Essential mods

So it finally happened and I’ve managed to get myself a Land Rover.
99’ Discovery 2, TD5.

What do you guys reckon are the main things to do to it, to ensure it’s as reliable as can be?

I’ve seen people mention EGR deletes, new headgasket screws etc.
What, if any of these, are essential modifications to make its and my own life easier?

Any advice appreciated.

ScotCameraOp said:

So it finally happened and I’ve managed to get myself a Land Rover.
99’ Discovery 2, TD5.

What do you guys reckon are the main things to do to it, to ensure it’s as reliable as can be?

I’ve seen people mention EGR deletes, new headgasket screws etc.
What, if any of these, are essential modifications to make its and my own life easier?

Any advice appreciated.

Click to expand...

service it ,all oils axles and transmission as well as engine

ScotCameraOp said:

So it finally happened and I’ve managed to get myself a Land Rover.
99’ Discovery 2, TD5.

What do you guys reckon are the main things to do to it, to ensure it’s as reliable as can be?

I’ve seen people mention EGR deletes, new headgasket screws etc.
What, if any of these, are essential modifications to make its and my own life easier?

Any advice appreciated.

Click to expand...

As James said, all fluids and filter as a starter, there has been great mention of the temp gauge not being reliable, well, unless you call it only telling you something is wrong when it's cooked itself, I personally think an aftermarket coolant temp gauge and sender is the way to go.

You refer to the steel dowel pins that hold the head in place, well, there is no way to know what your engine has in it but it is more a case of leave it alone until something does occur.

EGR will be subject to the new MOT rules so unless you are merely going to fit a small "invisible" plate under the valve to stop gasses passing through there isn't much you can do.

Get the underside inspected paying particular attention to the rear end and cross member. Get anything that requires work sorted and then steam clean and treat it with either Dinatrol or Bilt-Hamber.
As the others have already said, service including all filters and fluids.
Headlight bulbs can degrade with age, so it might be a good idea to fit Osram "Nightbreakers" or Phillips X-Treme +130%. Don't be tempted to try LEDs or HID conversions.
Other than that, just keep on top of your maintenance routines and enjoy it.

Another vote for James' advice, get a good baseline for future servicing. And as Brian says, make sure all is well underneath.
After that, then I think I'd just run until something breaks. Rather than spending your hard earned lolly on pre-emptively swapping out parts, you may want to consider buying some diagnostic kit, like Nanocom or Hawkeye etc. Not cheap, but if you plan on doing much of the work on the car yourself then it will be jolly useful.

brian47 said:

Headlight bulbs can degrade with age, so it might be a good idea to fit Osram "Nightbreakers" or Phillips X-Treme +130%. Don't be tempted to try LEDs or HID conversions.

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Does the D2 have relays in the headlight circuit?

dieseldog69 said:

Does the D2 have relays in the headlight circuit?

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Looking at the circuit diagrams, neither the pre-facelift nor the post facelift Disco 2's have any relays in the headlight circuits.
This could mean that wiring in a relay system to do the switching could well be beneficial from the point of view of the voltage supplied to the bulbs and also reducing the electrical stress on the stalk switches. If you're going to go to the trouble of installing relays for the headlights it might also be a reasonable idea to consider changing the bulb holder sockets for ceramic ones.

There is one relay socket which isn't normally used which has the 'output' wire connected to the dipped beam circuit. this is for the provision of "Daylight Running Lights", if anyone wishes to add those works of the devil. All it would require is to divert that output wire from the dipped headlights to the aftermarket DRL set and activation in the BCU.

> Get the underside inspected paying particular attention to the rear end and cross member. Get anything that requires work sorted and then steam clean and treat it with either Dinatrol or Bilt-Hamber.
Don't neglect the actual bodywork itself either - there's a myth that the bodies don't "go" on D2s, but I can tell you from personal experience: not true. So be sure to take off sill covers and wheel-arch liners when you "do" the underside.

Essential?

Not really, but depends on spec.

If you do not have CDL and want to off road, may be worth retro fitting (mine was factory fit)

But a visit from Dynachip is usually worth it