Discovery Dilemma

Hi all.

I am having a bit of a problem with what to do with my Discovery.

It is a 300Tdi ES Auto with no rust or leaking issues. Its not pristine, and has been used for what it was designed for and the body has flat paint where it has been along the green lanes but it is dent and rust free.

The chassis and all the normal rust spots are good, having been welded up in the past and it sailed through an MOT just 2 months ago.

My dilemma is that the engine has started to smoke badly. I think it has something to do with a late night green lane incident where the engine may have taken in some water. I have changed the head gasket and checked the pistons while there and changed the valve seals, but the smoking is just getting worse.

I suspect the engine needs replacing.

The Tax run out at the end of February and its been SORN since then, but I need to do something about it.

I dont have much money, and have already thrown hundreds of £ into it already.

My choices seem to be narrowed down to the following:

1. Break it.
2. Find a donor vehicle or engine and swap the engine over.
3. Re TAX it and just use it with the smoke until it dies.

Option 1 would mean I would get about £1100 in parts, although in 6 months I have spent nearly £2k on it so would hurt like hell.

Option 2 would mean a lot of hassle not just finding the replacement engine, but changing it over. They also aint cheap so I would not really benifit financially, I would only be saving a solid Discovery from the Scrap Man.

Option 3 sounds best, but how long would it be before the cops started to notice and keep pulling me over? What are the laws on driving a motor with excessive smoke? it also uses a lot of oil so this would need to be kept topped up and that aint cheap.

I have a 4th option I suppose with a Ebay listing as Spares or repair, but I am unlikely to get over £1k that way.

Any thoughts? other options? what would you do in my situation?

Thanks.

Get another engine!

I have been looking, but finding one, or a cheap enough donor car is nigh on impossible nowadays as they get snapped up.

I always hear of other people paying a couple of hundred for a complete vehicle, but I can only find ones that are already in the hands of the breakers or go for well over £500 even rusty ones.

I want to find a runner with no boot floor for £200...

Keep using it, and in the meantime save more moneys, and keep your ear to the ground for either a known good engine, or a running scrapper.

Changing the engine really isnt hard, the engine in mine is out at the moment, and im a bit of a retard tbh. Hire a crane for a weekend, get some mates round (to to laugh if anything) and have a go.

what with all the money you`ve already spent it would be a shame to scrap/sell it. especially as its got a solid chassis/body.
if it was mine i`d replace the engine. surely someone on a site this popular must know of an engine going.
good luck.

marcp said:

Keep using it, and in the meantime save more moneys, and keep your ear to the ground for either a known good engine, or a running scrapper.

Changing the engine really isnt hard, the engine in mine is out at the moment, and im a bit of a retard tbh. Hire a crane for a weekend, get some mates round (to to laugh if anything) and have a go.

Click to expand...

I'm not inexperience with mechanics, i've changed and rebuilt a few engines in my life, its just the hassle factor.

I have a mate with a large unit thats got a huge engine hoist so I suppose changing the engine will be easy, its more the hassle and finding one for the right money.

I would worry about running it while I look as it really does smoke heavily.

xat44 said:

what with all the money you`ve already spent it would be a shame to scrap/sell it. especially as its got a solid chassis/body.
if it was mine i`d replace the engine. surely someone on a site this popular must know of an engine going.
good luck.

Click to expand...

I will post up in the Wanted section, I did not think of that, thanks.

Can't see a problem getting an engine for 200-250. Not as if you need all the ancillaries.

Most I see are going for upwards of £350. I guess its one of those things that breakers put a high value on.

I also would like to change the Auto box if I was to go to the bother as mine has never felt like it was working properly, almost like the torque convertor was slipping.

That will mean more like £600 + from a breaker.

So avoid breakers! Keep an eye on ebay, either for the engine and gb seperate or a complete car..you will get lucky if you wait. Disco gb's often go for very little as a lot of people are putting the engine into a defender as i did. The rest of a donor disco gets scrapped and bits sold on ebay. A disco gb should be about £50.

Its also waiting to find one reasonably local, I dont have the means to collect an engine, let alone engine and box in my car while the Landy is SORN. I would have to call in a favour for fuel cost and too far would soon add up to the cost.

Ones I have seen as possible are the other side of the country.

keep a look out for an engine.

I had the same issue and managed to find a badly listed engine on ebay local with a knackered head gasket and i got it for 50 quid complete.

sold turbo, injector pump etc which more than paid for all the gaskets etc, swapped my head onto it.

All in i have a nice new engine fully rebuilt for free!

been in now for about 2000 miles and uses no fluids (for a disco), gives good mpg (for a disco) and does not smoke (for a disco).

A little update.

I have left the disco on the drive SORN but this week decided to get on with doing something about it.

Yesterday I checked the Turbo and discovered that the rotor had loads of play, up and down and in and out.

I remember checking it not many miles ago and it just had a tiny bit of play in and out which I was told was normal.

I had not considered the turbo as I did not realise they go so quickly.

So it's off now and I collect a replacement on Tuesday and my disco should be back to it's old self.

Panic over then. I was going to say that you could get a courier to fetch an engine on a pallet for under 100 quid....last I had was 18 months ago,£75.

But....like storm says,one is much better, MUCH better off,buying a whole,MOT failure,rotten body vehicle.They can be found for cheap but it may take time,they are never there when you need one in a hurry.Like so many things in life.

I hope your ES is back to its old self soon,good luck mate

Cheers.