Hi Everyone!

This is my first post here but could have many more in the future.

A friend of mine has offered to give me his 2003 Discovery for FREE.
It was recently at the shop and the bill is going to be too large to fix so he just wants it gone. The Truck has 190,000 KM (118,000 Miles)

The main issues that I know of are there is no power steering (major leak), S & M lights will sometimes come on and it goes into "Limp Mode".

Not as critical issues my friend noted to me are:
-Engine Tick
-Oil Leak
-AC
-Front End? (not sure what he meant, cracked bumper maybe)
-Cracked Windshield
-Passenger power window gets stuck down
-Coolant pressure test?
-Tune Up
-Sun Roofs don't work

Quote from shop to fix these issues was $7000

I am not a mechanic but I am not afraid to jump in and work on it myself.

My question to all of you experienced Land Rover owners is, am I going to be putting out a ton of cash to get this thing back up and running to be a reliable vehicle again? Or should I say thanks but no thanks.

He has given me a key so that I can poke around and do some research while I think about it.

What are everyones thoughts? Thanks in advance!

 

Yes. Even if you do the work yourself.

These are reliable vehicles if they are well maintained under a watchful eye, but bringing them back from the brink can be costly.

Engine tick could be anything from a cavitating pump to a lifter issue to a camshaft bearing to a slipped cylinder liner. $250-$4000, depending.
Replacement windshield, $700-$1000.
Oil leak could be a simple gasket replacement or a stripped drain plug or any number of other things. $150-$4000, depending.
Sun roofs probably don't work because they are leaking and water has gotten into the motors. A couple of hours of labour and $50 per motor, but it could also be a blown fuse in which case it's 25 cents, but then you really should work out why the fuse blew and that's probably because the sun roofs are leaking and the motors have burned out, so you're back to the first estimate.
And the list goes on...

I'm not trying to intimidate, just being honest. I wouldn't take it as a daily driver, but if you have the time, energy, space, and funding it's a good deal.

 

Thanks Mollusc. Honesty is what I am looking for so I am very grateful.

I was hopping it could be good fall / winter project. I own a Honda accord now that just won't die but its less then ideal for hauling anything and Canadian winters. My hope was with a bit of time and money(hopefully less money with doing it myself) it could be a daily driver.

With the research I have done right now, the transmission / S & M lights maybe the tricker one to figure out. I also noticed the 3 amigos came on when I started it up a few days ago. Haven't looked into that too much.

Ideally I would love to spend about 3K to get it running and be reliable.
Does that sound even doable?

 

Start by getting the codes read. You might need to read the ABS codes to really get to the bottom of things. Only then can you start to narrow down the cause of the problem.
Power steering leak could be the cooling line or you need a whole replacement steering box. $200-$500 right there.

"Reliable" is really unknowable at this point. It sounds like it has a multitude of issues so its prognosis vague at best.

 

Got my hands on a code reader, the 2 codes read:
ABS "Shuttle Valve Switch Electrical Failure"
P0705 - "Transmission Range Sensor A Circuit (PRNDL Input)"

From my research I am very confident I can replace both the shuttle valves and the YXZ switch on the transmission myself.

I know these codes don't tell you exactly what the problem is but points you in the right direction. So some investigation into the wiring is in order.

I spoke to the mechanic that had originally quoted the job of repairing the list above and his questions to me were have you ever worked on sophisticated complex engines before and if I was rich. The answer is no to both, and he went on to tell me the steering parts needed will be $2000. That was my red flag there, I think the parts can be found much much cheaper. Am I wrong? As for not working on Land Rover engines (Sophisticated Complex) , I know I can do it and I am very eager to learn. Replacing the power steering components myself does not worry me in the least. Should it?

Another area I am a bit concerned about is the engine tick and the possibility of a slipped sleeve. The truck has seen no off road driving, its spent all of its life in the city. Any thoughts on this?

One last thing, I was told there was an oil leak (From the owner) but after some investigation under the hood, what they thought was oil an oil leak was actually a coolant leak from the throttle body. After a couple weeks of being parked the only spot under the truck seems to be from the power steering, no oil. So thats good.. I think haha.