My wife just purchased a 2001 Discovery LE7. Unfortunately it didn't come with an owners manual. I tried checking the local auto store for a Haynes manual and it doesn't even look like those are available for this model.

At this point I *think* everything is good with the vehicle but I'd like to know the basic stuff like, what kind of oil should I be putting in this thing? weight? synthetic? capacity? What about tranny fluid?

I could be mistaken but when I looked at the coolant, IT LOOKED RED. Anything special happening there?

Basically if one of you Disco Pros could just let me know the basic maintenance stuff with regards to fluids, I think that would help out alot. I don't know how long this thing has been sitting for and I'd like to get some new oil in it ASAP but I'm not sure what to put in it! And I don't want to treat it like a Chevy because it's not one!

Thanks in advance.

 

How many miles on the truck?
You will need to crawl under the truck to inspect the 3 front drive shaft, making sure all 3 u-jointys have grease fittings, if they don't, it will need to be rebuilt ASAP cause it will take out the tranny when it fails.
What state and the type of weather will determine the weight of oil. That is the correct coolant, DexCool.
Depending on the mileage, here is a list of items to do, all of them unless you can verify by past service records it has already been done.

This is the parts list for a 60,000 mile service or a high mileage used truck, the way I do it.
1 Oil filter, K&N 3001 or Mobil 1
1 Air filter
6 Qts of engine oil
12 Qts of ATF
7 Qts of 80/90W synthetic gear oil
1 Qt of synthetic Brake fluid
2 Qts of synthetic Power steering fluid
2 Gallons of OAT, orange coolant
1 Bottle of Lucas Power Steering additive
1 Bottle of Lucas Transmission additive
1 Can of Spray Carb. Spray
1 Can Of Brake cleaner
8 Spark Plugs, I use Bosch Platium Plus 4's
1 Set of Magnacor 8mm plug wires
1 Serpentine belt
2 Bottles of SeaFoam gas additive
1 T/Stat


60,000 Mile Service or Major Service for High Mileage Used Vehicle just purchased

Bleed the brakes
Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive
Change the coolant and t/stat
Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Do an induction cleaning
Clean the throttle body
Add fuel additive to full gas tank
Change both of the diffs fluid
Change the t/case oil
Replace the plugs and wires
Replace the air filter
Lube all the drive shaft grease fitting including the 2 slip shafts
Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.

Hopefully I didn't leave anything out.
Mike

 

Mike,

Thanks for the fast and detailed response. The vehicle has around 58K on it. Overall it looks VERY clean...not that I have climbed under any other Land Rovers ever in my life.

The Disco came from Long Island, NYand is now on Cape Cod. Summers are pretty mild, we typically do not see 100+ degrees, winters are mild as well...very little snow accumulation.

I just checked under the vehicle and I'm seeing a grease fitting on the front drive-shaft itself and I can confirm that at least one of the u-joints have agrease fitting. I'll have to move therig to get a better look at the other u-joints (covered in dirt now and I don't think the wife would appreciate me mucking up her interior).

The good news is the undercarriage looks pretty clean, a little superficial rust on the frame and that's about it. The bad news is I'm seeing a plethora of fluids, it's looking like ATFand gear oil.[:@]

A little more involved...but on the way back from Long Island yesterday, when I was in NYC traffic, the ABS light along with the "TC" (total control?) light came on the dashboard. After I took my first pit stop they went out and didn't come back on during the 300 mile trip. When I was almost home, the temperature light lit, although the temperature was sitting pretty at the halfway-mark...I did stop and checked the coolant levels, everything looked happy and the light eventually went off.

My wife tells me that the Discovery model is notorious for dummy-lights being on and also leaks. Fact or Fiction?

-what do you use to flush the engine and power steering?
-what is the recommended grease for the fittings?
-for city driving do you recommend the K&M filter over the paper filters?

 

also...am I losing my mind? I can't find a transmission dipstick.

 

You might want to call me today and let me start walking you thru all the stuff you need to know.
303-862-7680
Colorado before 8 pm

 

Front Driveshaft

I think we determined that I have the CDL? Where I can remove the front driveshaft, have it rebuilt and still continue driving the truck around town. In order to engage this, what do I need to do? I'm hoping to rip this thing out tonight and take it to get rebuilt.


Flush and change the power steering fluid adding one bottle of additive
Two questions on this. Is there actually a "power steering flush" that is made? If not, how do you flush the power steering system?

Service the tranny adding one bottle of additive
"Service" meaning dispose of current fluid, replace filter and add new fluid and additive?

Change the coolant and t/stat
Unless I'm looking in the wrong spot, this looks like it's going to be a b$*#@ to do!

Do an engine flush before changing the oil
Done. Used the typical over-the-counter flush and as recommended I will do 2 additional flushes with the next 2 oil changes. You recommended 10w40 oil for my weather and I asked if it should be synthetic. Unfortunately I could not locate a synthetic in that weight so I went with standard oil.

Do an induction cleaning
Details on this?

Clean the throttle body
Do you typically remove the throttle body to clean it or just use some carb spray while it's on the motor?

Do full inspection of brakes, hoses, bushings etc.
I ended up replacing the front brake pads last night. The old ones were only about half worn but I didn't feel like I had much of a pedal. Pedal is a little better now but now I can clearly hear the rears squeeking. Will probably clean those up asap.

Other news
I definitely have a small coolant leak somewhere. I'm going to visit the auto mechanic here at work and we're either going to pressure test the system or put in some tracer dye...or both.
I still plan on cleaning out the undercarriage with some GUNK spray and a power washer.