Dreaded 2003 DII with Misfire, Low Compression, Ticking,
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Rock Crawling
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 459
Likes: 33
From: Los Padres National Forest
Dreaded 2003 DII with Misfire, Low Compression, Ticking,
I have the dreaded 2003 Discovery II and it’s giving misfire codes in cylinder number 5, as well as showing low compression (75psi). It also ticks... I live in California in a county where I can’t smog the vehicle for registration completion without getting rid of any engine codes. With low compression, I can’t do that... At least not any way I know of. Anyone have any ideas? Is this engine done for?
The vehicle still drives pretty well, a bit stumbly sometimes, but it makes it up 3000’ of mountain and down regularly.
What’s next? Any advice? Sell it as is / if DMV allows that? There are six counties in CA that don’t require smog certification (including Riverside, San Diego and I believe San Bernardino) - maybe I can sell it there without as much hassle? I was hoping to smog it there, but I‘d expect the DMV would shoot that idea down since I don’t have an address there or anything... Sad times. I like this one a lot. It’s black/black with bad clearcoat failure on the hood and roof, but I’ve fixed a lot of its issues. I also have another Range Rover Classic I need to work on (ABS, or some serious braking issue). Please advise!
Does anyone think it’s worthehile swapping motors? I’d rather not, of course - This vehicle is a daily driver and I’m in need of another vehicle - maybe a 2010-2012 RR HSE or Sport - any words about that? Hope everyone has a better weekend than me! Cheers
Recovery Vehicle
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,238
Likes: 240
From: Alabama + Vegas + Texas
Pull your #5 spark plug and do the $12 vapor test. You are expecting to find a blown head gasket which is easy enough to replace.
Test first, then wrench.
Dont fear this job. Motor stays in.
Test first, then wrench.
Dont fear this job. Motor stays in.
As long as the engine is not making any bad noises low compression is probably not a big deal. #5 has no water passages though, so if it was blown I would expect an adjacent cylinder to be low compression also unless it blew to the intake valley, which I have never seen. Could be blown to the outside, but that sounds like a giant exhaust leak. Could be a broken rocker, that would drop compression. You could take the upper intake and valve cover off to look at the rockers. You could get a leak down tester and see where the pressure is escaping, that would give you an idea of what you are in for. Either way I would keep it and wrench on it, nice looking truck.
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