forward to getting it rolling like new again. Plus its hard to pass up a free AWD vehicle, especially a luxury one. Thanks guys.

 

It's nice of your father to give u the rover, but it won't be as free as one might think, when a vehicle sits for so long, specially rovers that need their coolant replaced often (every 2 years) can cause head gasket to go bad and start leaking, and perhaps coolant was never replaced even when they were using it either, you have to adress that first and hope for best, (also complete fluid replacement, engine, tranny, t-box, diff's, brake, p-steering. As far as stereo, when it's sitting without power u need to get the code from LR dealer to get it working again, tires also don't like to seat without movement for long they go bad and not safe, basically a vehicle that sits for long developes lots of problems, big and small and it starts showing them after starts moving again, even inside engine parts could get rusty from lack of lubrication, I am not trying to be negative just giving u a heads- up. I am sure U will bring it back to life with elbow grease and help & advice of more experienced forum members , Good luck, everything can be fixed with enough work put into it.

 

As far as I know regarding fuel... Using nothing but regular octane probably won't actually harm the engine in and of itself. The computer retards the timing when it detects knocking, associated with low grade fuel... This leads to lower performance and mpg but probably not to actual mechanical damage that I'm aware of.

That being said it does matter whether it was years of regular octane Top Tier gas or years of budget brand regular gas. The cheap gas without much for detergents will gum up the injectors as well as contribute to varnish inside the engine.

You can use the "Seafoam" treatment as described on this and other forums, or you can soak the fuel rail and replace the injector O rings when you inevitably have to take it apart to do the head gaskets.

As mentioned above the HG's will probably be needing done soon. As a matter of fact, before doing any driving you should at least perform a cooling system pressure test to seek out and prevent any leaks which could lead to overheating.

 

honestly I rememeber some years ago that coolant leaked out via the throttle body heater plate. If I rememeber correctly the engine was full with a small amount of liquid coolant and mostly water. I am guessing that all fluids need replacing. I'll def take care of that. How hard is it to replace the HG on these 4.0s? I am rather mechanically inclined and have most the tools needed to complete a top end rebuild. Have done a few on Jeeps over I have owned over the last few years. I'll def take my time with the project.

 

you can use an Allen wrench to close the roofs.
the heat control should default to metric check the fuse.
the radio should be flash CODE.
hg not a big deal, just time.
change all the fluids and preesure test the cooling system

 

On the bright side, you have a CDL. So a shifter should definitely be on the list. I just finished my d1 shifter conversion (more on that in another post) and I would highly recommend saving the $$ for an Ashcroft unit.

That said, the first thing I'd do after the general cooling system check is to swap out the thermostat for a TD-5 180 degree unit. It's a direct swap.

Then buy an OBDII monitor, most here recommend Ultraguage because it's cheap and works well. I love mine. And monitor your temps. The v8 should NEVER go above 200F with a 180 stat unless you are rock crawling in 4-low in triple digit temperatures. Or.....you've sat in line at McDonalds for too long in triple digit heat. But other than that, it should go right back down to 188-190 and stay there.


Mine was reading 215 on an easy short drive with the stock 190 stat, that's when I knew it was bad. It had recently had a head-gasket job (previous owner had records), so I was able to catch the cause of the HG failure before it happened again!

I can't stress it enough, the quickest way to kill your D2 is let it run HOT and crack the block. 180 T-stat is a must!

NEXT.....don't forget the serviceable front driveshaft. You can have yours rebuilt, I went with GBR's unit, including serviceable center ball. And grease the thing every 3,000~5,000 miles with high-temp grease (including the ball).

Why? If you don't, the cat-converters slowly cook the sealed grease in your non-serviceable shaft until it becomes dry, then the u-joints sieze (or the ball shatters) and your driveshaft flails around like some mideval weapon at 70mph, and if you're lucky and don't wreck and total your car, you'll most likely bash a hole in your transmission, so it will need to be rebuilt. This happens between 90~120k miles from most reports.

However, once you get a 180 T-stat AND a serviceable front shaft, in all honesty, you've solved or help eliminate 90% of the major problems that can kill a D2.


I've had mine for two years, watched it go from 90k to 118k miles and she's been the best used car we've bought (since I've done the preventative maintenance) and am now doing fun stuff like CDL kits, off-road tires, etc.


Enjoy!

 

You're looking at least replacing:
Coolant hoses
Coolant thermostat
Coolant overflow tank
Water pump
Serpentine belt
Intake heater plate (may come with a head gasket kit)
Check idler pulleys (you should probably just replace them)
Transmission filter
Front prop shaft
Inspect rear prop shaft rubber coupling (may have degraded from sitting)
Tires


Fluids:
Coolant (I use Peak Global Extended Life)
Engine Oil (I use Castrol)
Brake Fluid (Dot 4, I use Valvoline)
Power steering fluid
Transmission Fluid (I think I used Valvoline High Mileage)
Gear oil (enough for front diff, rear diff, and transfer case. I think people usually run Royal Purple or some synthetic?)
A grease gun for grease points.


Eventually (Sooner than later):
Radiator?
Head gasket kit
Spark wires (do this while you do the head gasket)
Spark plugs
Timing chain?
Three Amigos is probably the shuttle valves on the ABS (probably, since it was sitting)
Whatever crap you need for/because of sunroofs

Did I miss anything?