For those of you buying a used vehicle with 60K or more on it, consider doing the full list to bring your truck current.

1 Oil filter, K&N 3001 or Mobil 1- 301
1 Factory air filter
6 Qts. of engine oil, Shell Rotella T-6
2 feet of 3/16th vacuum tube
2 feet of 5/16th vacuum tube
6 Qts. Of Vavoline’s high mileage Dextron 3 ATF
7 Qts. of 80/90W synthetic gear oil, 85W/140 for HD use
3 Pints of Castrol Synthetic or Vavoline’s DOT 4 Brake fluid
4 Qts of synthetic Power steering fluid
2 Gallons of Peak or any green or yellow coolant, don’t use Dexcool
1 Bottle of Lucas Power Steering additive
1 Bottle of Lucas Transmission additive
1 Can of B&G’s 44K gas additive
1 Can of Spray Carb. Spray
1 Can Of Brake cleaner
8 Spark Plugs, I use Bosch Platinum Plus 4's
1 Set of Magnacor or STI 8mm plug wires
1 Serpentine belt
2 Bottles of SeaFoam gas additive
1 T/Stat
1 bottle of WaterWetter or Purple Ice
Hoses and belts, as necessary

60,000 Mile Service or Major Service for High Mileage Used Vehicle just purchased

Bleed the brakes
Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive
Change the coolant Pressure Cap and t/stat
Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Do an induction cleaning
Clean the throttle body
Add fuel additive to full gas tank
Change both of the diffs fluid
Change the t/case oil
Replace the plugs and wires
Replace the air filter
Lube all the drive shaft grease fitting including the 2 slip shafts
Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.
Rebuild or Replace the front drive shaft if it only has 1 grease fitting

Hopefully I didn't leave anything out.

 

That looks like some really good things to get done. The reason I buy cars with more miles is because I am not made out of money. This thing keeps me busy enough just keeping it running between break downs and I have to do all the repairs myself, Rover dealers can be such a rip off. That is a good list, some I have already done, some I have coming up on the priority list. Maybe I'll get a couple of projects a month done. Like the tune up, I am going to wait for the weather to get warmer. I hate tearing the top off a motor in a cold garage. My SES light just came on today on the way down to have the emissions tested, like I said, I don't really need to look for things to keep busy. Hopefully what I do fix will stay fixed long enough to get through the maintenance rotation, at least once before I pass on. It's a good thing I love Rovers or I'd really be depressed. I love driving it, nothing feels quite like it; but I am working on it constantly, it is a great hobby for me. At least I'm not stuck with one of those death trap toyotas or heaven forbid; a honda!

 

I just purchased a 1996 LR discovery, I got a super deal as there isw slight water coming from exhaust. I plan on pulling the heads and getting a valve job , new gaskets etc. as the water indicates blown heah gasket. The gentleman who owned it took great care to have regular service and just had water pump etc. replaced. Anything else I should think about doing while the heads are off?
1996 Discovery
159,000
Fl. keys

 

First of all, when doing a cold start one morning, go back and smell your exhaust to see if it has a sweat coolant smell or not. Water from an exhaust system is normal to some extent.
As for what else to do, remove the rocker shafts and inspect them and each arm of wear, also remove each rod and inspect for wear and length, if any are warn, replace them all. Also check the surface of each lifter for wear and if found, replace them all.
At that mileage, you are getting close to a timing chain replace, usually around 200,000K.
Buy your parts from Atlantic British, make sure to buy new head bolts also.
Then do my entire list including greasing/replacing all 4 wheel bear sets and have some one check the preload on the front swivels.
Good luck.

 

Great forum and great thread for helping out Disco noobs like me.

Am looking at buying a 2004 Discovery and read up some info here on the forums. I have test-driven it twice and done a basic visual inspection with the below observations :


- It seems to be an S or an SE version (the owners manual is missing)
- No mechanical noises while accelerating or cruising at 100-120kmph
- stops well (i later found out that the brake pads had been recently changed)
- Air-con works pretty well
- Rear right-side power window is kaput
- There's no "service record" but the owner confirmed that there had been no breakdowns / major repairs till date. This unfortunately also means that except for regular engine oil/brake pads changes. nothing else has been done.
- There are no visible leaks/drips from the Differential, Valve cover or the Heads
- No funny coolant burning smell
- The engine revs well and has no abnormal sounds.
- The owner surprisingly said that he runs it on 91 octane gas though i read in an online manual that 95octane gas is recommended.

I'm already looking up various sources to buy new center bearing and UJs for the front propshaft.

Any pointers at preventative maintenance activities that i need to perform immediately after purchase ?

thanks in advance

 

I have a lr discovery ll that i have owned about a year. has 100k miles and i know it needs some overhauling, but my concern right now is overheating. i can't see where the coolant is coming from, but it pours from the bottom. taking it to a mechanic today, but would really like to know a bit about the problem. if i could get any feedback it would be greatly appreciated. also if anyone knows why the cruise control and wiper delay goes out on these things and how to fix them i would greatly appreciate it also. love my land rover, but not made of money and would like to do as much work in it myself if possible

 

ok...... out off all these things what do you think would be the most important. i do absolutely no off roading. just metro city and highway driving. i don't have the $$$$$'s to do all this right now. if you don't mind can you tell me what would be the most important right away. having overheating problems right now that i have to get fixed and if that doesn't cost me a lot i'm going to have a 100k mile service done on it. and if you don't mind what do you think out of all this work could i do myself

thank you in advance

 

You could most likely borrow a cooling system pressurizer from Autozone, if the coolant is just pouring out, it would have to be pretty easy to find where it is coming out. If you can fix this yourself you will be saving yourself a couple of hundred dollars right away. The most likely place for a large leak would be a break at the nylon tee where the upper tri-hose assembly couples together; but that should be really easy to see. There is a bypass hose that goes to the throttle body that is kind of hard to see. I'd say fill it up with plain water until you locate the leak.

When my cruise control wasn't working; I found that the vacuum line had deteriorated and fallen off right at the actuator.

I am not familiar with the wiper delay, but if you do a thread search you'll most likely find some info; or start a new thread listing the symptoms.

Somewhere on this forum one of the old timers has a complete repair manual you can download; that right there is money in the bank and a must have for the DIY-er. You can do just about anything if you have the manual.

It is always recommended to inspect your propeller shafts (drive shafts) universal joints thoroughly, often and replace/update them with grease-able U-joints at the first sign of wear. If one breaks at high speed it can knock a good size hole in the side of the transmission. For me; that would be the makings of a bad day.

 

thak you for the info. i am going to try to find the leak again today if the weather lets up. i know it's something i can probabley do if i could just find the leak. and yes it would probably save me a few $100's. i noticed you are replacing your rear plate bracket. if you don't mind where did you order it from. mine is bout to fall off.

thanks in advance

 

For Genuine Land Rover parts I order from landroverpartscenter.com. They most generally offer the lowest price available; including paypal and shipping costs they consistently beat their competitors. Do not just blindly order from them; always do your homework and search for the best price, but I think you'll find they do more often than not; have the best deal. As I mentioned in my "signature" the two small screws that fasten the rear license plate bracket to the rear door were not included. I have since decided to reuse the originals; as from a closer inspection I've concluded they are still quite nice and just need a little TLC and a dab of touch up paint.