I have owned a 2004 dII for about a full year, and put around 10k miles on the clock. at 151,000 on the odometer, we have returned our leased vehicle and currently use this as a daily.
I originally got it for $1,400 and planned on having fun with it and learning how to wrench until it was mechanically totaled. In the intervening year I have decided that I would like to make this truck last as long as I can, and ideally get it into "good example" shape, even if it is high milage.

I pulled the carfax on it, and while it had regular dealer service on it until around 2011 and 75k, things get a little murky after that.

It had the most work done on it in a 5 month period at the end of 2013:
In 2013, at 112K it had the engine oil pick up screen, water pump, crankshaft oil seal, engine timing/ front cover gasket, and oil pan gasket replaced.
2k later in 2014, it had spark plugs replaced, water pump replaced again, radiator repaired, crankshaft, and the camshaft replaced.
I have no idea what happened to it that would required 2 water pumps and a camshaft and crankshaft replaced all within 2k miles, but would love to hear folks thoughts.

After that big job, it was sold to the person I bought it from, who kept it for 30k miles with regular 3k oil changes and nothing else.

Since I bought it, I have done:

1. replaced thermostat
2. replaced xyz switch
3. all new rotors, pads, brake bleed
4. power steering flush
5. drained and refilled diffs
6. drained and refilled transfer case
7. regular rotella oil changes
8. seafoam intake clean
9. trans fluid
10. SAI solenoids, vacum tubes (see post history for more recent on that)
11. removed all frame rust and rust-proofed
12. 2 inch terrafirma lift
13. OME sterring dampener
14. new tires
15. front and rear steel bumper
16. paint correction, including new roof clear coat
17. belt, idler pully

The car runs OK, I am currently getting a code for EVAP and for O2 sensors that I am working on.

Here is the list of what I know I need/ want to do near term, my biggest question is, what is missing from the list?

1. new front and rear drive shafts (I have been greasing, but am not sure if they are the originals, and want to change of peace of mind)
2. front passanger O2 sensor (think I am just going to replace them all)
3. new headliner
4. inline t-stat, or atleast low-temp t-stat mod (car likes to run around 208-212 an I would like to get it lower)
5. plugs, wires
6. lock actuators for everything but the driverside door.

What I Want to know is whether there are a set of projects I should do all at one time, rather than take them as they come For example: should I preemptively do the head gaskets (which have never been done), while I am in there should I do the valve covers that are a little leaky? New radiator, etc etc. I know this will all need to be done eventually given the age and milage of the truck, but I would rather do it while the car is parked, rather than identify a problem while I am on the highway.

I know the car is not worth much, but I intend to continue driving it for as long as possible.

I would really appreciate any input for advice here. I feel that I have been relatively lucky with the car so far, but I know that won't last forever.

 

My thought on head gaskets is to leave them until they start to fail or fail. It is a about a 4 day job if tyou take your time and nothing jumps out.

 

My recommendation would be to do the entire cooling system (the part not already done) pre-emptively. That means all the hoses, inline thermostat, bottle, and possibly radiator (what does radiator repaired mean anyway?). Also the PCV mod. That will prevent most of your issues with HG as long as you never run it low on coolant or overheat it. Pull the headliner and fix the sunroofs per one of my threads on here. You might consider placing a heat shield over the CPS cover, I use aluminum foil. That will likely prevent you from ever having a CPS failure. Good luck.

 

i'm surprised that both the crank and cam were 'replaced' but no head gaskets? seems that to do the crank, the engine had to come out, and then 'no piston rings' or valve job/ valve seals either? maybe find that mechanics receipt to see what was really done....

 

Yeah, on that carfax, unfortunately there is a bit of a gap in ownership from like 70k until that job, and I cannot find any info about what exactly happened. Maybe I will dig again through the glove to see if I missed anything.

Looks like I will tackle the cooling system next.

 

Figured I would come post an update.

Did a full coolant flush and switched to a 180 thermostat to get the temp downs. As I was working through the system I realized that the A/C condenser fan is not kicking on at 212F, and the fuse is blown. First round of research leads me to believe I should be hunting a toyota corolla electric motor to replace the seized motor.

Would love to hear if anyone has gone through this. A lot of the threads I have found are older and the part listings are no longer current.

 

Suzuki fans fit too, correction motors just swap the motor

 

Examined things more closely, turns out "radiator repaired" means that the radiator was replaced some time in 2013 base on some manufacturing labels I found.

 

Following this thread, I'm in the exact same situation.

My new (to me) Disco II has a very similar ownership/maintenance history and if I can get it running well enough to get rid of my car lease, I've budgeted to move towards more of a restoration. Mine's had a re-manufacture of the top engine block (now w/ 11K+ miles with the PO, no issues) so head gaskets hopefully aren't an isse. SAI and evap monitors have been recurring issues though so I'm going to address those first.

I've been researching awhile and I think your list is spot on, would lean towards driveshaft/ujoints and head gaskets first.

That said, I've heard if you are planning to do the head gaskets, you may consider doing the whole top block as a preventative measure. It's not cheap either way, but would definitely make the engine more bulletproof over the long-run.

That said, can I ask about how much it costed to get it into "daily driver" form? I've budgeted ~$2K upfront and ~$3.3K per year going forward but not sure if that's a reasonable amount to cover all my bases.

 

My experience using this as a daily for the last year is that IF you protect yourself from the major failures that occur, you will have random things pop up that require you to figure them out, but not necessarily spend a ton of cash.

A few examples I can think of from my past year:
Car key got stuck while friend was borrowing the truck and he had to remove a solenoid to get it to work
the lock pin on my driver side door sheared off and I had to order the stronger pin and install
My door actuators have failed 1 by 1 (I don't really mind leaning over to open them, but the wife does!)
My A/C is weak despite leak testing and chasing (I am now learning about the condenser fan. . . )
The stock windshield wipers suck and I am now exploring the D1 wiper arm replacement



I think my all in with bumpers, tires oil etc. is probably around 4-5k on top of the cost of the truck, but I am extremely happy with having it, I have wanted one since I was like 12, and now I do, and I can't get a car I would want more for under like 30k