Discovery 2 V8 2002 with LPG. Disaster purchase. Failed MOT high CO reading

Hi folks. I was daft enough to believe claims made about the above car on Ebay and purchased for £2010 from a private seller. Stupid I know. Car was described as being in very good condition for age. 'Not the usual rubbish'.
Had the car for 2 weeks and put it through its MOT. It failed on emissions: CO reading 2.3 where a pass is 0.2 or less. Also failed on leaking steering box and CV gaiters.
The seller is saying it's buyer beware and I don't think I'll get any change from him.
So, rather than go through legal procedures and the worry of repurcussions I have decided to either put back on ebay as 'spares or repair' or fix the car.
The most worrying failure is the emissions. My i930 code reader is saying there are no fault codes now. There was a code for bank 2 sensor 1 but this cleared when I cleaned up the connectors.
The tester thinks that the cats are faulty. He says they have been welded in. But wouldn't originals have been welded in as well? He tapped them both with a small hammer and they sounded different. One of them sounded hollow. He thinks they have nothing in them despite the seller claiming they were new. I don't want to throw money at the car, as I don't have much for one thing! Hydrocarbons level on emissions were within limits so I don't think the cats have melted from unburnt fuel getting to them, but I could be wrong.
I'd love to keep the car if it isn't going to cost too much to fix. I've seen new cats are available for around £200 that I think I have enough experience to fit.
What are peoples thoughts? Would non functioning cats cause such a big CO reading? Is there any way I can check the cats? Drill a hole to see if there is anything inside?

Have you given it a thorough service mate?

Also the leaking steering box and cv gaiters are ALL things I would totally anticipate having to do on ANY second hand disco, any Landy really...and they aren't to bad a job to do.
I took my old leaking box off and got a recon unit part exchanged against the old! Its not really the sellers fault, and if the rest of the vehicle is good, ie chassis, tyres, brakes, gearbox...you might not be onto to bad a thing!

Also if you can service it well, change all filters, spark plugs etc and get it to run well on petrol first, as I'm fairly sure lpg burns cleaner anyway!

Thanks for your reply Gottschalk. I think if it was just the steering box and gaiters I wouldn't be too concerned. It's the terrible CO readings that are the problem. Especially as the code reader is indicating no malfunctions. They were so high that it sent the emissions machine haywire. The tester said he would need to put a new part in the machine to reset it, a filter I think.
What would you look to be doing on a thorough service that would reduce the CO levels? The oil looks pretty clean and the air filter looked almost new. I blew it through with an airline in any case. I don't know when the spark plugs were last changed but the engine sounds good with no obvious misfire. I could take them out I suppose to see if they are burning nicely. Just out of interest, what are the OE plugs that are good for the V8?
The tester said he thought the most likely cause of the CO level was a faulty catalytic convertor. The car is supposed to have had a new exhaust including cats within the last 2 years. I'm just concerned that I could be throwing away another £200 if I buy new ones for it.

I'd probably check the plugs out first, I don't know if LPG might have had them running hot / cold and the gaps set for LPG should be smaller, I don't know whether the timing gets adjusted for LPG, think it needs a lot more advance to burn properly

Based on what you've said so far it's possible the cats have been fiddled with.
Opening up cats removing the contents & welding the box back together is just one of the things that are supposed to improve performance that were bandied about on the internet.
Especially with moves to make it an automatic fail if a vehicle that was fitted with a cat as standard is presented for MoT without a cat fitted. Gutting them was to fool the tester.
Fine if the car can pass without it.
You'll note that the new test means a cat that appears to have been doctored 'obviously modified' will now be a 'major fault' and a fail so the PTB have twigged this little dodge.
Pattern cats are also notorious for getting a car through a test straight after fitting but failing the following year. Been there done that with one of my son's Peugeots. Had to fit a pattern cat as someone was at Uni & had forgotten the test was due & the original cat needed some welding. It passed, but failed badly the following year. I welded & refitted the original cat & it sailed through with the emissions virtually zero. Genuine was about twice the size of the pattern.
Only non-damaging way to check if there's anything at all inside the can is to remove from vehicle & use a inspection camera.

Out of curiosity what were the emissions like on LPG - bear in mind that the vehicle should be tested on the fuel it arrives at the station on.

I'll check the plugs. I've owned a number of LPG cars. There is no noticeable difference driving on either fuel. Never had any issues with plugs.
The tester tried the car in both fuels and the result was the same: Way too much CO. Guess I'll have to take the cats off and see if there's anything in them. I'm sure they're pattern cats. Can't see the previous owner going genuine.

I did wonder. Been on LPG for years & sometimes we do both, but never had an issue on either.

The genuine cats are crazy expensive. Anyone fitted one of these:?
https://www.carparts4less.co.uk/cp4...1a6ac936f7dfcf456e4cf4cadf63149e5d9e64&000059
I can understand that the genuine originals are going to be bigger. They look huge in comparison to the pattern ones. However, the patterns have a 2 year guarantee which would be enough for me at the mo.

I’ve no idea what sensors are on your vehicle, but my Mrs’s Golf recently failed spectacularly on all emissions read outs, garage wanted a fortune to rectify the issue, I declined, popped the lambda sensor off and cleaned it and car subsequently passed emissions tests with flying colours.

Present it for the test on lpg? Nothing you'e said so far is a disaster yet.

He has. Same result.

What code reader have you got?

Is it a Nanocom/Hawkeye/Linx?

If it is a cheap and nasty one don't be surprised if it doesn't meet up to your expectations. Ask in LZIR if someone local could pop round for a brew with a good quality machine to have a look for you.

Not sure why you'd buy a car you can barely afford to run by the sounds of it, I used to allow about a grand for immediate repairs and upgrades to any second hand motor, sure a £500 beater is bought with long MOT and expected to be scrapped the day it fails with spending as little as possible on it.

Give it a fine tooth comb going over and check everything during your service, plug gaps, flame traps etc.

Code reader is i930 carsoft. Specific for Land Rover and Jaguar. Cost £100. Was quite well reviewed.

I guess I've been really lucky in the past with cars I've bought off the bay. I don't do much mileage as I cycle everywhere.
My disappointment with this car was the way the car was described compared to reality. I'm sure if I can get it running well, it will do what I had hoped it would. It's a nice ride, it's cheap to insure, not disasterous on tax and will be okay on fuel because of the LPG. The best thing is definately the bodywork which although needing a small weld (advisory) is pretty good.
I'm going to get the car into the barn and get the cats off to see what they're like. Hopefully, they wont prove too troublesome as they're been off within the last 2 years. They're pattern ones and it's possible that they are just not up to the job. They may even be empty!
While I'm there I may even do a head gasket. I think there's a 'how to' on youtube by British Atlantic. Reason is, I found out after the sale that the car had overheated and needed a new water pump. Although there are no sympoms of the head having gone I'm losing a bit of coolant.

Berserkerboy said:

Code reader is i930 carsoft. Specific for Land Rover and Jaguar. Cost £100. Was quite well reviewed.

I guess I've been really lucky in the past with cars I've bought off the bay. I don't do much mileage as I cycle everywhere.
My disappointment with this car was the way the car was described compared to reality. I'm sure if I can get it running well, it will do what I had hoped it would. It's a nice ride, it's cheap to insure, not disasterous on tax and will be okay on fuel because of the LPG. The best thing is definately the bodywork which although needing a small weld (advisory) is pretty good.
I'm going to get the car into the barn and get the cats off to see what they're like. Hopefully, they wont prove too troublesome as they're been off within the last 2 years. They're pattern ones and it's possible that they are just not up to the job. They may even be empty!
While I'm there I may even do a head gasket. I think there's a 'how to' on youtube by British Atlantic. Reason is, I found out after the sale that the car had overheated and needed a new water pump. Although there are no sympoms of the head having gone I'm losing a bit of coolant.

Click to expand...

Water pumps do fail. So do thermostats and radiators and the d2 is fairly efficient at pushing coolant out of the expansion cap.

Berserkerboy said:

Code reader is i930 carsoft. Specific for Land Rover and Jaguar. Cost £100. Was quite well reviewed.

I guess I've been really lucky in the past with cars I've bought off the bay. I don't do much mileage as I cycle everywhere.
My disappointment with this car was the way the car was described compared to reality. I'm sure if I can get it running well, it will do what I had hoped it would. It's a nice ride, it's cheap to insure, not disasterous on tax and will be okay on fuel because of the LPG. The best thing is definately the bodywork which although needing a small weld (advisory) is pretty good.
I'm going to get the car into the barn and get the cats off to see what they're like. Hopefully, they wont prove too troublesome as they're been off within the last 2 years. They're pattern ones and it's possible that they are just not up to the job. They may even be empty!
While I'm there I may even do a head gasket. I think there's a 'how to' on youtube by British Atlantic. Reason is, I found out after the sale that the car had overheated and needed a new water pump. Although there are no symptoms of the head having gone I'm losing a bit of coolant.

Click to expand...

Do the heads and get them checked for true and if needed get them skimmed, any chance of it having overheated is a sure sign to get it sorted out before it goes pop on you when you don't need it to.

I think you are just expecting too much from a car that is 16yrs old and had a neglectful previous owner. No point blaming the car, parts and components fail, that's true of every car on the road, your biggest mistake was buying with such a low MOT on the say so of someone else that it would go through another without issue.

Good luck with it.

You do realise that there is no such thing as 'sold as seen' , secondly if the description really doesn't match the performance / condition and you have a qualified (!) person state that the description and result are different, it only takes 60 quid to take them to a small claims court and you will win, and the loser pays the court fees too, so you get your 60 quid back, otherwise you've just lost 1500 quid

Alternatively, pour in a bottle of redex and take it for a thrash on the petrol, a real burn, then take it back to tester and see if it's any better 8)

If you bought it from a trader then you have rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 which replaced the old Sale of Goods Acts. These do not cover private sales.
If you bought it from a private seller then you have rights under the Misrepresentation Act 1967 which deals with false claims as to the condition of the item.
If you buy from an auction house (e.g BCA, Manheim & other 'live' auctions) then you need to read their terms & conditions as legally you may indeed be buying something 'sold as seen'.
Online auctions rights depend on whether the seller is trader or private.
Bit of reading for you:
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/your-rights-if-something-is-wrong-with-your-car

Started the engine yesterday. I had the bonnet open and noticed some steam come from around the furthest spark plug in on bank 1 and quickly cleared. I'm convinced it's the cylinder head as that area is where the water jacket is. Anyone had any experience with aftermarket gasket kits. ie. Any good? I'm thinking this one:

https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/head-gasket-incl-elring-head-gaskets-stc4082el-p-6566.html
and
https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/head-bolt-1994-britpart-da2141-p-1198.html

The gasket kit has Elring head gaskets which are the ones British Atlantic recommend.

Full service, oil plugs, air filter ect then take for an Italian tune up and try again.

If still bad I would blame Lambdas they are a consumable.