I bought a disco II about 3 weeks ago after spending about 3 months researching 4x4 SUVs and deciding what I wanted. I'm only 22, just got out of college, and this is my first car. I got it for a ridiculously good price ($1300, 102k miles, exterior and interior are basically mint), and I've got a pretty awesome job, so I'm comfortable with the costs of maintenance on my vehicle. All that being said, I'm hoping some of you can help me with a few of the issues I've got. I have absolutely no experience as a mechanic, but I'm good with my hands and I'm determined to become good at working on my own car
Here's a list of the issues with the car I've already fixed:
Fuse box was visibly destroyed. Like, the upper right half of it smelled like melted plastic and it was a mess inside. My local mechanic (who is horrified at the very idea of working on a land rover, despite being a master technician with nissan) ordered a new one for 200 bucks and I installed it myself. I hadn't driven the car since I drove it the 450 miles from Atlanta back to my home in Northwest TN after I bought it until yesterday, while waiting on this part to get in. This fixed a TON of problems. Front and rear fog lights suddenly work, radio works great (including cd changer and every speaker in the car). Let's see, my cruise control switch lights up now, but cruise control doesn't seem to work when I use the wheel switches. My horn also doesn't work, and I read in a post on here that this can be related to a vacuum hose, so tonight when I get off work I'm gonna go look at my RAVE manual and try to figure out what the hell to do there. Heated seat switches light up now, but as far as I can tell, don't work, I'm guessing the elements are burned out. Oh, also on the way home from Atlanta, my brake light switch went out, but I pried up the shifter panel and forced it out of park to make it to Nashville and the dealership there sold me one for 30 bucks and even showed me how to install it, I think I might order a second one as spare to keep in my toolkit. Uh, I replaced my left tail light bulbs while i was still in atlanta... Oh, and the issue with the fuse box being melted? Apparently my windshield wiper motor wouldn't park, it just kept rotating and burned stuff out. My local mechanic also helped me replace the wiper motor with a new one, which wasn't as hard as I had expected, and not expensive at all.
Oh, and the hood release lever was torn off inside, I had to install a universal hood release I bought at NAPA auto parts, that wasn't hard and works great now.

I think that's everything I've fixed. My remaining issues aren't as worrisome now, mostly. I need to rebuild my front driveshaft, I have 3 Amigos and haven't tracked the issue down yet, and more worrisome my SRS light stays on and is red. Engine is in great shape, car runs great, has had wires and plugs and HG replaced already according to service records, and I'm completely in love and want to spend the rest of my life owning land rovers, electrical gremlins or not.


That was a lot of introduction. Here's my question for today.
My headlights are ridiculously dim. I didn't realize, because I drove home from Atlanta with the brights on, but they are /dim/. Both bulbs are burning, so it's not the bulb not working, and they actually seem to flicker over the course of an hour or two, they get brighter and dimmer, but never acceptably bright. My dad is pretty knowledgeable about electronics and said it's probably a voltage issue, but couldn't figure out how to fix it without being there and is not exactly nearby. Has anyone else had a similar problem? Both headlights work, bulbs are on, but the dipped beams are dimmer than a maglite with dying batteries, despite the brights being as sharp as sunlight, and they appear to grow marginally brighter and then dim again if I leave them on. If anyone's had a similar issue or has a clue where I should start, feel free to chime in!


Sorry I wrote a novella - Dave

 

stop buying so many parts from the dealer or you will go broke. when you need something speak to will tillery at www.roverguy.com

for the 3 amigos get yourself an RSW solutions Amigo new or used or you can even rent one from the USVI LR club.

the SRS system could be something as easy as the ground as come loose, seat belt pre-tensioner or one of the airbags has failed. try and find someone (not a dealer) who can read your SRS system. I have an indie LR mechanic by me who did it for free.

For the seats i would check the fuses, its not common for all the elements to die at once. you might get a hot spot or one element not working but not everything at once.

driveshaft is a big problem get that rebuilt ASAP.

get yourself a $3 multimeter from HF so you can check wiring connections.

Have your battery and alternator tested at an auto parts store to see what voltage you are getting.

welcome to the madness.

 

All I've bought from the dealer was the brake light switch because I had to get home without getting rearended and it was 30 bucks, but thanks for the advice on a place to shop! My mechanic ordered the fuse box from some other supplier (He said the Nashville dealership wanted $400), and I've bought everything else at local auto parts stores. I'll definitely get the Amigo reader next paycheck, and I guess I'll look around and find out if any independent LR shops aside from the one 2 hours away in Memphis exist (I live in a small college town an hour away from even an interstate.) I'll change out the heated seat fuses after work, maybe that'll fix it. Thanks for the quick tips

 

If you are looking for parts check out these guys:

http://www.bputah.com/

There selection is huge and their prices are good.

 

Hey Dave, I am in Memphis and I was not aware of a indie Rover shop. Are you talking about the guy in Midtown? I do all my own work but it would be nice to know someone in town that is more knowledgeable.

Thanks,

Frank

And welcome to the club! It totally sucks!!!

 

Battery and alternator were perfect. Guy at O'Reilly's looked at my headlights like a mystery from a science fiction film when he tested it, he'd never seen any problem like that before.

 

check voltage going to the headlights.

 

hey dave, are you in martin? i live 2 hours south of there but if you dont want to buy an amigo, if we can meet, i will scan it for you. let me know, jeff.

 

Yeah, I live in Martin, work at the university here. 2 hours south, I take it you live in Memphis too?
There's not a fulltime LR shop in Memphis, but I have a buddy with a Disco 1 who gets his fixed down there by a mechanic who owned an LR shop in South Africa for years and still does work on LRs at reasonable rates, like $45/hr
I need to get his number!

 

i live just outside of adamsville, tn. which is due south on hwy 22.