Hello all,

I just bought a 2003 Discovery II with 109K miles on it. It has a low oil pressure problem that I'm already working on with help from the forum.

My question is about the leather seats. They seem to be in wonderful condition, with no rips or tears anywhere, but the leather is really stiff and hard. Are they all that way, or do mine just need a bunch of leather lotion?

Thanks,
Keen

 

I've got the faux leather seats and they are not that hard. Actually plenty malleable. That said, I don't know about the true leather, but I'd guess they need to be conditioned judging by leather seats in general.

 

Thank the good old sun for that. UV tends to wreak havoc on the Disco's interior. I've got tinted 2nd row windows and sunroofs, and my rear seats are brand new compared to the front rows.

Invest in a HeatShield windshield cover for when you're not driving. They're custom fit to the Disco's windshield and will stop any further damage. Elsewise prepare for your dashboard to start warping up in places in addition to the leather breaking down.

 

Mine get dirty and the best thing I have done for them is steam them. I just use a steamer we have for shirts/ironing type thing, wrap a towel around it and zip tie that on. Then use lexol and a sponge then hit is with the steamer and scurb for 15 seconds or so. Then I immediately condition it with the Lexol conditioner. Works really well.

Maybe if you steam them that will soften them up to accept some conditioner/moisturizer.

Just my two cents, there may be some good info on youtube about this issue.

 

Many thanks for the suggestions. In my old Jaguar days I used a product called Leatherique to bring back some really stiff rear seats in an XJS. I was just seeing if the situation was typical for the Discovery also. I'm not even sure if they are real leather, but it is an SE, which I thought came with leather.

 

Fit one of these during the summer months as it helps preserve the dash as well as the leather seats.


To restore the seats just soak them in leather conditioner a couple of times and then every month for 2-3 months and they'll return to normal suppleness. As has been stated, heat plays havoc with the dash and front seats. I'm about to fit dark grey blackout film to the rear of the truck including the alpine and rear door windows it'll take a couple of hours but worthwhile.

Landrover Discovery - 2003 to 2004 pre cut window tint kit

 

If you want to really care for those seats, consider saddle soaping them first and then treating with Lexol, nothing better.
As for your oil pressure problem how bad is it and what are you doing to fix it?

 

THIS!! I swear by this stuff. I used it on my recent 2004 Disco purchase with excellent results. See the details section for pics.

 

I don't have a pressure gauge on it yet, but it has an oil light at idle. From my research here my plan was to pull and inspect the pump for either broken gears or scoring. Since the sump has to come off I'll be looking at condition of the oil (sludge) and the pickup screen. If there is nothing obvious with the pump, I suspect my next move will be to pull some bearing caps to see what's what.