Greetings-

I have been reading this forum as I am considering buying a 2003 Discovery that got traded in at the dealership where I work.

The good-

Cheap ($1000)
115k miles
Body is good
Looks like a new radiator was just put in.

The bad-

Windshield and cargo door window are cracked.
Pretty good oil leak - looks like oil pan to me.
I had to jump it before it would start- ran rough for about 1 min.
Has a miss under load (plug wires?)
Can't get left rear door open (bad latch or lock actuator?)
Numerous warning lights on dash (probably all related- ABS, TC, Hill descent)
Might be an antifreeze leak (smells like it)


So- I like the vehicle, it's cool and would mainly just use it for running around town. I like fixing stuff, but is this thing worth it?

Anything else I should look for?

Thanks for any opinions.

Jeff

 

Left rear door, actuator. Oil leak/coolant leak - check the head gaskets. Does it smoke?

The 3 amigos can be more than an easy fix. I'm working on fixing mine as the shop I bought my truck from masked them with black tape.

Check the "how to" thread, there's a listing of 2003 trucks which probably have crappy oil pumps.

 

At minimum I'd diagnose the coolant leak and the miss before making a decision, and look up the 2003 model year issues specifically. Depending on what's going on and what kind of work you're able to do yourself, you could be looking at a significant amount of money.

 

All comes down to your budget. You can easily sink another $5K into a $1K disco.

If you want a cheap run-around-town car, these probably aren't it.

I call my 2003 my "high-maintenance girlfriend"....she takes more than she gives, but its just so pretty and nice to drive....that i put up with it.

Spend a couple hours with the search button here on the forum, that's going to give you a ton of info on this car, and what it'll take to maintain it once you've brought it back to life.

 

As said above. If you can track the coolant leak and the misfire to something that isn't sinister, go for it.

Does it have any aftermarket items attached to it? Rack, bumpers etc? That can turn a tricky decision into a no brainier.

Edit. New radiator could indicate a ham fisted attempt at fixing an overheating issue. Or not. Hook up a real time temp reader and see what it idles at. Leave it running for a long while, see if it uses coolant. If coolant level is dropping but it isn't leaking out....... Etc.

 

You should be able to see if the head gaskets have been done by looking at the outsides of the heads just below the valve covers, are they as old and gunky looking as the rest of the engine or do they look like recently cleaned aluminium?

It could have been traded in by someone who did not want to spend the money on a new HG job. among the other list of neglected maintenance items.

 

Weather it's 'worth it' or not comes down to your level of passion to keep it on the road. Some guys will spend a good portion of their time/money to keep their Land Rovers running and feel great about it, others wouldn't spend hardly anything and look at each 'bug' as a complete annoyance. That's pretty much what it comes down to as I see it. It sounds like you have the capability of working on it and you might really like it. When running right, you'd have one nice ride. But what's it going to take to get it there? Nobody knows.

Good luck.

 

How big of a project do you want? What is your mechanical skill level? How much can you comfortably spend on an old Land Rover? These are the questions you need to be very honest about with yourself. I picked up a $1k Discovery with a bad motor and have dumped $5k in it in the last 4 months. For me I wanted a project, something to tinker on and then drive in bad weather. I personally like the challenge and have lots of tools to work on cars with (it is one of my favorite hobbies).

Would I do it all over again? Tough call, as I am having fun rebuilding the entire Disco and making it what I want it to be, but for the $8-10k I will have in it when I am done, I could have bought one of the nicest Disco's on the planet. Older Land Rover's are a gamble, are you feeling lucky? I knew this when I purchased the Discovery, had the full support of my wife, I was going to spend $10k on a beater 4x4 anyway and really wanted another project as our newer cars just keep on going. I am beyond committed at this point and there really is no turning back without totally loosing my *** financially. Hopefully, you will get lucky and with some small work you will have a dependable driver. Here is a picture from last week, it has come a long way from the Craigslist ad.

 

Well here she is- I charged the battery all day and took it for a spin. It actually started good and drives ok. The warning lights were not on now and the temp gauge sits right in the middle after warmed up. I pressure tested the cooling system, after 2 hours it dropped from 17 to 12 psi and found a leak coming from the radiator hoses where they join together in a tee. I'm wondering if it has been leaking there for a while- because that whole area has a white crust on the hoses. Looked around heads and didn't see any antifreeze leaks so that looks good. Still waiting to hear back from the body shop on windshield and back glass cost.

I like the way it drives- like a tank. Good visibility and decent seats. It's starting to grow on me. I have several vintage motorcycles that are just like this truck. They are quirky and require lots of fixing- but that's half the fun!

Thanks for the opinions and info fellas. Will let you know if I buy it.

 

If you read around you'll see three are lots of Disco2 specific things, like with most vehicles. One of them is that the top hose T piece is terrible.

You need to replace that and retest the coolant pressure.

The other major thing is you can't rely on the dash temp gauge. It has a massive dead spot in the middle, in which the actual engine temp is varying quite a lot, but LR decided the driver wouldn't want to know about it. Unfortunately the dash gauge only moves upwards from the centre after a damage-high temperature has been reached. So, you have to monitor the temp with some other OBD thing. Again, read around a dfind one. I use an Ultragauge. It's very popular, only about $80 and does a ton of stuff for you. Is there anything lying around at work that can tell you the actual, live temperature? You work at a dealer someplace?

The ultragauge will read the trouble codes. If you have had misfires. You will most certainly have stored trouble codes. They are the first step to diagnosing issues.

It's looking like a slightly better bet at $1000. But I'd do the above before taking the plunge.

What bikes do you run? Ive just got my Triumph '74 T100R on the road.