I've been trying to get acquainted with my new to me '99 Disco II and have a couple of things that need attention:

1) The SES light is on for the last week other than 1 day when it went off soon after a gas fillup. Autozone reads the code as F0455, and said it was the gas cap. I have taken it off and reinstalled multiple times trying to ensure there was no dirt/grime and that it was properly threaded ... still a light. Any ideas?

2) The valve cover is leaking a few drops of oil at night on my garage floor so I want to replace it (garage retorqued it but it didn't help) ... should I replace the intake gasket as well? Also want to do plugs/wires at the same time.

3) The cruise control drops 5mph when set and then builds back up; a few times it has shut off while climbing a steeper hill at 40mph ... is this normal or a vacuum problem?

4) A few times I have turned the truck on and put it into gear but the selector lights by the gearshift didnt change and the one on the dash did not either. When I turned off the ignition and restarted all was OK. My wife experienced this once when the power seat would not work, a restart solved that as well ... ghosts and gremlins?

5) My spare ignition key/remote came apart while in the ignition and when I put them back together it would not work ... can this be reprogrammed?

This seems like a great forum, thanks for the help ... can't wait to get a maintenance manual or CD and getting dirty. My plan is to SEAFOAM the engine and use an injector cleaner. Then I would like to do the valve cover gasket, plugs, wires and a radiator flush.

Mark

 

I can tell you about question 2...
I did that job not too long back, with good results. You will want to replace the upper intake manifold gasket. Getting the manifold off is not too hard, disconnecting all of the crap attached to it is the hard part. Don't forget the step in the manual where you remove the screws for the coils before attempting to remove the manifold, because they hold the manifold down. Once it is off your coils are in a easy location. To get to the valve covers, and it is in the manual, you have to remove the serpentine belt, unbolt and set aside the AC compressor, and drain all of your coolant to get one little heater hose off that blocks the valve covers. Not a bad thing, wasn't for me either, since you are wanting to do a coolant flush as well.
BTW, how many miles on your truck?
You'll need to mail order now a 8mm deepwell 1/4 inch drive 12 point socket to get to your valve covers. Get it now because no one has it in your hometown except the snap-on guy. [:@]
I would recommend, since you just go it, search for 60k services on here and use that for your laundry list. If your truck has good service records, you're fine.
I would also suggest, change out your thermostat since you will have your coolant drained. For discos, Magnecor 8mm wires and bosch platinum +4 or +4 fusion work great.
The book says to install the valve cover gaskets dry, I did with no issues 1500 miles later.

Good luck, get back to me if you have any other questions.

BTW, check the gap on your cruise control throttle cable. The instructions are in the RAVE cd, do a search on this board and you can find a link to download it. I would check your throttle and cruise cable tension (cruise control is supposed to have a small gap) before you start the hunt for a vacuum leak.

 

Too many questions to type out replys. Call me and I will go thru each of your questions.
303-862-7680
Colorado between 7 am and 8 pm

 

Napa actually carries 12 points.

 

Thanks for the responses ...
jwfuller, I will take your advice and do the intake manifold gasket and thermostat while i'm in there as well ... should I replace both valve cover gaskets or just the leaking one? Also, I've been told to buy new bolts too ... good idea?

disco mike, I will try to call you when I get a chance in that time range ... I have seen you post that response before as well and I think it is pretty cool that you will talk to ppl you dont know over the phone but I will post the results of your conversation here so others with the same questions will be able to search for the answers.

Thanks,
Mark

 

My bad, forgot to mention the bolts. Yes, change out the bolts, and yes, I recommend both covers as they are pretty common leakers, and if it isn't leaking now it will one day

 

Make sure you buy only Rover gasket sets and also buy a set of 8mm Magnacor plug wires, there is not a better time to replace them.