To be clear, this isn't a fault with your HF scanner. No basic OBD II scanner will do this for ANY vehicle.

 

Number of miles means little.

 

So--I am one of you disco holics now( yea--I know I haven't paid my dues enough to make that claim)!

I didn't buy the vehicle I first posted about--the 99 Disco II--what a basket case the body was--so was the owner frankly. He had told me ( no photos available) that there were a "few scratches and dents"; well, he was right--especially if you call a totally smashed in driver's door, and every panel and plastic and metal trim, and front and rear light lenses, with some damage "a few" of anything. Seemed to run well, and service records were there and all the right stuff had been replaced--including head gaskets. Had 207,000 on it, but inspected the whole drive line, and it drove nice and tight and peppy. I just couldn't bring myself to give this character my money though--especially after his answer to why the front carpeting was soaked: "Oh,no there isn't a leak, I just washed the carpets just before I came today." Nice of him--except 1) the front floors were covered by a rubber mat so no one could notice his great cleaning job; 2) all the carpets looked like the Clydesdales had paraded through; 3) there was a big section of gasket missing at the bottom of the windshield corner just over where the carpet was most wet; 4) the driver's door didn't close against the gasket worth a ****. Other than that--a 100% honest American "car salesman".

Then I found this guy's complete opposite--the vehicle was the opposite as well( I think) So today I bought this 2000 Disco II, with a "leaking water pump" and a broken bleeder thingee on the upper hose. I will be trucking it back to my house day after tomorrow--just to be sure I don't blow the good (I hope) engine. Truck has a little over 93K miles!!!!( I ain't a lie ennn) Of course, the speedo cable must have fallen off for a few years--no? Well, anyway, this thing is CLLLLLLEEEAN; and--it does have a water pump leak( which I was sure before I arrived just couldn't be true); OK--so believe me all I could think was, sure--you really mean "blown head gasket, cracked block, or head--right?" Well, I looked it over very carefully (well not in your terms I guess because I didn't do a pressure test or test for hydrocarbons in the coolant, cylinder compression test, etc) Anyway, no milkshake, no sweet exhaust, no smells or funky stuff in the coolant tank--the leak was at the pump--and not a very big one at that--and the temp went up nice and smoothly and was rock solid mid range during my---admittedly short--test drive. Upper hose got hot, as did both sides of the heating system. Couldn't tell if the belt is routed correctly, and not sure if cooling might not have some trapped air--except the broken bleeder plug may be taking care of that some now. There are records but when I got to the seller's brother's house, he hadn't left them in the vehicle as he had thought. However the bro and I talked--and you know--sometimes I think you can tell if a guy is just straight. This guy also builds race engines for a living--nice shop in his house and beautiful engines. He immediately told me unprovoked that "I don't think this is a head gasket--looked at the oil, and no overheating". He told me that the owner's wife had pulled over immediately when she saw the steam from the engine compartment, and took a cab home and the disco was towed to his house. I saw that receipt. He told me his bro had dumped over $3,500 in the disco in the last two years and just wasn't going to spend another nickel on it and paid $7k just before that to buy it--for his daughter--before the big rise in gas prices made him take it away from her. ( The seller had also told me that on the phone and you could hear that resolve in his voice.) He had replaced brakes all around, drive line pieces, and a couple of O2's, and more. I did see from my crawl underneath that all of that was obviously true. Yea-some of the usual culprits are there: start of droopy headliner, sunroofs not working (also clearly not leaking though as we had mucho rain last few days including today and not a drop inside); some of the speakers sound like too much hard rap blew their coils; slight wear on driver's seat. But, the truck had some nice option stuff: " leather, wood trim (a couple of pieces had partially delaminated); the high end stereo w/ cd, brush bar and fogs (one broken) and tail light gards, and running boards. Bummer--only 16" aluminum wheels-except they are just about perfect--except for missing LR center caps. All of the outside and inside is remarkably unblemished--except as one guy once said: there are " a few scratches". actually--very few.

So--I know I may have bigger issues when I actually do look at everything--- LIKE I ALREADY SHOULD HAVE---and like I expect all of you to chastise me for not doing--(at least I'll really be disappointed with you guys if you don't!!) I did look at everything visually with all the great info I got on this site and advice from you guys who posted. I went through the shop manual ( downloaded here--great!) in the last few days and on my way today to see the truck with stack of a printouts from posts from this site( showed the seller's bro the article by "Mike" about bleeding the cooling sys--that shows a picture of the infamous disco II first gen cooling hose that always has the bleeder break off--that this guy had just broken off--he laughed) and a detailed list of things to check out. I sure felt I knew what I "should be" looking for, and at.

I will post pics--and future installments of my new book: "Was he a fool in the wilderness, or just a lucky devil?" I plan to do all the major maintenance things ASAP that many of you have written about here--and will take that one step beyond--I'm changing the head gaskets. I hope to receive some good advice on the best gaskets AND BOLTS (yep--I told I did some reading) to buy and any special tips for the install--(have done some engine rebuilds) Plan to change all gaskets from the head up as well, and all the belts, and hoses; then flush EVERYTHING, and refill--AND BLEED the cooling sys. Then--cross my fingers and have some fun.

I think I did OK--paid $2k. How'd I do Dad(s)?

 

DO NOT change the head gaskets unless they are blown. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Fix what needs fixin and change the fluids.

 

Don't be too disappointed with the little stuff like the 16" wheels. If you plan to ever take the truck off-road, these are the better option as there are more tire options than with a larger wheel.

I'm not sure I'd fool around with the HG if it isn't blown already. You need to take a closer look before deciding to dive into that project. Change the fluids, water pump, hoses, thermostat, and belt first...

When I bought my '99 w/95k it turned out to have a bad water pump...it had been replaced with a re-manufactured pump that failed almost immediately. After replacing it with a good pump from Will Tillery, the truck would idle all day at 'normal' temp and it even drove without problems over short distances. The first time I got it more than 10 miles from home though it blew a hose and overheated. Despite appearances, the HG was blown.

IMO, you need to address the known issues before you start planning to do the HG's...

Good luck.

 

Not a bad price at all...immediately do DiscoMike's 60K maintenace, replace u-joints with greaseable parts and have FUN!

By the way, in my book you are already a Discoholic with that huge long post and great knowledge you spewed out. You have a serious problem