Disco 2 V8 LPG buyers tips please.

Hi,

At the mo the mrs is looking at buying an early (prob pre facelift) Discovery 2 4.0 V8 LPG for about 3 and a half grand which is great news for me as it means I can now keep the disco 1 daily driver as my off road toy!

I was just wondering:-

1: I do almost all the work on my disco 1 myself are disco 2s any harder to work on due to more electronics/ basically just being more complicated etc?

2: Ive heard they are less reliable than disco 1s and the engines have more issues and parts cost a lot more when they do go wrong. is this true?

Any more tips/owners experience about what to check/look out for when buying a Disco 2 V8 LPG will be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

My wife has a D1, and I have a D2, both V8 on LPG. My D2 was lower millage that hers when I got it, but its now higher as she only potters about in it, and I use mine for work.

I have certainly spent more time and money fixing the D2 than the D1, but I think mile for mile its probably not actually any more money really.

There are certainly more electronics on them to go wrong, and the engine management is more complicated with more sensors etc.

Things that have gone wrong with mine since I bought it (20K miles ago) are :-

ABS sensor and shuttle valve (this fault was present when I purchased it, but hidden by somebody re wiring the dash)

Crank Position sensor (ended up replacing it twice as the replacement one failed after 6K miles, was still under warranty so it was just a pain rather than an expense.) This fault is a bit aggravating because when it happens the engine cuts out and refuses to start. SO its generally a tow home job.

I had the MIL come on when I first got it, so ended up replacing the lambda sensors and MAF, never had it come on since.

Ignition leads (2 of the ones that came when I purchased it were complete wrong and started causing problems after about 6 months - They had the wrong connector at the coil end, instead of M3 they were normal ones for a distributor!). Then I ended up with a crap set of Britpart ones on so had to change them again...

Ignition Coil (don't know which one, I changed both).

The rear washer came faulty, and somebody knocked off a head light washer, so fixed both of them as well.

Apart form that, just the usual servicing, like oils and filters etc.

[EDIT]

Just remembered I did the front prop shaft as well.

Oh and also just remembered I had to replace the front drivers door lock, and 2 rear ones as they stopped working on the central locking.

Hi, Buy another D1 for £1500 and put £2000 in the bank, cos you will regret buying a D2 V8, But thats just my 2 peneth.
Clive.

Hi.....i have a D2 V8 LPG 4.0, i have just had the bill from V8 developments for the re-build which is quite high........i chose very carefully and still had a disaster having owned two 4.0 and trying to be really carefull with this one........buy the software (i bought faultmate) and go for as much history as you can.......my thoughts were the other day on another thread were D2 auto for niceness (be prepared but you may have no trouble)
and D1 for fixability.......

Nick.

Hi Nick

Why did you need a re-build? How much of a build did you get done.

I got the V8 for it's pulling power for big heavy trailers ands it a lot better than the td5. I really it and certainly don't regret buying it

Hi.....Water loss after 10,000 fab miles of ownership (102,000 miles) which after investigation revealed water loss from between the block and the head (1,3,5,7 side).
When i stripped the head off i found massive oil and water leaks, wrecked rocker arms and swarf all over the place (but strangely it ran without rattles) so out it came.

Then the debate about how far to go with the rebuild, who would warranty what, and the merits of old heads and reconed blocks, top hat liners etc.......so after much searching, chatting and having already previously doing this on a p38 i went for...

pressure tests, top hats liners in my block, rebuilt heads, balanced and polished crank, new cam, followers and rockers, a new oil pump and new idler pullys and belt from V8 develpoments, which has cost a lot but i should make it back within one year through the car which works for it's living so initially quite a brutal assault on the wallet but all will be good.

Nick.

Mine has done 132K now but seems good. I do have a blowing exhaust gasket rattling a bit that I know will need some attention at some point.

I'm trying to track down a minor but invisible water leak and am eliminating 1 bit at a time.

Do you keep track of your MPG on gas? I'd be interested in what you get as I suspect mine is a bit low.

Probably around 17-21 depending on roads......i am generally quite a steady driver and try not to be pushed into battleing for road space as most people want to, so try to avoid the heavy acceleration.....

i borrowed a pressure test kit from a friend which helped no end with finding the exterior leaks, of which there were many after i had the lpg kit fitted..........the water and oil leaks were between cylinders 5 and 7 and it was somehow tracking down the bell housing before hitting the floor........when i took it apart the signs were all there, you just couldn't see it with the engine in........only found the water leak whilst having a look for sparking probs in the dark........turned the engine of and there was a fizzz.............fizzz...........fizzz....... so on goes the torch and there is the water dropping on to the manifold. It was drying instantly so not obvious, didn't do it when the pressure kit was on and the water that was going down the bell housing kinda dried before it got to the floor ish. All the bolts from one side were rusty when i removed them......So hopefully with anew engine and carefull servicing all should be good.

On the Mpg front, i would love a selectable four wheel drive system, that would make it perfect........i had the front axle diconnected on my classic for a while and the economy was fab......but the standing start was appalling in the wet.

NICK.

Interesting, I am quite heavy footed and I am only getting around 12 MPG, but I did on the last few tanks try to be more economical with the driving style, and got 13.8, but thats still not all that great.

Did you notice a difference after the engine rebuild? I don't have any problems with power but the economy did seem a bit less that normal. So wondered if a tinker with the internals might help on that front.

Hi.........it's not back yet, not had it on the road since before the new year.....Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!
It comes back on Wednesday........the economy was still good before disaster but you have to be gentle, so expecting it to be awful until it is run in.......

Have you reset the adaptive values in the auto box and Petrol management systems?

I fitted a new crank sensor a while back, and took it to get the adaptive values reset then. Not sure if he did the autobox at the same time. I guess not. Unfortunately the nanocom I have does not do V8, or Autobox, so I can't do either of them without visiting somebody with testbook which costs...

Do you expect that would make any difference?

Cheers for the feedback, still not sure what to do. The ones shes looking at are all around 140K and a lot shes looked at seem to of had a fair bit of engine work done to them, is this quite normal and what kind of thing should I be expecting to fail/be replaced at this kind of milage?

Ben....the enigne and gearbox control units adapt, so if they have duff info they don't work as well as they could.....after fixing a fault, resetting lets them re-learn with new info......which theoretically should be better......i would happily let you come and plug into my faultmate....but i only have a license for mine.......

Mr Nice......I think comprehensive service history helps, the pile of receipts to show work done........honestly it's a bit of a minefield....

There are loads of good trucks, but also a great deal of rubbish being sold on after a life of being driven around like a saloon car, taken for services with people who don't know or care, faults ignored as it still moves and then polished, engines cleaned and sprayed with silicone spray, nice set of the latest next generation wheels, and then someone comes along who's not had one before and it's sold......and occasionaly, if you don't have your wits about you, and all of the telltales have been taken away, we buy one.

Check that every switch and function works!.......from the front side lights to the rear lights via the sunroofs.....
Look for oil and water leaks at the back of the engine.....it's where mine went!
No smell of coolant......check everything that holds oil and water after the test drive.
Wheel bearings (they're expensive)....
Smooth Gear change.....

If everything is good, then hurrah! happy days indeed.

The list of what might be broken or ready to break.......there is thread that we started about buying a discovery and what to watch out for.........not sure where but i'll look

There were two fault's with mine when i bought it.....
leaking Ace joint......30p seal
Warped disc's on the front......£25 ish

I had 10,000 trouble free miles and then one of the headgaskets went. On strip down it was deemmed to be a Friday afternoon or a Monday morning engine.....but the rest of the cars nice, and after over a month the suspension airbags still have air in them....result!

Nick.

....the thread is (embarrisingly:doh What to look for when buying a discovery.
Pop it in the search box , scrool down results......

I recently posted D2 for niceness, D1 (200/300) for fixability........and clive may have a point. A really nice 300tdi auto, with all the kit is a nice car....only the world pushes us to buy newer trucks, we probably don't need one.

Nick.

well, i did 29000 miles in my lpg disco 2 last year, went thru 2 engines including a coscast one and 2 lots of lpg injectors and replaced pretty much everything, where is my disco 1 lpg is still going strong with over 200k on clock! Wish i'd never sold it (£700) Disco 2's on lpg are **** and besides lpg has gone up loads in last to years. Buy a disco 1, they're much more reliable...Get a jap import and it wont have any rust!

.....i would like another 300tdi, or td5 and then i would run on home filtered fuel fuel.....but for now i have to keep basil........lpg is only 61.4 here if i buy it from a fourcourt so still cheap.....with the work i do i make sure the fuel is paid for by everyone else as it's my biggest expense.

Hi Nick

Yes I heard they adapt like that but after 20k miles I might have expected them to have adapted and it's been a fairly consistent mpg I get so its either my driving style or the engine I guess.