So what FUBAR have you found that the PO of you Disco did to your truck. I discovered that my coil pack was just left hanging by the wires resulting in the wire plug caps rubbing through on the fire wall and ground out . Fun stuff when you are half way home from a 400 mile trip....made the last 200 miles on 6 cylinders, Anyway ....the pack is secured now and new 8mm wire are on the way. Let hear what you found on yours.

 

- rear wheel hub installed without an o-ring, meaning that the differential would barely hold any oil.
- passenger side head was installed with one of the front diff breather pipes trapped between the block and head before being torqued down. needless to say, the gasket didn't last long on that side. i mean, how do you not notice that??
- plain water instead of coolant. it froze last winter. thankfully i didn't drive the truck with it like that, and it didn't freeze-crack the block.

 

My rear wiper wasn't getting any fluid so I first checked if the pump getting power and found this...

 

Oh....when I took the ps pump off to rebuild it it was missing 2 bolts from the bracket, I also found a 3 inch spacer under the ac compressor....still dont know where that goes.

 

I might be in the minority about this but Ive found at least three pleasant surprises in Clarkson04 from a PO. (I’m 3rd owner) I found out that it already had a 2” lift. It has a wading kit installed for the breather tubes and it came prewired (professionally done) for a trailer brake controller and 7 pin plug. Thats what Ive found so far.

However, PO claims the rear hubs were recently replaced, but I find it suspect and he did some kind of hack job where he wired in the ABS sensors?

Other than that, its been a well kept Disco. (Knock wood)

I haven’t noticed any hack jobs in the 03 yet as well. But I also haven’t found any pleasant surprises either.

 

Only hack job so far has been what appears to be a poorly removed remote start setup.
The truck started exhibiting the strange behavior - unlock from the more activated the rear wiper.
Unlock from inside the truck would shut the truck off.

Found at the fuse box, the ignition wires were VERY poorly covered in electrical tape that was coming off.
You could see old vampire punctures from the install.
Wires were bear in spots so I'm assuming something touched that should have and jacked up the fusebox/IDM.

Replacement fuse box resolved the issue so not a huge ordeal.

Wait, there was another, but minor by comparison.
PO had a reverse camera installed - camera wire was too short so it exited the side floor panel behind the passenger seat and ran exposed across the back of the seat to the center console.
Removed the whole setup and installed a new camera, bought a longer video cable from Best Buy to reach my new stereo.

 

One more ...PO had the radiator replaced.....thats a plus. Discovered one of the mounts was missing and they had used a zip tie to hold that corner. Doh!

 

Just so I'm on the same page...I'm suppose to list messed up things I've found...not messed up things I've done?...lol.

Did find a nice supply of sealant on the passengers side of the trans, gray 03.

To many items to list on the silver 03.

Brian.

 

I didn’t find any hacks on any of my personal LR’s, but I’ve seen the missing power steering pump bolts before, zip tied air box lids, wiring jobs a 2 year old could do better, oh and a custom “cloth” made upper intake manifold gasket made out of what looked like an old pair of boxers... Can’t imagine why it had issues..... hose clamp holding a drivers seat together, and a shifter linkage made up of what looked like a coat hanger welded to the old OEM part then held in place with a large commercial grade ground strap clamp..

It seems a lot of people hack their vehicles up, then bitch & moan when they break down. I’ve always treated anything I’ve owned like a Military Aircraft that is flight line ready/certified at any time. So far I’m 42 and I’ve been wrenching on 4x4’s since I was old enough to hold a wrench. I haven’t been left on the side of the road/trail yet.

Also I’ve always sold a vehicle in near perfect condition. My reason for selling it was either I had no use for it (Pickup vs SUV for example) or I wanted something else. I’ve never sold a single one of my vehicles because it was a train wreck, or it was about to blow up. Everything I’ve ever owned = better off when I sell it vs when I bought it.

It will never stop to amaze me on what hack jobs people can come up with!! Reminds me of stuff like old timers using a 22LR shell as a fuse lol.

 

Here is the list that I assume the PO did because he was a hack. He flips trucks by buying the ones with bad head gaskets, replaces & machines, and flips
1. 4 brand "A" spark plugs on drivers side 4 brand "B" spark plugs on passenger side
2. Coil packs were held on by one bolt
3. Spark plug wires were a rats nest
4. Wires, hoses, breather tubes were not secured to existing clamps/ holders
5. Coolant pipe from heater core to block was sealed with silicon because he could not get the O ring to stop leaking
6. Water pump was leaking (maybe not his fault but, should have seen it)

Most of the other issues I would say was due to normal wear and tear and lack of maintenance from other owners