New love/hate hobby...96 Discovery I
 

Finally...After reading this forum for sometime, I spent the 5 minutes it took to register and here I am. I recently purchased a 1996 Discovery I with 171k miles on it. I previously owned a 2000 DII for all of 6 weeks before I gave it back to the dealer (bought it used in 07 with 130K miles on it) and walked away from a $2000 loss just to get out from under a nightmare. I swore I would never buy another LR but I couldn't shake the fact that I like them. The 96 was owned by a lady in my hometown and I saw it on the road for several years. It was her daily driver and I always wanted the vehicle. She recently put it up for sale for $2k and then dropped it to $1200. My wife bought it for me, despite her bad memories with my other LR, and gave it to me as a birthday present. So, here I am searching the forums with a whole list of things to do and many questions. The LR is actually in pretty good shape. It has some issues but I've put over 1000 miles on it and I haven't been stranded yet. A few of the issues;

Issues: (Cosmetic)
A dog ate most of the drivers seat..literally. But duct tape, foam, and a seat cover have temporarily fixed that.
The stock radio/cd player was replaced with a new CD player and the black plastic panel was cracked and looks like crap.
The ignition was also jacked up and the key can't be removed...It can be but no guarantee it will go back in. Housing around steering wheel is cracked and ugly.
Side rear passenger door does not open.
Back door was also jammed shut but some WD-40 and wiggling of the handle corrected that. Easy fix from a YouTube video.
Rear bumper was crushed (driver side) in a crash and the rear (driver side) panel is dented but not a major concern.
Cable is stretched that opens hood. Redneck wire tool does the trick for now but will be repaired.

Issues: (Mechanical/Electrical)
I never leave the LR without a key. It sometimes will not open without inserting the key, setting the alarm by turning the key, waiting, and then unlocking it again. Weird.
Oil light comes on after idling for 15 minutes or so and then it sputters and dies. It then cranks up and runs fine...until it's forced to idle again.
It hates the morning. Very cold natured. Starts right up but runs rough and cuts out somewhat (lack of power, etc.) for a few minutes but then it levels out and runs like a top all day.
ABS and SRS lights are on. One less than the 3 Amigos in my DII but still annoying.
A/C switch requires occasional jiggling when a/c cuts off. Annoying but a/c works well.

Picking up a few parts this weekend from someone parting out a 97.
rear bumper $200
front seats (no tears/stains but normal wear) $100
plastic dash panel parts $75
a/c switch $40
other misc. parts I may need

Then...full maintenance/service based on the info I've gotten here and the RAVE manual.

Longwinded but I can't be accused of not introducing myself. Questions to come. Thanks for all of the information on this site. I'm sure it will be my saving grace over the next year or so...or decade!

Would investigate oil light more. A manual gauge can be attached, you'll be looking for above 10 PSI at idle, and maybe 40 - 45 at 2500 pm.

However, low rpm can make oil light come on, so you might have low idle speed (700 rpm is about norm). IACV and MAF may need cleaning with "made for it" cleaner, done when stone cold.

AC switch is a PITA. See https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...ghlight=switch

Thanks. I have been reading about the oil light issue since the day it first appeared. Lots of possibilities but I do plan to check the pressure this weekend and start with that. Hoping it's the oil pressure switch I keep reading about and not something major. I did do the 15w40 oil change and I thought that did the trick but the light came back after a day or so. Thanks for the info. I have read many of your posts on the forum. Looking forward to bugging you with questions in the near future...ha