Known faults on my first Landy (300tdi ES)

Hi all,
Just got in with a massive smile on my face. After months of searching and looking at rotten and or over priced car's I have finally purchased a Discovery. (98, 300 TDI, ES Auto).
Seems to drive really well (50 miles so far), but have found a few non urgent faults which I'm going to try and fix........

Firstly both front seats are very upright and cannot be reclined (all other controls work, just not recline). Found a webpage which suggests its the ball bearings in the switch, I'll have a go at rebuilding these in the morning (need to make sure the kids don't adjust them all the way forward!!)

The centre dash is very dark. The radio is illuminated as is the aircon switch, but all heating controls cannot been seen in the dark. Maybe a fuse or just bulbs. Its annoying when driving at night, so I will need to address this, or is this how Land Rover made them?

Near side mirror only adjusts up & down. Not a desperate fix.

Drivers heated seat dose not seem to work but the button indicates it does. My wife thinks the passenger one was working but the switch does not illuminate when pressed?

The lights in the bumper work, but not on the side panels.... Apparently this is how they were made?

Half the buttons are missing of the radio, I thinks I'll hunt a replacement, identical as i will wont to keep the controls and the disk changer.

Front sunroof not working, I'll leave this to the summer!

Any advice / past experience / things to look out for.
Oh, it doesn't have a tow-bar fitted. If i get a secondhand one is there a plug under the car for the electrics.

Discodad said:

Firstly both front seats are very upright and cannot be reclined (all other controls work, just not recline). Found a webpage which suggests its the ball bearings in the switch, I'll have a go at rebuilding these in the morning (need to make sure the kids don't adjust them all the way forward!!)

Click to expand...

check wiring connectors as well.

The centre dash is very dark. The radio is illuminated as is the aircon switch, but all heating controls cannot been seen in the dark. Maybe a fuse or just bulbs. Its annoying when driving at night, so I will need to address this, or is this how Land Rover made them?

Click to expand...

sounds about right I bought an led strip light and wired that in to illuminate the centre of the dash. [/quote]

Drivers heated seat dose not seem to work but the button indicates it does. My wife thinks the passenger one was working but the switch does not illuminate when pressed?

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Broken element. ??

The lights in the bumper work, but not on the side panels.... Apparently this is how they were made?

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Nope???

Front sunroof not working, I'll leave this to the summer!

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silicone it before it leaks anymore.

Any advice / past experience / things to look out for.

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Rust Rust & more Rust.

Oh, it doesn't have a tow-bar fitted. If i get a secondhand one is there a plug under the car for the electrics.

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no. but there is one in the O/S rear quarter panel near the access for the rear lights. however the other half of the plug is a ripoff price. so just cut & solder new wiring.

my heater controls had the bulb blown, and all my rear lights work.

don't know about others. I had a different list of things to fix, have you tried diff lock yet? had to strip mine down to fix it.

Mirror: spray WD40 behind the glass (ball joint seizes for lack of use) and then operate in the the left/right direction while lightly pushing the glass at the same time.

Seats: faulty switch, connectors, motor, element there's no thinking it's hot, the seats do get Hot.

Rear lights: thats correct for 98MY disco the indicator segment is missing, but the rest should work.

Heater: controls are illuminated with a single bulb, remove the round knobs and then undo the screws remove the panel to get access.

Radio: they sometimes come up on Ebay.

Sunroof: faulty switch, ecu or stuck in the tracks, there's a manual override.

Tow electrics: it's plug & play if you get the LR tow bar wiring kit.

* Get yourself a Haynes Workshop Manual *

Finally :welcome2: to the Forum

Lights: there are several variations. If your indicators are in the bumper then you will have some empty spaces in the block of lights higher up.

Mirrors: The plastic rack which drives the pan/tilt mechanism goes brittle with age and the teeth sheer. If wd40 doesnt fix it then it's probably missing teeth. Maybe you can get a new part, if not i'd look out for a whole new mirror unit on ebay. You can pick them up second hand for around £15

You have the same model as mine but mines a '94 ES.

Check that the sunroof has not been sealed up with silicone before digging at the electrics, i spent a while messing with my rear one, the motor was trying but nothing happened, climbed up on the door step to check and it was totally sealed up. I have disconnected the switches now to stop fuses blowing etc.

Dave


Oh, and don't drill the tank when you do the rear floor panel:doh::doh::doh:

discool said:

Mirror: spray WD40 behind the glass (ball joint seizes for lack of use) and then operate in the the left/right direction while lightly pushing the glass at the same time.

Seats: faulty switch, connectors, motor, element there's no thinking it's hot, the seats do get Hot.

Rear lights: thats correct for 98MY disco the indicator segment is missing, but the rest should work.

Heater: controls are illuminated with a single bulb, remove the round knobs and then undo the screws remove the panel to get access.

Radio: they sometimes come up on Ebay.

Sunroof: faulty switch, ecu or stuck in the tracks, there's a manual override.

Tow electrics: it's plug & play if you get the LR tow bar wiring kit.

* Get yourself a Haynes Workshop Manual *

Finally :welcome2: to the Forum

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the heater controls bulb -just done mine-might be able to see something in the dash in the dark now!

Thank You Biolandy what I did forget to add is the knob on the fan speed slider has tobe pulled off, but you must have found that.

Yeah,I pulled the fan speed knob off ok-also repaired courtesy light on passenger side,undid the switch and removed-no wire attached-looked in the hole with a torch,and could just see the wire,managed to grab it with a pair of forceps-pull it thru and re-attach-now working,so two things fixed faster than they are breaking-result.Although did shear off one of my grease nipples y'day

Yes I saw a post about the grease nipple, I ran the nozzel of my flexi connector round a grind stone to remove a few mill so it would fit between the yokes.

Well the dash lights are now fixed. Just left it a day and now they work? I guess its true what they say about land rovers......
I have since found the glove box opens when driving, which for some reason, really bugs me.
Children's parties prevented me from playing (attempting repairs), so hopefully more time next weekend. Hopefully I can reduce the list of faults faster than they appear. Went through the paperwork last night. previous owner has spent £3300 in past 2.5 years....

Don't put anything in the glovebox and it will be ok...

Or re-adjust the catch, there's a fine line with the ajustment it either catches or it doesn't.

Discodad said:

Well the dash lights are now fixed. Just left it a day and now they work? I guess its true what they say about land rovers......
I have since found the glove box opens when driving, which for some reason, really bugs me.
Children's parties prevented me from playing (attempting repairs), so hopefully more time next weekend. Hopefully I can reduce the list of faults faster than they appear. Went through the paperwork last night. previous owner has spent £3300 in past 2.5 years....

Click to expand...

Re the glovebox I've had this on 3 or 4 Disco's and the repair was very simple. Open the glovebox, look at the inside of the lid where the lock is and you'll find a VERY small philips head screw that holds the lock mechanism. These are almost always loose - I undo them and put a little loctite on the threads and refasten. Worked every time on my cars and problem never comes back.

General points for good running:

1. Irrespective of what the previous owner tells you about service history, my advice is always do a full service when you get a second-hand LR product.

Oils and filters are dirt cheap, gives your motor the best chance of functioning correctly and gives you a proper baseline for future servicing.

Engine oil - 7ltrs of 10w-40 semi synth
Autobox - 5 ltrs of Dexron IId or III
Trans box - 2.5ltrs of EP80-90
Each diff - 1.7ltr of EP80-90

So a total of 6ltrs of EP oil needed.

A kit of the three main filters costs £7+vat from Paddocks

Coolant - 10ltrs of coolant preferably the longlife OAT stuff. Flush the system first.

Brake fluid - 2ltrs of dot4 to replqce the whole system.

Grease the propshaft U/j's


Check and replace as neccesary:

Discs and pads

Rubber doughnut


My Favourite TDi 300 modifications:

1. De-EGR - kit costs about £20 and gives a cleaner-running engine and improved mpg

2. De-Cat - on an autobox car in particular this is a great mod. De-cat downpipe costs about £16+vat from Paddocks and makes a noticeable improvement in engine responsiveness and mpg.

Over the 16,000mls that I ran a '98 auto I averaged 33mpg.

Hope that helps

Dave

plus download a copy of RAVE, it's a might handy when things go wrong ( and they will)