300dti general advice

hi, i recently bought a '95 disco with 2.5 dti engine.
having only ever breifly owned a 80 IIa i dont know anything about them.
there are little niggling problems, but its genenrally ok.
can you give me some constructive advice on these cars, some general maintenance tips and the like.

one thing that seems to be playing up is when using the remote or key to lock, occasionally the door unlocks again, lock it again and it will unlock and the alarm goes off. sometimes it can be cured by opening and closing the door but not always

300tdi is a good engine, wouldn't trade mine for anything.

With any diesel, just keep sure you change the oil regularly, I do mine every 5000miles. Buy good filters and make sure the timeing belt has been done within the last 60k.

If your planning on keeping it for a fair bit then mite be worth looking at undersealing it if its not already been done. The sills in the doors might start to go, and around the wheel arch where the back doors close, give them a poke and see if its sound, if not try and treat it.

thanks,

any other helpful hints

was the 300 a bmw engine? an ex rover worker thougt it might be

also what about the tyre pressure? im running p235/70's at the mo

34-36 I think mine are at...

No its not a BMW engine as far as I am aware, its a direct build on the 200, which was a build on the 2.5TD.

discomania said:

34-36 I think mine are at...
.

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ta, im running all for on about 30 but it feels very loose on the road, like the tires are moving side ways on the rims, may be a little more air will cure it

yes it will, our disco does this because the alloy is corroding and they loose pressue, so when I get this feeling its time to put more are in!

Bung another 5 psi in.

Things that go on 300tdi's :

Cambelt (as mentioned above)
90 degree turbo hose splits (cheap from Bearmach etc)
P-gasket behind alternator goes (a few hours labour, so diy is better)
Alternator itself (The Disco MM one IS fixable, but you need to know how)
Sumps leak (can be fixed with RTV, but a pita)
Front crank seal (change it with cambelt)
Rear crank seal (gearbox out, so a bit of a job)
Clutch fork (MUST be changed if clutch changed - it is cheap)
Glow plugs burn out and cause bad starting

If you change your oil regularly the turbo will last.
The injector pump and injectors give little trouble, and both can be reconned.

It's a very good engine!

Tyre Pressures are 26 psi front and 34 psi rear thats what my 95 300TDI ES manual says.

I run my tyres at 35psi all round as it handles the best at that pressure. One tip that is worth sticking to all the time is never turn the engine off straight away after a run even if it is only a local run, let it idle for at least 60 seconds that way the hot oil in the turbo is given chance to drain into the sump and is replaced with slightly cooler oil that will not then be burnt onto the turbo shaft and should then give longer life to the turbo unit.
Barry

thanks guys, thats just the kinda details i wanted.
happy new year.!

another problem has arisen, my reverse lights only come on if i pull the gear stick fully to ward me, if i just let it sit in reverse the lights dont come on, now i understand that theres a switch somewhere, but is it on linkage or on gear box, and can i adjust it ?

hi chap
As far as i am aware the reversing light switch on the 300 is not adjustable
unlike the 200 model.
hope this helps, all the advice you have been given is all sound just a little more for you though;

• check inner flitch mud guards they rot at an incredible rate.

thanks guy,
your not stalking me are you?

karlo got it correct and found it runs better with 26 psi in front and 34 psi in rear

slither22 said:

karlo got it correct and found it runs better with 26 psi in front and 34 psi in rear

Click to expand...

ill give it a try sometime this week

300tdi, reversing light seems to be a common problem, ours does it too, however it has NOT failed an MOT in years with this fault.

i run my tyres at 26psi on front and 34psi on rear runs nice and smooth

Hi,

I'm from the same background as you really. I bought my 300Tdi Disco a couple of years back having driven an 88" SIII for many years as my main car. Generally I have not had too bad a time with it, but if you get a strange sudden usage of oil and it starts weeping from the rocker cover. Don't do what I did... I just nipped up the rocker cover "Series style". The next thing I knew the car took off (accelorated)with my Dad on the motorway, it had pressurised the oil system pumped the engine oil into the intercooler and then sucked it in jet turbine style as fuel. Didn't matter if you turned it off or not, deisels just keep going as long as there is fuel to suck! This totalled my engine, welded it solid. I have since found this is the dreaded "My disco ate itself problem", and happens occasionally. Only hope to survive is stall the engine when it happens. Just be aware of strange oil usage and not doing it "Series style"...

The other one that got me was the steering damper. If you are off-road be careful with the front end. The softer suspension means if you drive momentum style like most serious Series Off-roaders are used to. It bounces the suspension, lowers your clearance and the damper is _extreamly_ vulnerable. So are the track rod bars. You can get beefed up ones, a mate of mine carries a spare one. If you do clobber it you can take the damper off and "get away with it for limping". This takes the pressure off the power steering pump which is an impressive bit of kit. It will shift the wheels given impressive damage to the linkages and damper. Trust me!! lol The problem is it stresses it, so removing the gubbed damper is safer pump-wise. Only problem is, when you hit a pothole at 70... Oooo yeah... adrenalin is not a pretty blue colour.

Have fun, bit be aware the off-road style is quite different. The Disco is a bit more delicate. Tends to be more slow and keep all the wheels on the ground, rather than throw it at the mountain and scramble up the other side.

Cheers,

Rob

cheers for that, sounds like you have had my kind of experiences. hopefully wont be doing too much off roading in it as the other half needs it for school runs. but wouldnt mind having ago.
ill keep a close eye on the oil, but it seems to be marking its spot wherever i park it, so im not sure if ill notice additional oil usage

Andy

Hi Andy,

Mine doesn't actually mark its territory like the old SIII. In fact from my experiences generally Disco's seem far less territorial. Not saying anything is wrong, it is Solihulls best after all though... So might be worth just checking what it is, rather than the SIII "proves it's got some" approach. Modern ones are more delicate!

Typically I beleive the Tdi's do use a wee bit of oil, nothin to worry about, mine became quite thirsty and sometimes smokey. From memory especially on the over-run... To be honest, tonight, if my long distant ex-gf was half as predictable and well mannered as either my SIII or my Disco. I would be well happy!!! Just be aware!

Cheers,

Rob