I purchased my 2001 discovery ii SD about a year ago. In the last 6 months I have really taken a interest in getting everything back to top notch. Since I purchased it the plastic shroud above the instrument cluster has been loose because of busted clips on the top and screws on the bottom. When I purchased it I didn't think anything of it, but after reading this forum for the last few months it has made me wonder why it was broken. These are the lights that come on when I switch the key to position 2. I noticed there are a few I am missing. Am I missing them or are they to features I do not have on my vehicle?

 

That looks normal to me. The only ones I don't see (off the top are my head) on are the Diff lock, Transfer case in "N" warning, and blinkers. All the important stuff (Check engine, 3 amigos, oil pressure, battery) looks to be on and working. Which ones are you missing exactly?

 

You know, this fear that people have removed bulbs from the back of the instrument cluster is misplaced. There are five bulbs that you have access to and they light up the four major gauges and the odometer. I just posted a picture to illustrate this on the other thread that is currently active where the guy is looking for a new black bezel for his '04.

The fear of bulb removal stems from the fact that it was extremely easy to do this on DI's and RRC's. Pull the bezel, reach over and remove the offending light and suddenly the three amigos went away, or at least the CEL and ABS. You cannot access the SRS bulb on a DI cluster without serious dismantling.

Obviously, Land Rover got hip to this phenomenon and took a different tact with the DII cluster. Again, the only bulbs you can really access without a lot of work are the speedo, tach, fuel, temp and odometer light bulbs.

As far as why the mounts break, just look at that other thread. Over time the plastic on the lower screw holes will break. I've seen people do it by being a little too aggressive cleaning the screen that covers the gauges. I've seen people who wanted to add a couple of switches for fog lights or even lockers destroy the bezel when they didn't know how to release it from the upper clips. Maybe someone needed to replace the ignition switch. It's a lot easier to do with the bezel out of the way.

Bottom line, there are enough REAL things to worry about with these trucks. Do yourself a favor and don't waste time imagining things that might have happened or been done to your truck.

 

Although I would agree it is rare, mine had all three amigo LEDs removed from the CIRCUIT BOARD which is inside the cluster. I wish it was simply black tape or something covering them... but I just replaced the cluster, got it synched up, and now have all my lights working... not the worst thing I've had to fix and certainly one of the cheaper fixes I have had to do!

 

Sorry to hear about that but I have to say you're the first person I've heard from, first hand, where this had occurred. I've seen it countless times on DI's and RRC's I've bought over the years but never on a DII. My feeling is that anyone smart enough to get into the cluster to dismantle it and remove the LEDS is probably smart enough not to break off all the mounts holding the cluster in place. If the principle reason for broken bezels was removing bulb(s) to fool potential buyers we'd have an epidemic of stories about it.

 

Ya I agree. Unfortunately the plastic in these trucks gets brittle after so many years. My instrument cowel broke when I was off-roading on some washboard dirt roads. I just super glued a couple large washers around the holes, put black electrical tape over them, and then put in some longer screws to fix mine. Has worked great so far.

And I always know I can trust you Paul to get a good used one if needed! As I did with my instrument cluster, door hinges, etc...

 

The ones that are missing which I am thinking is because they are not options on this vehicle are. Differential lock, Off road, self-leveling suspension, ACE, and the transfer gear box. Go easy on me. Just going through everything before I pile my wife and two young children in the back and haul a boat for 650 miles next weekend to south florida.

 

You are correct in identifying the missing lights, but they only turn on when engaged (CDL for example) or if your truck is equipped with them (ACE and SLS). If you do not have ACE or SLS, those lights will not come on. If you have a Hawkeye or similar you can test each bulb individually to make sure they are all functioning correctly.

You can check for SLS by simply l looking at your rear wheels and see if there are springs or airbags there (airbags = SLS). If you are checking to see if you have ACE, simply look in the passenger side wheel well for a hydraulic looking ram thing. If you have that, you have ACE.

 

The diff lock light will only come on when it is engaged. You have an 2001 so you do have the option to lock the T-Case (big plus for off-road use and pulling a boat up a slippery boat ramp). Land rover just didn't give us a way to engage it. If you want to lock it you either have to install a D1 shifter, 2004 D2 shifter, or make your own way to lock it. There are several threads on here for each method.

The Transfer gear box in "N" warning light will only come on if you do not have the T-Case fully engaged in either Hi or Low. You can test the light by moving your t-case shifter into low. Be sure to read the manual for the correct procedure to switch into low. I warning sound should also be heard.

Since you are going to be pulling a boat for that long of a distance I would change the gear oil in the front and rear diffs and the T-Case if you haven't done so recently.

 

Thanks Jared. I will have to read up on how to lock the Tcase, you were correct about the Tcase neutral light. About three weeks ago I did the 100000 mile service replacing all fluids belts, plugs, 180tstat, rebuilt the front drive shaft and air filter. Also put on three inch terrafirma with 33s replaced the damaged rear bumper, shined her up and put some tint on the windows. The only thing left is the dad gum dome lights not working. Thanks for the info everyone.