picked up a 2000 Disco on Friday with 125k on the clock. I've been reading through some forums and have seen the 90k service and will check/do those things. buying a used Rover is a little like triage- with all the things that are ailing the truck, what is the most important and must be addressed first? of big concern are two items- oil leaking on the low end of the engine- will clean it up and look for source, the other is a stuttering acceleration, can't tell if its engine or tranny or where they meet. it kind of feels like the gears are trying to find their spot and get a firm grip as the stuttering gets less pronounced with acceleration. any thoughts would be appreciated...

 

The first thing you should focus on with these trucks is anything related to the cooling system. Overheating once can cause them to be permanently destroyed, I know from experience.

As for the stuttering, are there any codes and/or is your SES light on? How long did the truck sit before you bought it, maybe it has bad gas. PO change trans fluid with wrong oil? PO ever change trans fluid?

Get yourself an ultragauge asap, it's invaluable for these trucks for everything from checking/resetting codes and just monitoring temps.

As for the oil get a few cans of degreaser and hit the DIY car wash and get everything cleaned off the engine (dont worry, rovers love the water). After that it should be real easy to find out where the oil is leaking from. It could be something simple like valve covers that come lose over time.

 

Two things, is the systems throwing any codes?

second, Shutter in the drive line, first check the drive shaft, the stock front drive shaft fails. You check this by crawling under the car and seeing if the u joints have any play.

Now if you are unsure about the issues go to a good rover shop and have them look it over and create a punch list.