Disco 3 problems

Hi tigapiglet,ref:disco 3 probs. Think i feel a lot safer wiv me disco 1 auto `specially being an early one.It aint even got fly by wire just good old fashion cables...how easy is that???!!! The moral of the story mr.ford/jag/ whoever owns em right now, is keep it simple!

Hi i also love my old but reliable 300 tdi,the new disco has got a lot of new systems and the market to get them on the road is always a major factor dont be fooled by people saying how good other car manufactures are they all have problems some keep it quite as they can,we get a lot of trade in cars from merc bmw toyota and others but i must say i know why they traded them in,they will resolve all the issues on disco 3 and then move onto another fault,i must say so far i have not had to fix 1 range rover sport yet so something is going right some where hope all you rich folk get your cars fixed soon i wont forget to hoot when i see you on the side of the hard shoulder though,IM NOT BITTER , cheers tiga

When it comes to air suspension components - be patient with the LandRover folks! I had precisely the same problem with my 1997 Tracker (4 door) when I added air-bag suspension to the rear (for enhanced towing); three times back to the suspension company and finally - a slight change in the way the air bag was sealed at the factory - and now its three years down the road without a problem!

"NEWSFLASH" Now then guys my mums vogue went into rocar moores for its 1st service, When she returned in there loan car (disco 3 in black with a couple of giddy extras) she said you need to go and have a drive of this car, Of which i did, Just to be polite, you do understand i hope you understand anyway, WOW what a car who cares what it looks like it drives amazing, It eats bumps and hills like, like, like well i dont know what like but it was brilliant, Even my wife lliked it, So even though you guys are saying about all these problems i think iam going to have a look see if i can sort a good price out, So if anybody whats to buy a 1999 td5 in kinversand red let me know Lets see if i get one this year or maybe not, I may come away £32.000 poorer, But they have got some good deals on at the minute, £2000 off list price sounds good to me, Or is it ? Anyway have a good day guys will let you know how we go on thanks for looking catch you later.
BIGCOL

Hi again heres food for thought why is it that range rover sport that is built on same chassis all be it shorter has the same air suspension engines running gear does not have the same problems as disco 3, i have not seen i for air suspension fault or the same air bag faults,admittedly they are all auto so they dont have the handbrake yellow light on intermitantly and pdc not working,this is caused by the software for the x-y switch located on top of gearbox,the software is better now and not had 1 back recently for same fault,the srs system has numerous faults including bad srs ecu's drivers thorax bag resistance fault due to harness location and cable tie's to tight causing high resistance at bag also some pretensioner faults and drivers steering wheel bag,ford seem to be fixing these faults everytime we send pictures of bad wiring location and such which is a good thing,they send a thankyou or an engineer out so they can remidy and improve,under bmw rule they never done this so i can see a good product getting better,all we need to do know is stop customers filling there cars up with the wrong fuel, its such a common thing 15 cars last month ranging from freelanders to range rovers and they were not new cars to them,tiga

Hi, had a go in a brand new tdv6 auto 7 seat base model, first thing I noticed when it was started was a message saying 'transmission fault', sales person said they usually arrive with several such messages, before they are prepared for a customer, can this really be the case? Also, headlamps were both steamed up inside, I can't believe the p--s poor quality of these vehicles? On a plus point though the diesel engine sounded quiet. rgds. Come on tiga, whats your view on this?

Yes, this worries me too. On my test drive it said "Coolant low" - a known problem that's been corrected, said the dealer (but they hadn't sorted it yet on this brand new car). However, it hasn't stopped me ordering one!

Eric

Hi boys i have only seen 1 car back for low coolant fault its just a faulty float mechanism,what happened to lifting the bonnet once a week you have a temp gauge what more do you need,some info for all owners how to release handbrake if your battery fails or for towing incase the worst does happen,like the poor chap that filled his with unleaded and the recovery people put the ignition on,if you look at the handbrake switch remove screw underneath its a philips screw,lift out switch and underneath is a cable much like a trottle cable with a loop in it,remove the jack handle in the tool kit and use this tool hook end place in cable and pull really hard you will here a crack and the hand brake will release,please note as soon as ignition is turned on or keys removed from ignition it will reset itself so best to remove the big k fuse which is located under bonnet its fuse no 8 once this fuse is removed handbrake will not come on,i will have a look to see what the fuse no is for fuel pump as well so you will be double safe,tiga

Hi tigapiglet iam not looking forward to tonight now (24/11/05) iam going to my local dealership so that he can give me a price for my old car against a disco 3, Iam in 2 minds now should i still go! O well what the hell everybody said about td5 was big problems when they 1st came out and my car has been ace and iam sad to see it go but you gotta move eh boys, So maybe soon i will be on here whining about how crap the new disco 3s are OR i maybe saying how good they are, Anyway it will depend if they offer me more than £7-50 for my td5 Will keep you posted all the best bigcol

Tiga,
Many thanks for the handbrake tips - I'll print that out and put it the glovebox, once my Disco arrives! Forewarned is forearmed (as the half octopus said).
Eric

Thanks for that tiga, I have also printed this out, As i posted before i went to my local dealer, And we twod and frode a little(thursday 24th nov) but i walked away a little upset with how much they offered me for my old car, But on saturday he rang me and said would be intrested in a brand new car before the end of this month, So i said ok lets talk, So cut a long story short iam picking my new tdv6s up on thursday 1st december . I will of cause keep you all posted, In the mean time if anybody has any more tips for the new d3 i would most like to hear from you, Thanks for looking catch you later guys all the best bigcol.

one day in the long distance future I may be able to buy a disco 3...probably one with 4000,000 miles on the clock, shabby, used as a chicken shed, or a farmers tool....but for now I can only dream....
but at that time (many a summer from now) what will they be like to restore?

You can throw £1000 at the worst of discoveries now and end up with a great fun basic fun car...but somehow i just cant see my son dong that to a disco 3 in the future....

I think landrover have created a four wheel drive rolls royce...but that may be to its own end....

do they actually go green laning in them?

Hi i must say that recently new software has come out to fix CERTAIN GLITCHES shall we say and thay do appear to be working for most,why is it that these geeks that get paid far more than i can dream of getting cant write a blooming programme that will talk to every ecu at the same time in the correct language or are the ecus non bilingual,any way i digress my point is we all thought the new range rover L322 was going to be a nightmare but its been great and quite simple to fix,i can see the disco 3 a right pig to fix in a few years,on the upside i will probably be able to buy one then and fix it myself i hope ford who are working hard to resolve these issues as i get fed up trying to passifiy customers who want there issues resolved as do i and so they should regardless of the cost of the vehicle as i feel inadiquite with trying to resolve issues with software,god give me points and carbs anyday,oh well only about 24yrs to retirement rant over,dont be put off with disco 3 its still a fab car,still dont like the ugly back end but it was desinged with women in mind and to keep insurance costs down,tiga

Got a Disco 3 in November it has been back for Warning light on electronic brake, engine system fault, warning on the suspension and badly fitted rear seat cover. Now having a new compressor fitted on Thursday 29th December. Towed my caravan just once, great!

Geoff Leese

When it's working it's great. As a Land Rover owner with 25 years experience, the Disco 3 is a tour-de-force. I have been into some ridiculous situations in the scenery which I would never have contemplated visiting in an earlier Land Rover product and have driven out to onlookers' disbelief with a huge grin. I have also towed the full permissible load effortlessly on-road, (when I think how everything had to be planned using a Disco 1).

The auto box is bliss. A tip from my instructor on the freebie session for new owners at Eastnor was to forget the park brake if you have an auto box. Just putting the selector into P locks everything reliably, whereas a friction handbrake is ultimately unreliable.

HOWEVER...

its electrics are a nightmare. I have had my TDV6 SE for 13 months in which time it has spent 2 weeks at the dealer having its air suspension fixed, (faulty sensor), the rear wiper motor had to be replaced, the specified towing option came without electrical sockets, the engine management has an intermittent malfunction causing a reduction in power - fixed by stopping the engine and re-starting - and the latest one is that the passenger seatbelt sensor sounds even when there is no passenger, so you have to leave the belt plugged in for peace in the cabin.

Does anyone know how to stop that awful bonging noise that we have to put up with when seatbelts aren't worn or when one leaves the ignition key in with the engine off and the door open?

The dealer claims not to know and has asked me to let him know if I find out.

Just tell me where to find the plug that connects the seatbelt sensor and I'll disconnect it/short across as necessary.

Hi fellow Disco owners or people who aspire to own one of these geat cars. We have had our Disco 3 TDV6 S man. for just over a year now and have coverered a very smooth and cosseted 10k miles untill last week. We to have experienced a "suspension fault". The fault varied from an orange warning light plus "suspension fault" message to a red light and the display advising us to drive at below 30 mph. When the red light apears the suspension locks solid and you buck and bounce on the road. The only way it seems to reset the red light and locked suspension is to stop the car and turn the engine off and then on again. We needed to perform aforementioned routine 3 times on our 70 mile trip home. The car was due for the 10K service at the dealer 2 days later and they duly collected it. The explanation I have from the dealer is that the air suspension compressor exaust valve is jamming open and that a new one may be required. The dealer also mentioned that they had just received an official comunication from LR to guide them through a fault finding proceedure for thi type of fault. I am not sure wht is PR or truth at the moment. The fault still persists and I am only doing short jouneys around town until it is fixed. I will advise final fault diagnosis once a satisfactory fix has been made by the dealer, hopefully next week.
I have seen various postings listing faulty compessors, wiring harness connectors and height sensors in relation to suspension faults.

I have a new Series 3 HSE Auto Discovery and quite simply it is junk. I share it with my dealer. It is his turn to have it next week to fix the electric parking brake. Disregarding the chronic reliability problems there are so many minor irritations and flaws which should not be on a £40,000 vehicle.


Depressing isn't it?

Kind Regards,

AsciiDv

Incidentally, just looking back through the posts there is a discussion relating to the 'COOLANT LOW' warning message and how it is probably related to a faulty sensor. On my vehicle it was telling the truth as a hose clip had been missed off one of the coolant hoses during assembly.

AsciiDv

Hi guys re D3 got 1 love it! BUT i have had the suspention fault light on now every day for pasts 4 weeks, i have finally got round to booking it in the dealers, they tell me they have been having a problems with the suspention lights ,So we await friday13th of jan OH MY GOD FRIDAY 13TH O SH*T could i have picked a worse day to take my car to the garage, o well lets see what happens will keep you posted. p.s. other that being a bit thirsty its brilliant thnks for looking keep me posted. bigcol.

Dont like looking at them........never mind thinking about owning one!!
They look horrible and on reading through the posts the reliability issues are too much to bear.........I will never go past owning a TD5. Landrover take note.