I just picked up my first Land Rover this weekend, a 2006 LR3 with the e-locking diff. When I first inspected it with the seller, it had a rhythmic waning of RMPs on idle. The seller had it maintained regularly at a local LR specialist shop who told him it was most likely caused by a bad spark plug (really??). Well, this little feature contributed to getting a great deal on it, so I figured I'd write up the very simple fix for it. Cleaning.

I cleaned the engine bay up a bit and inspected the airfilter. It was pretty clean, but I ordered a new one anyway... I took apart the throttle body and found it thickly coked up worse than Charlie Sheen. I removed the MAF and shot it with electronic contact cleaner.

Viola. It's fixed. The idle is smoooooth and steady now. 189k on the engine and it purrs like a kitty and drives like it still has every one of its 300 horses. I have the BG 44k fuel injector cleaner on its way, and preparing for the full tranny service (which I'm not looking forward to). Bought new plugs for it, the t-case/differential fluids, and a new pass side hood latch (woke up to it the first morning, and found the culprit in a non-working latch w/sensor).

I'm ecstatic to get into one of these, in great condition and an even better price.. Hopefully the bugs stay out of it and I can drive it stress free for another 7 years till I'm done with med school and residency. That's the dream.

What else should I be looking into as far as preventative maintenance? I love the air ride, its compressor SEEMS to be working well, but I'm always scared of a compressor meltdown leaving me stranded on the way to a rotation.