Hi everybody!

Just picked up a new to me 1998 Discovery. I was out looking for a new beater for the winter/summer. Went to look at a first gen Xterra and this happened to be sitting beside it and they were asking 2900$ Canadian. Ended up leaving with it for 2700$ and a smile! All i knew going in was the engines tend not to last and they are ripe with electrical problems. A driving 4x4 with solid front and rear axles for 2700, the engine could grenade tomorrow and id still be happy.

It has a few issues:
200k kms with the service records ending at 94k
Cats were stolen (replaced with pipe)
Door lock spring is toast
Various broken interior plastics
Leaks, Leaks Leaks! going to start with front main seal and valve cover gaskets, clean it and go from there.
2/3 amigos (I believe i used this right? check engine likely from missing cats and an SRS light)
Ignition tends to be quite particular on the key location for it to rotate.
All the braking tends to be at the last 1-2inches feels spongy but seems that may be normal? A bleed and some braided lines will be done regardless.

So on to the parts, any recommended brands/sites? Anything I should avoid? I see front crank seals from 8$CAD to 55$CAD.

Ill be looking for all the parts from the "Major Service" page along with a few seals and some braided brakes lines, y pipe with cats (if I can find a reasonable one if not ill fool the post cat O2 sensor)

Most my mechanical experience is from Nissans (Pathfinder, Atlas, 720 and my long term car, R32 GTR 15 years and counting) so any specific tips or warnings for working on Land Rovers would be great.

Thanks in advance!



Excuse the dirty picture, that was on the way home.

 

That's a D1, not a D2.

 

HAHA well that really shows how little I know about them now doesn't it? Thanks!

 

Nice find! Where are you in Canada? Here’s a link for some local BC parts https://roverlanders.bc.ca/roverforu...pic.php?t=7788
Rock Auto has a lot of Disco parts. I often order from the UK. Shipping isn’t too expensive for smaller parts and it doesn’t take long.
The engine will last a long time if you look after it. Make sure you keep on top of the cooling system and don’t let it overheat.

 

Thanks, I am in Alberta but travel through BC a few times a year so that's a good option, thanks. So far the dealer seems decent for seals, had the best price for the front crank seal and valve cover gaskets. I will take a look through there for sure though!

 

Yep, spitting image of my '96 D1, 4.0 Liter, GEMS, fog lights. The date and place of manufacture should be on a sticker behind the driver's door. Welcome to the club!

I usually start with Roverparts.com (aka Atlantic British or British Pacific) and compare with BritishPartsofUtah.com. Lately I like Lucky8 and AutoHausAZ. Rovers North are great for hard to find and specialty bits (like shims for the front hubs), and a great source for genuine parts. Rimmer Bros. (UK) did me good for a set of springs. UKAR Auto had parts to repair seats and trim. Tons of parts on eBay for the bits that aren't so critical. I also use the usual retail auto parts stores for generic parts like spark plugs, air filters, and oil filters.

I have done a lot of work on mine over the years (I like to tinker). Make sure you get a OBD II code reader that displays real time data. Getting a hard copy LR shop manual was a great investment (includes a wonderful maintenance check list). There are on-line links to manuals in this forum.

Both my trucks were worn badly in the front hubs, so I would inspect those carefully, including bearing pre-load adjustments. In total, I added about $3k in parts to each of my trucks, and now I have two great running vehicles. Probably could have gotten by with about half that much. I did not keep track of labor hours (that would make my wife even more jealous of my trucks).

 

Thanks for the response! I will definitely take a look at those sites. Managed to get a few seals from the dealership of all places. The few local parts stores I tried wanted 70-90$ for a set of valve cover gaskets! The intuition on the hubs was dead on. Thought a noise was a u-joint, jacked it up and both front hubs need work. Appears one was replaced somewhat recently and was out of adjustment. The other is just completely toast, dirty grease cracked seal and bad bearings.