Hello there, thought I'd say hi now I've joined the forum.
I bought my first Discovery on the 1st of Feb and it hasn't been the best of starts... I bought it over ebay and took him at his word and description (bad idea I know) plus was in a rush to get to work when I picked it up. I was led to believe there was a few bits that needed welding which didn't bother me as I'm a welder for JLR anyway, I was told of a few small issues too which I wasn't surprised at given the age of the landy.
On driving it home it didn't feel right... It was all over the road but as it was the first landy I've driven in a fair few years spoke to a few friends who said its about right considering it had a 4" lift at the rear and slight raise at the front... So I carried on and got used to it.
Few days later a tapping noise was starting to drive me nuts coming from the engine.. I was told this was the vacuum pump on its way out.. So fair enough bought a second hand one.
While I waited I inspected under the carpets at rear plus sills... Virtually nothing left, but again wasn't a shock... What was though was all round the engine bay, round the battery and behind the headlights tonnes of expanding foam! It was everywhere even painted under arches! I knew there was bolt on replacements but still started to feel taken for a mug... The pump arrived and took it to my mechanic as the bolts on mine were rounded and I didn't have the tools at home... I asked him to look at the steering... It was completed buggered I had thought it was the steering box on the way out but nope... Linkages broken and barely holding in place! He said it was dangerous to drive but not expensive to fix, then got him to check the engine noise. After 5 or ten mins after lifting the bonnet.. When he managed to stop laughing at all the expanding foam he found that the head gasket has blown.. That was the final nail in the coffin... £1195 down the drain.
Learnt the hard lesson of avoiding ebay.. Never inspect a vehicle at night and not to rush into anything! At least now I've read up on what to look out for and how to fix several common fault with the series 1 disco.
Luckily my mechanic has said I can have his disco, which has full years mot, had all the welding done, all the common faults fixed for £450 plus my wreck minus the new off-road tyres, snorkel, winch and anything else I need off it... So lesson learned and still have a land rover.
I will certainly be going through the help forums on here and asking advice in the future
Damo
I bought my first Discovery on the 1st of Feb and it hasn't been the best of starts... I bought it over ebay and took him at his word and description (bad idea I know) plus was in a rush to get to work when I picked it up. I was led to believe there was a few bits that needed welding which didn't bother me as I'm a welder for JLR anyway, I was told of a few small issues too which I wasn't surprised at given the age of the landy.
On driving it home it didn't feel right... It was all over the road but as it was the first landy I've driven in a fair few years spoke to a few friends who said its about right considering it had a 4" lift at the rear and slight raise at the front... So I carried on and got used to it.
Few days later a tapping noise was starting to drive me nuts coming from the engine.. I was told this was the vacuum pump on its way out.. So fair enough bought a second hand one.
While I waited I inspected under the carpets at rear plus sills... Virtually nothing left, but again wasn't a shock... What was though was all round the engine bay, round the battery and behind the headlights tonnes of expanding foam! It was everywhere even painted under arches! I knew there was bolt on replacements but still started to feel taken for a mug... The pump arrived and took it to my mechanic as the bolts on mine were rounded and I didn't have the tools at home... I asked him to look at the steering... It was completed buggered I had thought it was the steering box on the way out but nope... Linkages broken and barely holding in place! He said it was dangerous to drive but not expensive to fix, then got him to check the engine noise. After 5 or ten mins after lifting the bonnet.. When he managed to stop laughing at all the expanding foam he found that the head gasket has blown.. That was the final nail in the coffin... £1195 down the drain.
Learnt the hard lesson of avoiding ebay.. Never inspect a vehicle at night and not to rush into anything! At least now I've read up on what to look out for and how to fix several common fault with the series 1 disco.
Luckily my mechanic has said I can have his disco, which has full years mot, had all the welding done, all the common faults fixed for £450 plus my wreck minus the new off-road tyres, snorkel, winch and anything else I need off it... So lesson learned and still have a land rover.
I will certainly be going through the help forums on here and asking advice in the future
Damo
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