Hey y’all,

So excited to join the club!

just bought an 02 or 03 (I forgot which year...) disco SE with 135k

ive worked as a mechanic for a few years and the past 3 years I’ve been flipping cars on the side. I’m fairly comfortable working on all sorts of cars even extremely un-reliable ones. My most recent advent was a 91 Volkswagen Vanagon! ... I’ve heard discos can be quite the project some times!

anyway I basically stole the disco, so again very excited to get one. But I have a few questions I’m hoping some of y’all can help me with!

my main goal is to create a semi-reliable daily driver/back country weekend warrior. I camp, climb and Mtn bike so I frequent rough terrain, nothing deep off-roading. Eventually I’d like to get a 2 inch lift, bigger tires and a rack. But still be comfortable to drive for me and my wife.

Buttttttt...

before I do that I want to drive it for a few months and see what’s wrong with it.

1. what are some common problems and what should I look out for.

2. other than general maintenance items is there anything that should be replaced or checked ASAP?

3. it has the 3 amigo lights... what’s general diagnosis and remedies for this. Is there a way to wipe that code and see if it comes back?

Also end of May my wife wants to drive it to MN and back so I’d like to get major figured out by then so we can be fairly certified will make it. But I’ve had enough un-reliable cars in the past to no not to go out without AAA and we know the drill...

 

There's a sticky thread at the top of the D2 forum that should cover everything you're asking.

 

Welcome to the forum mate.

 

Welcome to the forum! Here’s a link to one of the main stickies.
https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...t-reads-26352/

Some people get started with the decorations first. I would advise against that until you have a really good feel for how things are running. I have never had the 3 amigos so this is what I did with mine.

1. assume the disco was abused and no one changed anything
2. check for head gasket issues and remediate first
3. Flush cooling system
4. add low temp thermostat
5. new Ngk o2 sensors
6. new plugs and wires
7. new coils
8. change fluid in engine, diffs, transfer case and transmission
9. replace brake pads and rotors

drive and enjoy!

 

Welcome! I agree with everything @cvhyatt mentioned.

Check out the stickies at the top of the DII section. Like cvhyatt said, ensure the cooling system is in working order, make sure the front drive shaft has a grease nipple. If it doesn’t, replace it with a new OE unit or greaseable unit. If it has a nipple, grease it ASAP.

Not knowing the history of the truck, I’d spend a $200 or so and replace all the hoses, coolant bottle, flush the coolant, and install @Extinct ’s inline thermostat mod.

Strongly recommend doing what you mentioned and driving it a while to get a sense for what it needs before spending any $’s on non reliability/maintenance items.

 

Good catch on the driveshaft! Totally missed that one but it is critical.

 

thanks so for the info! I’m getting going on those items already!

 

Go with a 3” lift. You will not regret it, opens up so many more tire and accessory options compared to a 2” lift.

 

with the 3inch is there any need to get an extended drive shafts? Or any other things? I haven’t done tons of research yet on it but it seemed like an HD 2 inch lift would be great cause when loaded it won’t sag as much but still lifted enough to give you a few more tire options and it seems like I can still run stock everything else other than the lift component?

 

First check the front drive shaft before it explodes and takes the transmission with it. Add the center diff lock, it makes a big difference.