Been looking at land rovers for years but never owned one. Test drove some 10year old lr4 and rovers but didn’t like the way they drove. Now I’m starting to look at the D2 as I really like the styling.

Seems like the engine is a fairly common failure point along with some various electrical concerns.

Found a shop that commonly buys used/blown up D2 and replaces with Atlantic British engines. They’ll also do upgrades and I’d like a small lift.

Questions:
1) anything else to be concerned about in the sense that I want this to be a reliable daily driver?
2) what’s the feedback on the Atlantic British engines?
3) other than diff lock any other differences between the D2 models?
4) I’ll search the threads but if there are recommendations on modest lifts please post/message me.

 

Really the engines are pretty reliable unless you overheat them. The electronics aren’t really bad either. If you stay on top of the maintenance the Disco 2 is a fantastic machine.

 

You're dealing with a 19+ year old vehicle. It's not enough to do the general used car items like fresh fluids and you're good to go. Lots of worn parts that will need to be addressed and/or upgraded, so you'll need to either be mechanically-inclined and able to do your own work or have the money for a shop to do. Also, seems like every week there's another part added to the No Longer Available (NLA) list, which means it gets harder to keep the D2 in completely useable form when some assembly fails. I used to daily my D2, but rising costs in fuel, maintenance, and repairs have relegated it to weekend use now.

No opinion on the Atlantic British rebuilds.

MY1999 - MY2002 were the pre-face-lifted years. Had the smaller 4.0L Rover V8. Supposedly sometime during the MY2001 production run, Land Rover began installing transfer cases without the center diff lock (shift linkage didn't allow for CDL activation until MY2004). MY2003 - MY2004 brought a few changes. New headlights, taillights, larger 4.6L Rover V8, new colors for the interior, instrument cluster font/styling, MY2004 brought back CDL with shifter linkage that allowed for activation, updated SLABS programing to allow traction control to work with CDL more effectively, tubular-style roof rack.

2" lift is the least complicated as the D2 only needs springs and shocks (Terrafirma, Old Man Emu, and Ironman 4x4 come to mind). Going with a 3+" lift is where you'll need more supporting items like prop shafts to deal with the extra distance, castor correcting front radius arms, adjustable panhard rod, and extended brake lines and ABS wires.

 

I have owned/restored/sold 22 in the last 10 years. I have owned 22 Discos including the three current personal rigs over 200k . Lower miles means you get it before most of the potential issues arrive, able to prevent some of them. Disco's issues come down to four categories:

1. Wear related issues - you can't prevent these, they are mostly use and time dependent, the good news is most items in this category last at least 130k, when some start going bad.
   1. Hubs - around $200k
   2. Door lock actuators (lifetime is cycle limited). - usually start having issues around 140k
   1. Idler pulley bearings
   1. Water pump - bearings wear out and then it leaks coolant - these only last about 50k or so. Either change regularly or keep a close eye on the coolant level and under the truck for coolant leaks
   1. Alternator brushes, slip ring, and bearings – good for about 225k
   2. Starter – dc motor brushes wear out about 200k
   3. HVAC fan – dc motor brushes wear out about 200k
   4. PS pump bearing wears out – 250k+
   1. AC compressor bearings - 150-200k. Salt exposure affects this.
2. Design related issues - these can potentially be prevented.
   1. Oil leaks due to plugged valve cover baffle
   2. window regulators
   3. sunroof leaks due to pan design gaps and resulting headliner and sunroof motor issues
   4. Blown head gaskets and slipped cam bearings - most likely related to overheating related to the plastic cooling system components leaking all the coolant out.
   5. Overheating due to faulty thermostat - no Land Rover design is immune, by pass mod is the most reliable.
3. Age related issues - due to environmental degradation
   1. Brake master cylinder reservoir leakage
   2. Plastic cooling system components - res tank, radiator tanks, plastic lines, hoses
   1. Ignition coil failures
   1. Spark plug wires
   2. Interior fuse box circuit
   3. Sunroof leaks related to cracked tubes
   4. PS pump gasket leakage
   1. Brake booster
   1. Power seat switches
   2. Cracked cowl panel
   3. cruise control hoses
4. Maintenance related issues - totally preventable
   1. Rusty frame
   2. Stuck rear door handle due to rust
   1. Oxygen sensors - these are always related to blown headgaskets

I am convinced the head gasket failures are 100% preventable, recently took apart an engine with 218k on it that had the oem headgaskets on it. They didn't look great but weren't blown/leaking. Never overheating is going to be key. The inline thermostat mod mostly takes care of the common overheating issues (you can still have low coolant due to leaking hoses, cracked radiator, etc).

Discos are much more DIY friendly than LR3's and parts are much cheaper. If you are going to pay to have the work done the Disco is going to be more expensive likely because of the dozens of small issues on the list above, especially if you buy a higher mileage one. If you are going to DIY then I would recommend buying a low 6 figure mileage one and replace items pre-emptively. LR3's have fewer small problems but when they have issues they are bigger. Rebuilt engines for an LR is going to be 1.5x that of a Disco.

 

I love my D2...as an "extra"/project car and NOT a daily driver. It's a fun thing to drive around in, it has a sense of occasion about it weather I'm in town or in the middle of nowhere. When problems creep up (and they will!) I can spend time researching and making sure I can fix it properly. In the meantime I go to work in daily driver without having to worry. And honestly, with the fuel economy and gas prices being what they are driving one every day will drain your wallet quickly!

 

Dang! That is a good post Extinct! I regret I have but one like to give.

 

2 questions......
1- how much money you got ???
2- how much free time do you have ?

if you answered PLENTY on both questions BUY one

 

For about 4 months of the year I daily drive and count on both my D2 and P38. The rest of the year I count on one of them as my DD. Maybe I’ve just been lucky. Maintaining them is very important.

 

Extinct, thanks for the detailed thread. In general I have no issues doing the work myself but I have started looking for local service shops as a point of reference. I also agree that a good maintenance regiment can avoid or delay a lot of repairs.

As for the money/time question i like to hang onto both but I do find a level of satisfaction/enjoyment with car maintenance assuming it’s not an unplanned/urgent repair.

the call out around parts no longer available is something I had not considered. For those with more knowledge on this are there critical parts no longer produced?

 

Regarding NLA parts, I know that the power steering pump reservoir for the non-ACE D2s are gone. I had to replace mine either last year or the year before due to warping at the seam. Had to source a good condition piece from a parts truck that the shop had lying around.

I don't see critical components that would deadline a D2 going NLA soon, but I feel it is on the horizon (regarding genuine LR parts). I find fewer D2s in junkyards than I did eight years ago, so that source feels like it's dwindling, too.

I don't mean to discourage. I've had my D2 for 8 years and apart from maybe a good LC80, I don't feel that there was anything as capable in the market at the price point I was looking at at the time. I know that I've spent a lot of money on keeping it running and on the road in all this time, but I do enjoy my Rover. And among the sea of Toyotas and Jeeps I find myself in in the various offroad groups I participate in, the D2 definitely stands out.