Found some oily substance in my driveway, took my 2003 Disco into Midas, they couldn't find a leak, degreased the engine, etc and checked my tires which two on the left side were slowly leaking air. They said I needed four new tires because mine were rotted out because they have all these cracks in the tires. Not sure what to think of the leak, he said there was no odor and it was kind of oily.

Just bought Disco last June, not sure if tires are original or not, 75,000 miles on it, so probably are. Any ideas about the leak or best tires to get? I was planning a trip to NC on Monday, guess it will be delayed....

 

Old tires do dry rot, and if OEM they were made in 02. Tire guy can show you the date code. Once you run dry rotted tires hot they can separate and have crazy blow outs. I had a Chevy Suburban 4WD that tore off the whole outer casing in one piece, from what we thought was a good never used spare. I was left on the side of the expressway with what looked like a ballon tire with the steel radial threads. Disco weighs over 2 tons. Needs real tires.

As for oil leak, you'll need to do the regular detective work, park over cardboard, etc. A Disco has many places it can leak from. If you must have a clean driveway and garage, a Disco is not the right vehicle for you.

Please don't take this the wrong way - but in the year you have owned it,

1. How many times has oil and filter been changed? What type and weight oil?
2. How many times have differentials and transfer case been drained and re-filled?
3. Has front driveshaft been rebuilt or replaced so it can be greased?
4. How many times have drive shafts been greased?
5. Has transmission fluid and filter been replaced?

There's a list of 60K service items in our tech area. It is a good idea to work through them. Again, don't take this the wrong way. But if you are an oil change at every 15,000; and run tires until failure type of owner, you will find that a Rover will eat your wallet in repair costs and breakdowns.

Type of tires will depend on wallet, driving habits (lots of off road, or just mall hauls), etc.

 

There are 6 things on your truck that hold oil, any one of them could be leaking.
You need someone who is more knowledgeable with Rovers to look at it.

As for tires, buy whatever suits your purpose and budget.

 

"MIDAS", what do they know about Rovers, that was a waste of your good money.
Have you actually crawled under your truck with a flash light and a piece of white paper towel and tried to visually locate any fluid leaks, if not that is what you need to do. If you find a leak, get a little of it on the white paper towel so you can then decide what is leaking and get back to us.