Hey all!
I'm new on the forum and an even newer disco owner. I've just moved in to the US, so this was my first time buying/owning a car and dealing with repair shops here, in NY.
I have been enjoying reading the tons of advice and tips for my newly acquired Disco 2 HSE7 2004. It has 92k and looks quite the part for an old lady. Quite a bit of cosmetic work here and there, but nothing "major" said the dealer that I bough it from, 4 weeks ago, in San Diego.



Just got the disco checked by a reputable and honest shop in NY (recommended in various threads here) to get a more thorough check up, as I felt the suspension was a bit boaty / floaty and there was this kind of weird sound coming from the engine.

This is the quote that I have just received from the shop. They are really nice, and actually will let me buy my own parts for them to install. The grand total is fairly steep.

Full disclosure: I am not mechanically savvy, I can generally build stuff and fix things, change fluids, but real work on Discos? Not really.

First part - fixing the engine noise, which turns out is "pretty bad"


I know that I can get the tentioner, pulley and belt cheaper at L8 or others, but I'm pretty sure the whole repair work is way out of my league...

Second part - Fixing the suspension / steering (no parts included in the below)


So for this, I am looking at 8 hours, at $110/hour. Ouch. With quality parts, that's another $350 - $400.

Being new to Discos and new to the US, what do you guys think about this overall? Do the labor hours feel right?
Any pointers? Except the obivous "do it yourself" etc... Also, the point here is not bashing on the labor cost, even I suspect is kind of high.

Thanks!

 

I don’t see a quote for the first part.

The second part hours wise is spot on for book time.

I would say it’s an honest quote. Maybe you could try to tackle the first part on your own, it’s not too difficult and I’m sure someone here would help you with it.

Good luck.

 

First of all, welcome. Of all the work you listed, the only stuff I'd have the shop do is ball joints and alignment. The entire rest of the work is pretty much- remove bolt, replace part, attach bolt kind of stuff. Very basic. Are you in NYC?

 

The serpentine belt, tensioner, and pulley is a 15 minute job if you've done it before and would be a GREAT introductory job if you're wanting to learn to do repairs. Might take you an hour to figure it out.

The ball joints and alignment are moderate to high difficulty and I'd leave that to the shop.

It was kinda difficult to make out. A little formatting on your post would help others read it. I had trouble let making out what went with what.

Awesome looking Disco you've got there! Welcome to the club.

 

Fixed the formatting. Not sure what happened there!
It is awesome! But damn, you guys are right when you've all said that it will be a labour of love.

 

Thanks! Yes I am in NYC, Brooklyn actually...

 

I'm in Staten Island. I have a Disco 2, a driveway, a garage, and a basement workshop along with a decent set of tools. We could potentially come to some arrangement for later in the year when things have warmed up a bit, but if the noises from the engine are serious then I advise that you get it taken care of sooner rather than later.

As people as have mentioned, the first job is pretty straightforward, and shouldn't take long even if you do it yourself. It's literally one action to loosen the belt tensioner, and then after that you just have to remove the bolts holding the idler and tensioner in place. You probably have all the shrouds around your radiator which are probably a pain to remove (my truck doesn't have 'em) but there's no big trick to that. The hardest part of reinstalling is making sure you get the belt going the right way around all the pulleys.
On the second job, I would leave the ball joints and alignment to people with better equipment. I've done the tie rods and steering damper on my own truck with no trouble at all.

 

Are you even sure its ball joints and tie rods? Most of us have way more miles and don't have problems with those.

I would look more toward worn out shocks and springs, then if that doesn't fix it look further. Unless of course they showed you clear and obvious damage to the ball joints and tie rods.

Regardless of that, I'd still do shocks and springs because why upgrade the ball joints, tie rods, and steering damper and then ride around on old shocks and springs... Unless you can see that someone already replaced the shocks and springs. Even at your miles, due to age alone I'd suspect they are worn if original.

 

I have had accurate estimates from www.repairpal.com - it sure helped me make wise decisions.

 

Your shop is charging $269.82 for idler pulleys, tensioner and belt. For example using the Atlantic British website, you can get the Drive Belt Tensioner And Idler Pulley Kit for $139 plus $31 for the belt. (Be aware: there are two types of belt with ACE or without the ACE option):

Land Rover Belt Tensioner Kit: Discovery 2 And Range Rover P38

Belt Polyvee (Part # ERR6898) - Serpentine Belt For Discovery II

This is a fairly easy job if you have the right fan clutch tool to take out the fan hub:

Universal Fan Clutch Wrench For Land Rover

Fan Clutch Wrench - 36 MM

All in, you will save some bucks doing this fairly easy job yourself, even if you had to buy the fan clutch tool and wrench. I see your shop is charging 3 hours for this job. I do not see it taking longer than 1 hour.

Here is a step-by-step video for your reference: