S
[email protected]
Guest
Hello,
I' recently purchased a 1995 Discovery I with about 96k miles. As
expected, I have had a few problems with "secondary" systems (i.e., not
the engine or drivetrain), and have spent quite a few hours under the
thing so far. But this is OK, because I am a reasonbly compentent
mechanic.
One of the reasons for purchasing this vehicle was that I am planning
to do about a year of fieldwork in Belize, Central America. My question
to the group regards opinions about taking this vehicle on this trip.
The trip would entail driving from Arizona, through Mexico, and down
through Belize. I have done most of this trip before, and it is easy on
paved roads. No problem.
Once in Belize, some driving will be on pavement, but a significant
amount will be on seasonal dirt that can become impassable during the
rainy season.
The purpose of the trip is PhD research so I will have a small, but
extremely limited budget to work with.
I have couple concerns. Maybe you can identify some others, and pose
some solutions to these.
1) Gasoline - The vehicle says it requires 91 octane fuel. This may not
always be available. Do I need to cart along a case of octane booster
to be able to run 87 Octane? Or can the vehicle be adusted to run lower
octane fule?
2) I would like to just disable some of the electronic gadgets on the
car, but I find that many systems are tied into the same circuits. For
example, I am having trouble with the alarm system, so I pulled the
fuse. Then the power mirors stopped working. Does anyone have
suggestions on how to address these failure-prone electrical systems to
prepare a vehicle for long-term international use?
3) Emergency parts list - Other than the obvious (serpintine belt,
hoses, oil filter) does anyone have any recomendations of emergency
parts to bring on the trip? There is a LR dealership in Belize, but it
is quite a distance from where I'll be living.
4) Code Reader - The Check Engine light has already come on a coule
times. Would you recomend bringing an inexpensive code-reader? If so,
which one? It would be nice ot be able to clear codes. As for the
codes, I found this (http://www.troublecodes.net/landrvr/). Is this the
only resource I need
ot intrepret the codes?
Does anyone have any other comments or suggestions regardng using this
vehicle for long-term fieldwork? I am familiar with the history of
problems with these vehicles. I bought it cheap, and I'm not concerned
about aesthetics, though, and if I hgave the right parts, I usually can
fix it. I Don't have buyers remorse for blowing $30k on a vehicle that
breaks.
I am concerned about safty and reliability. I don't want to be stuck in
the middle of the jungle with a useless vehicle. If you have had an
experience using your Disco for a similar purpose and it completely
died on you, I'd be interested to hear your expoerience.
Thanks for your input!
--Sean
I' recently purchased a 1995 Discovery I with about 96k miles. As
expected, I have had a few problems with "secondary" systems (i.e., not
the engine or drivetrain), and have spent quite a few hours under the
thing so far. But this is OK, because I am a reasonbly compentent
mechanic.
One of the reasons for purchasing this vehicle was that I am planning
to do about a year of fieldwork in Belize, Central America. My question
to the group regards opinions about taking this vehicle on this trip.
The trip would entail driving from Arizona, through Mexico, and down
through Belize. I have done most of this trip before, and it is easy on
paved roads. No problem.
Once in Belize, some driving will be on pavement, but a significant
amount will be on seasonal dirt that can become impassable during the
rainy season.
The purpose of the trip is PhD research so I will have a small, but
extremely limited budget to work with.
I have couple concerns. Maybe you can identify some others, and pose
some solutions to these.
1) Gasoline - The vehicle says it requires 91 octane fuel. This may not
always be available. Do I need to cart along a case of octane booster
to be able to run 87 Octane? Or can the vehicle be adusted to run lower
octane fule?
2) I would like to just disable some of the electronic gadgets on the
car, but I find that many systems are tied into the same circuits. For
example, I am having trouble with the alarm system, so I pulled the
fuse. Then the power mirors stopped working. Does anyone have
suggestions on how to address these failure-prone electrical systems to
prepare a vehicle for long-term international use?
3) Emergency parts list - Other than the obvious (serpintine belt,
hoses, oil filter) does anyone have any recomendations of emergency
parts to bring on the trip? There is a LR dealership in Belize, but it
is quite a distance from where I'll be living.
4) Code Reader - The Check Engine light has already come on a coule
times. Would you recomend bringing an inexpensive code-reader? If so,
which one? It would be nice ot be able to clear codes. As for the
codes, I found this (http://www.troublecodes.net/landrvr/). Is this the
only resource I need
ot intrepret the codes?
Does anyone have any other comments or suggestions regardng using this
vehicle for long-term fieldwork? I am familiar with the history of
problems with these vehicles. I bought it cheap, and I'm not concerned
about aesthetics, though, and if I hgave the right parts, I usually can
fix it. I Don't have buyers remorse for blowing $30k on a vehicle that
breaks.
I am concerned about safty and reliability. I don't want to be stuck in
the middle of the jungle with a useless vehicle. If you have had an
experience using your Disco for a similar purpose and it completely
died on you, I'd be interested to hear your expoerience.
Thanks for your input!
--Sean
