Here's my intro post, so get ready for way too many details:

Just bought an abused 2000 Disco II with 184k miles and ton of problems. Got it pretty cheap, though, and I just need it for the Utah Winters. My wife and I are not able to make our schedules sync this Winter, so we need a second vehicle, and I wanted something that could handle snow well. We already have a Prius and two motorcycles. Up until two weeks ago, my Prius had the worst gas mileage of our three modes of transportation. Unfortunately, my wife doesn't want to ride her 250cc Honda Rebel in the snow, so here we are picking up a 2nd vehicle. I knew it had problems when I bought it and also knew it probably had more problems than the owner mentioned. I've worked on a few vehicles I've had in the past and so I thought the nice big open engine bay might be fun to work with. I also had a friend with a Disco I in high school, and I loved that thing, and bought this for 1500. I'm thinking now I might have overpaid for it, but I'm always up for some Auto work. On the upside, it will be driven 4 miles, 5 times each week for about 6 months, which with a safety factor of 1.3, 13mpg, and $4/gallon fuel, it would only be around 600-700 miles per year(we really love riding our motorcycles in the good weather). With mileage that low, and it being a car fixed on the cheap, I don't need it to be perfect, but I do need to pass safety and emissions. Utah County is known for horrible smog inversion, so they don't play around with emissions here. Now that you know some history, Here's what I knew/Know was wrong with it:

OBDII Codes P1300, P1668. Don't know what these are, or what they could mean.

Sludgy oily buildup around the top rear of the engine...near the gasket. I'll get it compression-tested, and get back to you.

(have solution, need to fix)-Broken bumper tail light (just need to put the red and amber plastic on it, easy fix)

(fixed)-Broken front turning signal and night-time running light (fixed by cleaning the contacts of the blinker and pulling the contacts closer out so they will always contact the metal. Fixed the running light by running parallel lines from the corresponding running light on the passenger's side and looks pretty clean, too)

(have solution, will fix)-Broken Windshield washer fluid reservoir, really broken, as in missing chunks... (replacement part will be here tomorrow or the next day, and I can take car of that)

Broken rear windshield wiper, both mechanically and electrically won't work. I have the replacement wiper arm and also was sent the motor as a freebie! If I don't need it and someone does, give me a holler and it's yours free. I'll ship it to you if you pay shipping. This and forums like it have helped me so much on so many different things, I feel an obligation to give something back.

Misfiring (Codes P0301, P0303, P0305, P0307, P0300)-Replaced all spark plugs and it sounds much better, but I still want to replace the wires and take a look at the distributor. The Even-cylinder plugs looked ok, but still ugly and old. Odd ones were throwing misfiring codes, and looked horrible. They were wet and maybe oily. Hands were covered in grease, so it was hard to tell. Haven't checked the codes, yet, but I have an OBDII module on the way so I can at least read the OBDII codes and reset it myself.

O2 Sensors (codes P0132 Circuit High, P0135 Heater Bank 1, P0155 Heater Circuit Bank) -replaced upstream ones, and I did it kind of a stupid/cool way, too. The driver's side plug would not come loose and I pulled the pins out of the socket housing and had to look up a wiring diagram to find out which locations they went in. I compared the passenger's side colors/wire # to the Driver's side colors/wire #. The contacts of both O2 sensors were oily. I took some bailing wire and loosely have the wires pulled up so they can't have anything run down them. all of the housings and wires are out of reach of touching the block and exhaust manifold, but still have wiggle room so there isn't strew on the wires. Also secured the pins to their housing with a silicone and electrical tape. all sensor pins are now covered in dielectric grease to prevent corrosion. I'm feeling pretty good about that fix. The downstream sensors get here tomorrow.

Shaking exhaust pipe near drivers' side next to the rear wheel. I haven't looked close, but I think it would just need to get bolted on to something or have a flex-fitting replaced. Only shakes a bit immediately after starting and letting it idle.

(really need help on this one)-Front Windshield Wipers won't work. I need the wipers to pass safety inspection, and so my wife can drive without crashing into stuff when it snows. I checked the fuses inside and out. I can hear the relay under the dash when I press the button. The AUX relay FL7 is missing (saw it today) from the engine-bay fuse box.

(Don't care, but it might help diagnose the wipers)-Radio won't turn on and heated seats don't work. No lights or heat when the buttons are pushed.

Low Coolant- Just discovered this yesterday, so I'll pick up some coolant tomorrow. Suggestions of a coolant to use on the Disco II? I'll do a full flush too, soon, replacing hoses and the thermo. Also throwing a red flag, the heater isn't warm at all when the engine is at temp. Right now, the temp indicator gets up to the half-way mark and sits there religiously. With everything else that needs fixing on this thing, I still feel like it's too strange for this guy to not overheat. Can those needles be limited by tampering with them? I'm just really suspicious about this. Maybe coolant isn't getting to the heater because of a build-up or the thermo won't open. Ideas?

Low Brake Fluid- put more brake fluid in and the brake light is off, but I want to flush the system, too. Brake pads look really good, but I'd like to get the rotors turned later.

Needs Oil change- Has an oil leak, and while installing an o2 sensor discovered two of the bolts that hold the oil pan on were able to be hand loosened. Are those stretch-bolts? I torqued them to 25ft/lbs until I look up the spec on it. I have 10Qts of synthetic high-mileage 5-w30 Oil and a K&N HP Oil Filter ready for that job, as well as a new drain bolt and washer. I know it takes less, but on a walmart deal, it was cheaper to get 2x5qt jugs than 1x5qt and 1x1qt. I'm sure I'll still have it leaking in the future, so having it on hand can't hurt.

Gas Tank/Filler Neck?-When I filled it up for the first time, it was almost empty. SO i was getting ready to violate my wallet with 24 gallons of premium. After 15 gallons, it stopped and fuel started overflowing from the left and right side of the top of the tank onto the ground. It was about 1/2 gallon that flowed out after the pump stopped. The fuel gauge shows about 1/2 full. I'm ok to get both replaced. It looks like it wouldn't be horrible to replace the tank, but really easy to replace the filler neck. There are plenty of them on ebay.

The good stuff:

-Has brand new tires!
-No over-heating...
-Cosmetically, in great shape
-Leather looks almost new, and the one seat that it bad has a replacement ready to install.
-Great ARB bumper guard
-All other electrical components seem to work.
-A/C is Icy
-Brake Pads look almost new
-It drives pretty smooth
-After the plugs being changed, it runs SO much smoother.
-It came with a spare BCU for a '99 Disco II. Mine has these numbers next to the big BCU letters: 73002811. The other BCU has 730000012/A. Also has YWC 106350 H.A.S. 7.01. Mine has YWC 00001? (the last character is either 0,8, or 6) and H.A.S 8.01.
-Starts easily without hesitation
-Accelerates easily
-FOB works, but only when closer than about 5 feet
-came with new wiper blades!
-Best of all, It's a Rover. Always fun.

Thanks for reading this. Shoot me some help if you can. I'll answer whatever you'd like to know as soon as possible.

And DiscoMike, I bet you'll read this because it seems like you read everything here, so yes, I plan on doing everything on your Disco II Major Service Sticky list.

 

P1300 Random/multiple cylinder misfire detected Catalyst damaging level of misfire on more than one

cylinder


So, if it were me I would replace the plugs for this. Buy Champions. If this doesn't work, try wires to the plugs, if that doesn't work, coil pack.

Since you have replace the plugs it needs new wires or coil packs. It is a pain in the butt repair but in general to get coil backs they are behind the intake manifold so read a manual on how to do it. but P1300 is related to your P0304 P0303 etc codes.

 

P1668 Engine anti-theft signal circuit high Serial link open circuit

In my experience this code has to do with you opening the back door without deactivating the back door. It's a pain in the *** code and don't worry about it.

 

Low coolant, this a a tough one. It can be a number of things, so the proper way is to have a pressure test run on your system to find the leak. You can buy a pressure test at harbor frieght for about 75 bucks.

If you have no coolant then the heater won't work, or if you didn't bleed the system your heater might not work. Thus I would buy the dextron "Pink" coolant. Do a complete flush. Use the Rave manual to show how to do it. Add the coolant, throw in a bottle of K-Seal.

If you really want to to know what the problem is have a pressure test done at a show to see where the leak is.

Now it you want to make it to spring. Fill the coolant system and watch how fast you loose coolant. It it's gone in a day, you have a big issue. If it takes a week or two you have a slow leak. In that case try buying a $15 bottle of K-Seal and put that in your coolant. It is very possible that will fix the leak for the time being.

Three places to check for a leak. Number one and the first place is the throttle body heater. Most Discovery's need this replaced and they it leaks oftern. It is an easy replare and cost about $25.00. To look for this leak look on top of the drivers side valve cover. If you see coolant there. That is the issue.

Water pump and water pump gasket. - Just look

Blown head gasket. It could be a small leak on the outer edge. Some times you will see dripping on drive way after a while or smell the coolant smell when you turn the enging off.

Many people here will say K-Seal is voodoo juice, but it will stop a minor leak usually in a few mins, how long I have no clue. But remember at some point if you keep the Discovery you will have to fix the problem.

 

If you have no coolant then the heater won't work, or if you didn't bleed the system your heater might not work. Thus I would buy the dextron "Pink" coolant. Do a complete flush. Use the Rave manual to show how to do it. Add the coolant, throw in a bottle of K-Seal.

If you really want to to know what the problem is have a pressure test done at a show to see where the leak is.

 

Oil leak, if you can't find the leak. Buy some degreaser, and spray the crap out of your engine and wash or pressure wash the engine to look for the leak. The oil pan bolts are a likely issue. those are not stress bolts. then you can find the leak.

Watch the oil when you change it look to see if coolant is leaking into the oil. Sign of a head gasket leak.

 

Wipers - Either Wiper Motor or Wiper Swich - try

British Parts of Utah-Land Range Rover Sport LR4 LR3 LR2 Discovery Defender Freelander Genuine OEM Accessories Parts for part - they sell a after market switch for about 145 bucks wiper motors are more expensive. I don't see the on bputah.com but I know atlantic british has them. Remember junk yards too.

They have the rear motor as well for the wiper it's about 100 new.

 

If it still is screwing up. Try dynomite!

 

Thanks!
My wife said it drives like a new truck with new plugs. I still want to do new wires, though. I'd bet money I have a head gasket issue, too, so when I take care of that, I might as well replace coil packs too. Any other suggestions of things to replace or work on when I take care of the head gaskets?

 

For the coolant leak, will the coolant additive gum up any of the smaller parts or block them up? Definitely worth a try. Tell me about dextron pink. I've heard some people curse it and others love it for their Disco II's. This weekend, I'll do the oil and coolant and see how it goes.