Hey guys, i'm a sucker for these old Land Rovers and I've got one in my area with 170k, for 2800 dollars. He's selling it because he "has too many cars". That being said i start researching the disco 2's and the 4.0 motor and im seeing all of the things about the steel sleeve liners in the block. I asked him if it had any issues and he said his mechanic told him there was carbon build up in the valve cover, and that it also had a rough idle when starting in the cold. I have yet to go look at it, but i don't want to buy one of these cars just to have to buy another engine. So can anyone give me advice on what to look for when i go to see the car in person? Also, are these cars really as big of money pits as people say? I have always done all of my own work, except transmission work so im very familiar with engines and i have watched the videos about doing the head gasket jobs, which just looks like a bunch of fairly simple steps. Ive owned BMW's, VW's, and Hondas my entire life. Does anyone know how these engines run whenever there is a crack/leak in the block/sleeves? Any help is appreciated!

 

For $2800 i'd pass on that truck. As far as being a "money pit" is concerned, it probably will be. It seems to be hit or miss but generally, i would say that you will be spending more money than you originally will think you'll be guaranteed.

Slipped liners are also hit or miss but generally, the older the truck the better off you should be -- LR never invested in upkeep of the tooling in the factory so a block from 99' should be less likely to have slipped liners than an 04' for example. Everything comes down to how well the truck was taken care of from the get go.

Have the head gaskets ever been redone? Service records?

 

Just went and test drove it. Runs well, doesn't seem to overheat at all. Is there a way to reset dash lights? He said he had the brakes fixed (3 amigos) but the lights are still on and he said the mechanic told him them it needed reset or something. Id imagine that isn't true. lol As far as the head gasket, he says he has never had it replaced in the two years he's had it but he hasn't had issues either. Seems like a genuine guy but you never know. Im also not scared of doing the job myself, as it seems i have everything i need to do it and adequate experience to do it also. Its a 2002 so as far as the slipping of the sleeves goes, how would the engine run if that was an issue? I have no other LR to compare it to so im curious. My plan is to see if he'll budge on the price. What is a fair price in your opinion?