My Discovery 1 Commercial

See my build diary on my Discovery 3 here:
https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/my-discovery-3-tdv6-hse.326307/


Hi all, thought I'd start a little project thread on my continuing adventures (or "breakdowns" as some people call it) in Land Rovers.
Had a few Disco's over the years and a 110, always end up coming back to them.
For the last 5 years or so I've had a 1995 Discovery 300tdi auto with various off-road goodies on it, however it spend nearly 2 years parked up with a broken gearbox before finally in the summer converting it to a manual box and putting it back on the road.





Borrowing the daily to get it to the garage to swap the gearbox



Unfortunately the new gearbox lasted about a month before giving up the ghost so it is being sold as a rolling project as I don't have time to replace yet another gearbox.

Plus I also have my new Disco patiently waiting to take over daily driving duties.

And here she is:




A 1998 300tdi Special Vehicles Discovery.
My mates dad bought it new and kept it completely stock till he sold it to his son 3 years ago.
He then added winch, hd bumpers and +5 suspension and mt tyres.
After which he took it off-roading twice then it sat on his drive for a year until my badgering finally paid off and it was heading back to Essex.

Overall it's not too bad. Underneath is pretty solid needing only a small patch on one arch for the mot and a set of wiper blades.
Body has corrosion but nothing too major and I'd like to paint it at some point anyway.

Few jobs to do.
Badly needs to be waxoiled to give the underside any chance of surviving the winter. Then a full service changing all the fluids and hopefully just enjoy it as it is this winter for a bit of local green laning.

However before all of that it has already managed to break down dispite not being on the road!
After disconnecting the battery it will no longer start. Ignition comes on but nothing from the starter. Immobiliser light flashes frantically so wondering if that's packed up, spider unit possibly?

Anyway that's my boring thread so far. Hopefully old disco will be gone next weekend and starting issue on the van will be fixed quickly and I can get on with tinkering and enjoying green laning again

Cheers for looking
Chris

Shame about your old Disco - Must have been gutting for a replacement gearbox to go so soon.

My last Disco had intermittent issues with the immobiliser, fixing the spider unit loop thing sorted it out - so hopefully yours is just that, too.

Looking forward to updates!

Foz

It's still sat on the drive at the moment haunting me
With more time I would have sourced another box most likely and changed it over but I work away most weeks and have enough to do at home without major Land Rover work to contend with.

Yes I've re-soldered a spider unit before after one of my old disco's stop working in similar fashion so I'm hoping that is what is causing the problem.
Hoping to do some trouble shooting next weekend and make a start on getting it going again at least.

Like I say I think the next few months are going to be purely serving at rust proofing as I want to get some use out of this one so taking loads apart just before winter like normal is not happening lol.
However long term plans involve putttinf serious consideration into large body lift, tubbed rear arches to be able to fit my 35" Simexs and maybe even bob tailing.
But probably a long way off.

Unfortunately no exciting updates yet. Working away all week in the lorry is giving me little spare time to sort the disco.
However did manage to collect a new purchase for the van





After reading a fred on here about fitting them in a 110 and with my old Impreza seats getting a bit tired decided it was time to upgrade.
Think the red and black is gonna look great in the van. Once the immobiliser is sorted and it's had a service this will be top of the list.
Gonna order so rdx heated seat switches and get them in and sort all the wiring so they are fully working

IT'S ALIVE!!!!!!!!

Previously when I tried to start I had the door open just trying the key and looking under the bonnet.
Today I went out, fitted the good battery out my new sold blue Disco and tried it again. Nothing.
Immobiliser light still flashing furiously.
But it wasn't till I jumped in the drivers seat I noticed a new symbol, a red disco silhouette with a key in the middle.
Could think be connected to the remote not working and it not starting.
Off to Sainsbury's for a pair of new batteries, and after a bit of button pressing and flicking the ignition on and off it launched down the drive (really must remember I parked it in gear).
So now I have a running truck and one working remote. Second remote isn't working even with a new battery but I'm not too worried for now as I have a couple of spare keys anyway.

With that done I also removed a very bent passenger window regulator so not have two working windows again.




Need to find a replacement locking actuator as it won't lock with the other and then the door card can go back on.

So very happy as now I can move on to sorting more fun stuff like fitting my tank guard and wading kit as well as giving it a proper service before I put it on the road beginning of next month

Well got the truck insured and ready to sort out tax, thought I'd fire it up and go for a spin Sunday night before work and battery was flat
Been parked for about 3 weeks so not sure what exactly has caused that but gonna put the battery on charge this afternoon and hopefully take it to work tomorrow.

In the mean time been thinking about getting a jump pack to keep in the car for emergencies (both for helping people stranded in the cold and at this rate for me too!)

Certainly lots out there on eBay to choose from, am I right in thinking 20ah is suitable for a disco engine to get it going?

Seen this one that looks quite good:



Anyone got any advice on the subject?

Cheers Chris.

This is the one that I bought, having searched for the best value total Amp hours.

All I can tell you is that it's very nicely made and packaged - I haven't needed to use it yet.

Amazon product

Big fan of the Discovery 1 commercial.

That looks like a good bit of kit that boguing. Nice size too, reckon I'll order myself one of them come payday.

Cheers Rawly, always wanted a van for off roadkng so looking forward to getting it out in the mud.

Well with the weather turning and me fed up of seeing it parked outside not moving I decided to tax it and get it on the road.

Battery in (bit of a mess but I have a larger one I want to fit so probably gonna fit new longer battery cables so I can run it neater):


And then the needed fuel so took it for a quick shake down in the snow to make sure everything was running good before I went to work.
Got the missus to follow me in the Chelsea tractor to make sure I had help if it broke down lol.








Took it to work this morning and so far so good. Annoyingly I messed up putting in the code for the old skool factory tape player so that's not working and will try and swap it for my alpine today along with cleaning out the winch control box as it's clicking.
Then full service kit to be ordering as I expect the oil and coolant is pretty old now.

Just to let you know - had to use my Suaoki battery just now. Only on a Punto, so not a real Landy test, but the interior light had been left on for 24 hours, and although not completely flat, it would only click the starter. Hooked up the new toy and it started as if it was a normal day. Thought I'd better charge it, so plugged it into the mains and it's still saying 100% charged - and that's after standing for a month since I bought it. The force is with me.

Cheers for the update on that mate, sounds like a real winner of a device there.
Do you store yours in your landy 24/7? Wondering how the cold would effect it over long periods

I haven't got a working Landy to put it in - that's the project - but no, I'd kept it indoors until now because I didn't think I'd be so stupid as to leave a light on - it will be going out to the car now though.

As a test for both of us, I've put it in the freezer and will report what it says tomorrow.

Ha ha that's a good way to test it.

Put it in with a measured Voltage of 12.55. Took it out this morning and the LCD was too cold to work, but measuring the V again gave 12.48, and it's now back up to 12.55. Freezer is at -26C.

Edit - I measured the V with an external meter.

Safe to say works well in cold conditions lol

Time for another not very exciting update.

Finally got round to servicing the van yesterday.

New engine oil
Transfer box oil
Genuine LR gearbox oil
Axle oil replaced
Air, oil and fuel filter
New rear wiper blade



Also added wind deflectors so now I'm officially cool



And had a proper look at my recent marmite purchase.



Verdict is they are cool and I shall fit them eventually with some 50w hid bulbs for maximum full beam attack


And as I finally note attempted to run a MFU diagnostic. No joy, no beeps from the system so looks like I'll be on the hunt for a replacement MFU and hoping that fixes it.

Another small update. Wanted to carry on fixing things that are broken.
Next job was winch had stopped working so needed to pull it apart to investigate.

So went from this:



To this:




To get a better look at this:




Quick photo so I remember where the wires go



Started stripping



Bollox



Had no brass bolts so had to improvise:



Removed and sanded down the contacts



Un-seized the brushes




And all back together again




Back on, bolted in, rope added and it works

Fed up of seeing this I decided it was time to try and fix the non working passenger door lock.



Lock was getting between 0.02 and 0.07 volts when active so clearly I had a wiring issue.
Time to trace the wires








That might be an issue



Back in



Getting door clips off the easy way



And fixed





Door card back on

Chuffed with fixing things for once and also that I've not taken it off-road yet wanted to see what the suspension was like.
So one weekend while bored at the yard I borrowed the forklift








I think she flexes rather well





Also know what I want to save for next.
Silicon hoses, new kit on eBay looks epic.