Well, I made the jump. I ended up purchasing the Disco II. I will post some pics when I get home. I did take all of your advice and had the front shaft changed out. I ordered one from Great Basin Rovers and had it installed as soon as it arrived. After putting it up on a rack we realized that all the fittings on the truck were bone dry and looking rough.



My big concerns are the following:



1. There seems to be an engine 'knock' that is coming from the passenger side. We tested the cylinder pressure and all seemed fine. The technician that was helping me said that it didn't sound like a piston. After we looked at it closer we noticed that the water pump was leaking and that it was making some noises. He felt that some of the engine noise was coming from it. We changed that out with a new one from Atlantic British and we still have the noise. The truck drives fine, has power, AC blows cold and doesn't overheat. I am just concerned with the noise. Any idea of where to start the search?



2. Truck drives true and straight. At 70 miles an hour it starts to have a vibration. The vibration is there whether in gear or in neutral. The interesting thing is that the vibration doesn't come slowly at 65, then stronger at 68... It seems to be either on or off. I have been staying in the right lane and going under 70 and all seems to be working great...then I hit 70 and all hell breaks loose. Any ideas on that?



3. I noticed that the coolant is green in the truck while I thought that it should be orange. Should I worry about it? Is it something that I should change over?



4. I don't know about the oil in the truck. It was just changed, however they didn't use synthetic when they did it. As these motors will last forever IF you take care of them, will it cause any kind of problems if I change to synthetic at the next change?

5. Tires. The truck has Michelin tires on it now that are ok, however I was thinking of going up to 255/60/R18 Pirelli Scorpion ATR's. Any experience with these?

I will stop there as that is what is really concerning me. As this is my primary vehicle, I want to do whatever I need to keep her strong. I just can't have her sitting in a garage for a month while a mechanic replaces everything while guessing. Thanks again for all of your help...as always!

 

This is a follow up from : https://landroverforums.com/m_69723/tm.htm

 

1.Exhaust leak at the manifold, spark plug wire grounding out, sticky lifter.
2.Driveshaft out of balance, tires out of balance.
3.Green is fine. It came with DexCool. Dont switch back.
4.Switch back to full synthetic anytime you want. Just pick a brand and stick with that brand. Leaks will develop but then disapear after the seals get used to the new oil.
5.If you are going to off-road dump the 18's.
More questions?

 

Just had a thought, do you have secondary air injection? If so that pump can knock when it is going bad.

 

I printed your response and will be giving it to the tech in the morning. If you are right on the noise not only will I be happy as !@#$, I will also send you a bottle of wine!

I won't be doing any major off-road. I plan on moving to Colorado in April or so and want to make sure I can get to the park and to my new home in the woods when the snow hits. The tire place told me Kumho is the way to go and I almost laughed at him. This isn't a Ford Explorer. It needs heavy load rated tires that Kumho doesn't even offer. That's the reason for the Scorpions. I can get them at cost.

I had the tires balanced just last week and I am still getting the vibration. I am wondering if I should order a new rear driveshaft like I did the front one?

 

A negative on the air injection.

I will make the switch to Mobil1 the next oil change.

I can see I have the right minds on the problem.

 

I sure am thirsty!
Just have the front driveshaft balanced. If the rear is good dont worry about it. You could replace those u-joints too just to keep everything the same age.

 

Do you have ACE? I think that that pump is pretty reliable, but worth checking out.

 

If the right side valve cover is leaking make sure to replace the PCV valve. If it clogs the pressure buildup pushes oil out (usually near the back of the cover).

Just a warning on moving to Colorado: Once you get here you won't be able to resist getting the Rover dirty. The 18 inch wheels will have a tough time out here. www.traildamage.com has a great list of trails and pictures to go along.

Synthetic oil:

Flush your engine first with 6 quarts of ATF. Search this forum for how-to's on this. After a 15 minute ATF flush my engine runs much quieter and the lifter tick is gone. I also run Valvoline Maxlife which seems to work well with 3000 mile oil changes. I've used Royal Purple in other vehicles and it seems to work well and last a long time.

Driveshaft:

Disco II's are known to explode their front driveshafts (no grease fittings were installed on them from the factory). A few hundred bucks to rebuild it is much cheaper than having your tranny catch some flying shrapnel from an exploding U-joint.

Happy Roving,

Pete

 

Royal Purple is one of the best synthetics on the market. I've run it in my Dodge diesel with excellent results and am going to change my Rover over to it. My diesel actually got better mileage with the Royal Purple.

By the way, congratulations and welcome to the dark side. Land Rovers are an addiction. I've only been driving mine for 2 months and I'm addicted. If I didn't need a tow vehicle I'd sell my Dodge and get another Discovery.