v8 disco II on LPG advice

Hi all

I have found a nice Disco SII ES premium V8 on a 53 plate with LPG fitted it has done 91000 and the guy wants £6750, glasses advice was offers around £6000. it is in Auto trader in glasgow area.

Could anyone give me some advice on the pro's and cons's of LPG? or should i stick to a TD5? I ve been told that the engine can over heat due to the log burning hotter than petrol, any truth in that.

I want to buy it for my wife as we live in the middle of nowhere and need a 4x4 to get around.

Your advice would be welcome.

Thanks

great intro

Make sure the LPG Tank/s are not rotting, they need replacing at 10 years old, My 2000 model V8 runs at normal temp no matter what, My system was fitted when the car was a month old, its now done 97000, I get my LPG at 65p a litre, Mileage wise Id say it works out the same or very slightly cheaper to run than a Td5. Insurance can be a sod as most insurers class it as a modification then we now what that does don't we, robbing B......s!
Also for insurance you will most likely need an LPG certificate. At the end of the day, a properly installed up to date LPG system is safer than petrol. But as Ive stated before on another thread, pop over to the lpgforum.co.uk, for any help or info about LPG. But always buy a Landrover no matter what

Thanks for the advice, any idea on the cost of the road tax? the chap that is selling the disco never bothered to inform the dvla about the LPG convertion?

How many miles do you usually get from a new set of tyres?

For your wife to drive I would forget it.Buy her a decent TD5 auto instead.They all have faults,but the TD5 has to be a better bet - esp at that kind of price.

Road tax is the same as whatever it is on petrol for that model year. As for tyres, depends on tyre manufacturer & road conditions but to be fair I haven't got a clue as my mate owns a tyre shop & I get part worns from him so I don't know how many miles they have already done. I'm sure someone else on this forum could help you out with this as they are all really helpfull

I agree with eightinavee, it may be better to buy a Diesel at that price

You say you are in the middle if nowhere, make sure you can get LPG easily. You don't want to be going out if your way to fill up all the time.

I have a V8 and it's done 145k ish, with the last 45k on LPG and its been fine, only hot time has been because of a water leak and most of the water ****ing out.

Such a hard decision!

I have a v8 and will never run lpg, heard too many stories, experienced a few problems first hand and kinda just don't 'like' it.

If cost became an issue it would be tuned up diesel for me.

The problem there is that a tuned diesel is an expensive car, be it Tdi or Td5. A v8 is good old power and a lovely automatic drive (which a td5 isn't quite), I just have lpg issues.

Lpg is a gamble, most people never have trouble but you don't wana be the guy that does.

Td5s crack heads and stuff aswell though if you push them too hard, so really, just go with your gut feeling.

Cheers.

I love my v8 in my disco, if I could have a chance to try a post 2002 td5 engine in it though I think it might just sway me.

02 onwards defender td5 is such a great combo. V8 is really good fun and the 3.5 has lots of character, but a post 02 td5'd 200 shape disco as above would be a serious contender for me.

A lot of that is pure waffle but I hope you enjoyed the read

Thanks for all the advice so far, I'm going to look at a TD5 auto tomorrow and compare the drive to the v8 lpg.

'02 D2 V8, self installed multi-point LPG system four years ago at 72000 miles. Now at 104000 and just fitted new Turner short motor (thought she has cracked her block - turned out to be an intermittent radiator blockage) When I stripped the motor, it was clean as a whistle inside, and bore/piston wear not bad, camshaft and followers were shot tho.
Four years of smooth, quick, quiet, economical (for a Disco) motoring, plenty of oomph for maximum payload trailering. Some probs in year 3 with Gas injector solenoids, but all else fine. I got it certified as dual fuel, saving a princely £15 on road tax. In short, happy as Larry with LPG, despite all the horror stories that are out there. Just my thoughts, gents.

Had a drive of a TD5(it makes a nice roar for a diesel) it was very smooth and enjoyed the lofty driving position.

The two TD5's I've found are very nice ES spec with lots of toys, but expensive both on 54 plates 10995 for the 64k one and 8995 for the 100k. it that a far price as the glasses guide along with all the online guides just made me confused.

Yes it is a bit of a change from the Citroen C4 Picasso my wife currently drive but i just like the character a LR disco has.

What is the best LPG system to get on a disco? the one i have ben looking at has a PRINS VSI LPG system. Do you rate this system???

Prins is good, I run a LOVATO singlepoint LPG V8 and love it! 1 way to look at it though is perhaps that the V8 petrol and TD5 were originally designed as engines to run those fuels right from the start, the LPG is adding another fueling system to an engine that has been designed to run on a different fuel and therefor complicating matters further (more components, 2 sets of timing etc), V8s have to be serviced more to run smoothly and theres more to go wrong, add another fueling system and theres even more to go wrong. would be interesting to drive a vehicle with an engine DESIGNED to run on just on LPG right from the start.(not a forklift!)

Im happy with my singlepoint system as its incredibly simple but im not too sure about multipoint, much better system but again more complicated with more to go wrong but I really dont know that much about multipoint systems.

Would love to run the V8 just on petrol as god intended but im not that mental or rich enough so unfortunately its LPG for me. With early single point systems there is def a slight power decrease whilst running on gas but apparently not with good modern multipoint systems.

If its for the mrs and you live in the middle of nowhere a TD5 would prob be a safer bet imo and as already mentioned you need to have an Autogas garage within close proximity of where you live or you may find it stops becoming cost effective as you are having to travel to fill up.

But at the same time theres nothing quite like jumping in starting her up and hearing that lovely V8 rumble, especially when the father in law then jumps in his 17 grand Honda 4x4 and coughs out that measly deisel burble, childish but brings a smile to my face every time.

Wanna take the gamble?......

Also have a look at the LPG Discussion Forum for info the guys on there have always been very helpful when I had any questions