Being a disco II owner for many years, I know there are some issues that are basically ticking time bombs that will eventually be a problem with every disco II made. An example is needing a head gasket job sooner or later. I know the LR3 has a few of these kinds of things like the air compressor and the control arms. But is there any really big dollar ticking time bomb issues with these rigs? For example, how about the differentials? Will they all likely go eventually (within reason of course)? Any other big dollar items (more than $1,000) all LR3 owners should just plan on?

 

All vehicles have different issues, and the LR3 is no exception. However, as a Disco 1 & 2 owner coming to the LR3 was a HUGE relief. I no longer had to wrench on the truck once a month. In fact, in my entire year of ownership I haven't done anything to my LR3 except normal maintenance items or upgrades.

Unlike the previous discos, my wife hasn't had to call because she was stranded, NO overheating, NO crazy engine ticking, NO frame rust, it's just been wonderful.

 

Transmission. My wife's LR3 is on its 3rd, I'm on my 2nd. I'm surprised there is not more mention of failing trannys on this forum as I see a lot of them near me. Whether it's because LR states they dont need to be serviced and people don't or they are not up to the task, I've seen a bunch of failed units.

 

Very odd, I agree that we don't see many failures as a whole. The first thing I did when I bought mine was a full flush of all fluids, including transmission

 

Yeah....that's really surprising, abran. Over the last 11 years on a variety of forums there have been maybe a handful of reported tranny issues and mostly over 120k Miles and people had not serviced them at all. Even then it's usually a mechatronics sleeve leaking or something fixable.

As for the OP's question: the diffs seem to mostly be an issue in early models and even then if people got to them before around 60k miles and changed the fluid they'd be okay. The good news is that the newer units are better and even on an old one it's easy to tell if it's going out (listen for the groaning). The EAS compressors are purportedly better now. Strangely, most things that are replaced, even if by the same part, seem to perform better now. I guess maturing supply chains and parts therein matter...and parts can be improved without the p/n being rolled.

Examples are the EPB actuator and the rear hatch actuator. Replacement parts seem solid.

The control arms...those are more or less "consumable" at this point, or that's how I look at it. The rubber bushings eventually wear out. It's just a fact of life. They are good for about 65k miles or so, which doesn't seem terrible to me.

 

I agree. I know some people have tried to use the upgraded poly bushings, but have had the lack of flex crack the arms at the welds. I think it's best to stick with the factory arms/bushings and accept the 50k lifespan.

 

I know we went through this before, but this is my experience.

-mine
-wife's
-a friend bought one with 2nd trans
- the guy who taught me how to rebuild a Trans bought one that needed a Trans
- local repair shop has 2 customers that need transmissions
- I parted out 2 they needed a Trans
-went to buy one for cheap and the seller said check engine light, neglected to say it would barely go into gear
- another rover mechanic in or had one come in that was slipping, serviced the Trans and made it worse.
- a customer of mine with a supercharged sport(badicslly same thing) needed s trans

Thst is what I can remember (11) off the top of my head and all in less than 2 years. It is more common than you think.

But agreed, diffs are high on the list.

 

Wow, Didn't realize the transmissions were such a problem. I started doing some research and it looks like servicing the transmission is pretty much impossible for the shade tree mechanic to do. Am I correct on this and is there any way to check on the status on the transmission prior to purchasing?

 

If it has over 100k miles and no proof of a service, you should be critical in your test drive(you should regardless).

I usually find a stretch of road and gun it to see if it slips through the gears. In addition try and replicate a CA stop. Come to almost a complete stop then give it gas. If it slams into gear it's got a problem. A hard shift might only need a software update, but a slam will definitely have you alarmed.

 

Yeah...that is interesting. I don't think we'd gone through an itemized list like that before, abran, thanks for that. It would be interesting (but no time for it really) to research each of those instances and see what the common thread is.

Mostly I don't want to **** up MY transmission and want there to be something that those (original) owners did or didn't do that makes it their own damn fault.