Hello,

I just inherited a 2002 Land Rover Discovery 2 with 104k on it. I don't need the vehicle and I want to sell it. I know next to nothing about these vehicles and I have a couple of questions, if you don't mind helping me.

It's my understanding the previous owner had coil springs installed and replaced the rear airbags. I guess that's OK?

Now, there's an ABS light, a TC light, and a truck on a hill light (?) that stay on in the dash. Will those lights ever go off, or are they looking for the airbags?

One other issue it has is the arm rest of the drivers side will not go down to level, the lowest it will go is about 45 degrees, how would I fix that?

Thank you all for the help.

 

Welcome to the forum,
The three lights on the dash are referred to as the "3 amigos" you and search the term and have enough reading for the next year. We can help you, but will need to know what codes you are throwing (auto parts store can read them for you). Rear springs are a nice upgrade as the airbags were known for leaking.

The arm rest should have a black **** on the front underside of it, you turn it to raise and lower the stop point. You can google search Discovery 2 Owner's Manual and you should find a pdf one you can download and read.

Discovery's can be a great mechanical adventure if that is what you want. I have really enjoyed the journey but knew it would cost me $6-8k going into my free Discovery. After 4 months it is almost ready to be driven anywhere anytime, still have a few more leaks to chase down. Yes, they have known issues but can be made much more reliable with modern technology. If you want to sell, check Craigslist for an idea on the market. If your head gaskets haven't been done most buyers will want a steep discount as they will feel it is a matter of when not if they fail.

 

Thanks! I don't want to put any money in it is the main reason I want to sell it.

I know the handle screws down as it seems the passenger one will go down all the way, but the drivers' won't, so I'm not sure why it won't.

Thanks again!

 

What do you want for it? and where are you located? Always have room for another dog in the house.

 

Replacing the air springs with coils is quite common and preferred by many DII owners. Ours failed when the truck was five plus years old and had 59,000 miles on it. We switched to coils then, since, if I recall correctly, the replacement price (at a local shop) was about the same for air springs or coils but the coils would never again need to be replaced in normal use.

The only problem with the air-to-coil conversion can be if the setting in the SLABS (self-leveling and antilock brake system) computer is not changed from air to coils. In that case the computer sometimes tries to run the air springs compressor to no avail causing the battery to drain if the truck sits unused for several days. Correcting that problem, if it exists, takes literally no more than five minutes but it requires a diagnostic computer with the correct LR software.

The Three Amigos are most often caused by the failure of a printed circuit buried deep within the ABS modulator. Not always, but most often, at least based on the frequency of related posts on this and other Rover forums. Second most frequent seems to be failure of a wheel speed sensor. You need to have the diagnostic code read, either by a person or a shop with the same sort of diagnostic computer mentioned above or using a small, specialized device called an ABS Amigo made just for use with the DII.

Someone near you may have either an ABS Amigo or a DII capable computer and would help you out. Unfortunately the diagnostic computers that most auto parts stores have to read codes for free don't read ABS codes.

There have been people on this forum offering to rent the ABS Amigo for a few bucks. It's the size of a pack of dental floss and is used with a Windows computer and a USB cable. You send them $X and they send the unit to you. You use it and return it, and they send you $X-10.

If the modulator circuit is the problem the fix takes an hour or two to complete (depending on your skills and patience), plus less than $5 in parts. It also takes some heat shrink tubing and a soldering iron and solder plus a few common tools. A cheap multimeter is useful too. It's really not difficult, just tedious. And full ABS, traction control and hill descent control are restored (plus the warning lights go out!).

And as for the armrest, it's really easy to remove it to see if you can figure out what's wrong. If you can't figure it out a used replacement would be available for no more than a few bucks. Heck, I think I have a spare in my garage I could send you. Where do you live?

 

I had the same problem with my passenger seat until I realized it was because the seat was leaned back farther than the drivers seat.

 

Wow, you guys are great! Very helpful information. The DII is in the Atlanta area. It's being detailed now so I won't have it back for a few days (closed for Christmas.)

Does anyone know anyone with a ABS Amigo or a DII capable computer in the Atlanta Area? I'm fairly mechanical and it sounds like I could do the repair if it's the modulator circuit.

Another problem I noticed is one of the rear jump seats won't lift up. It can fold down and lock into place, but the seat won't release to vertical so you can sit in it(not sure how to explain.)

Based on what I was able to find, it may be just a WD-40 job once I get the seat belt and cover off, does this sound right?

Thanks again you guys!

 

There's a great shop in Alpharetta that can do work/read codes/has parts. They have about 15 Disco IIs sitting around at any one time that they use as part cars or fix up so you may be able to get a good bit of info from him. There is a shop in Norcross as well as Buford. Let me know if you need names.

Keep in mind lots of people are willing to pick these up with 3 amigos on. You may want to unload it before you start chasing them if it's not a truck you are trying to keep.

 

Thanks for the info! I sold it yesterday.