How hard is it to replace the plugs and wires on a D2?



2001 Land Rover Disco II
83k miles

 

Ha, Good question. I had initially planned on 2-3 hours, but ended up running to 5. I am pretty familiar with engines, etc., having done many headgaskets, full rebuilds, etc. Ithink that if I had subtracted out the dumb things Idid,itwould have been 2 hours.

A couple issuses I ran into that caused additional time...all of which were self inflicted... intially I had a tough time getting the SAI pipes out.... my Tetris skills were challenged.

Second issue. I had a hard time getting the Magnecor's off when I snapped them into the wrong terminal, or when I had to change the wires to the slightly longer version. (again, self inflicted) took me a while to get them off nicely. (ended up using a very small pair of pliers from sears called 'RoboGrip' They are like miniature Channel Locks. Works better than the bent screwdriver as you can gently grip the boot)

Third issue. The wires on the opposite sides have slightly different lengths. When I was putting them up in the wire loom, I ended up finding out that I had to swap sides with a couple just to have enough slack in the line.

As mentioned, all these issues were self inflicted, but really just added more time to the whole procedure.

Things that saved me were taking a pencil and marking each cylinder above the spark plug on the valve cover. Just a good sanity reference, as once you have the coil pack sequence, it's straight forward.

Writing everything down in terms of the coil pack sequence. Having this website up with the comments by DeepBlueWater - https://landroverforums.com/m_41479/tm.htmwas invaluable.

I also had the RAVE CD up, but that wasn't really needed.

Not a terrible experience, and the glass of wine at the end made up for it a bit.

 

I'd say 5 hrs. is a fair estimate..and it is not a easy 5. It is a PITA.

 

I installed the magnecors on my 01 and I used a tool for removing door panels I bought at the parts store. It has a slight bend and a smooth prong end. I removed all of the wires after I obtained the diagram for reinstalling them in the coils and marking each with what cylinder they went to. I layed the old ones on the garage floor and then layed the Magnecors next to them to get the correct size for reinstall. It only took me about 2 hours total. I used the write up I found on the forums as a guide. I didn't even skin my hands up...

 

i cant seem to get the coil pack order right can somebody send me pictures on how to do it thanks

 

There is a copy of the coil pack on the Atlantic British web, I cant get my pic to upload.

 

Here you go.
DISCO II COIL LAYOUT

TOP

PASS. SIDE DRIVER SIDE
8 5 6 1
2 3 4 7






BOTTOM

 

Do you have secondary air, as an emission control device, this will make a difference as to how long and or hard it may be.
There is also a post from a couple weeks ago walking you thru replacing the wires without removing the intake manifold.

 

i did both plug and wires in about 3 hours in the dark with nothing but a small led light.

key is removing the SAI pipes. that is the toughest thing. once those are out of the way remove the intake tube to have better access to the plugs on the front driver side of the head.

have your plug wires laid out in a way that makes sense to you so you can just grab and plug when you get to that stage.

make sure your plugs are anti seized and ready to go.

if you prep you save time,,,

 

thanks for helping me out, other question 99 discovery 2 keyless remote stop working changed battery but still wont work what should i do