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Author: Subject: landrover discovery td5
MkII

posted on 1/11/09 at 12:14 PM Reply With Quote
landrover discovery td5

hi, has anybody owned a discovery td5,are they any good? I'm thinking of buying one as I need something for work that can legaly tow 3500kg. thanx .m.
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scootz

posted on 1/11/09 at 12:18 PM Reply With Quote
If high-capacity towing's your primary concern, then you're not going to do much better than the Landie.





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lotusmadandy

posted on 1/11/09 at 12:18 PM Reply With Quote
My brother has a 2004 landmark model,
its the dog nut's and he loves it.
He tows a huge twin axle caravan and
recons it pulls like a train.

Andy

[Edited on 1/11/09 by lotusmadandy]






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tegwin

posted on 1/11/09 at 12:26 PM Reply With Quote
You want to tow heavy stuff....

how about one of these?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6FBAP4HnFw





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franky

posted on 1/11/09 at 12:34 PM Reply With Quote
My next door neightbour had one but changed it for a toyota landcruiser. He reckons its a much much better car and better at lugging a load around too.
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wilkingj

posted on 1/11/09 at 01:01 PM Reply With Quote
The Landy TD5 is the 5Cylinder BMW engine. Its a bit Fly by wire. They are fine except in Very Deep water, as I believe the ECU is under the seat, and prone to getting wet. but thats in deep water, ie a couple of feet or deeper. (Std wading depth is about 20" deep on most Landy's)

An excellent load lugger, and a lot more comfortable than a 90 or 110 Landy.
Also not too bad on the fuel compared with the 200/300 Tdi engine.
I had a 200Tdi and got 26mpg constant average over 13 years and 140k miles and about 21mpg towing a 1 ton caravan.
The TDA should be a bit better, as its a nice engine and smooth as well.

I would avoid one with the ACE (active Cornering "E" (dont know what the E sttod for) ie intelligent air powered suspension. I prefer simple stuff. Its usually more reliable and easier to fix.
If its Old check ths chassis for rust, and the back door, and hinges, especially at the back and on the outriggers.
Check the top of the dash isnt lifting (they had glus problems).
Check the swivel balls on the front axle arent pitted or leaking (expensive job, labour intensive to fit a £80 part).

Check in ALL gears and with the centre diff locked (but not for very far 10 - 50 yards max if on Tarmac as it will wind the axles against each other)

Land Cruiser is nice, but probably just as, or if not more expensive to repair if it s goes badly wrong. (Mate had a geabox go on his Toyots and it was £3k without fitting). Having said that Toyota's are usually very reliable.

I like Landies as they are big Boys Meccano. The engine , box, chassis, and running gear is almost the same as the 90/110 Landy. Its only the bodywork and fittings that are very different.

Dont know if that helps.


EDIT:

Appologies, I was under the impression it was BMW mill.
Its a nice smooth engine.

[Edited on 1/11/2009 by wilkingj]





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hillbillyracer

posted on 1/11/09 at 01:24 PM Reply With Quote
The TD5 is not the BMW engine, the 6 cylinder in the Range Rover I'm fairly sure is.
The TD5 is I think the only engine fitted as standard in a Land Rover that is not a development of a previous engine in the Rover/BL group & was a clean sheet design. It's a common rail but not in the convetional sense, the fuel is fed to the injectors at low pressure & a 3rd cam lobe compresses the fuel in the injector as that cyl comes up on compression & the electronics control the injection timing, I think the VW PD system operates the same way.
On a Disco the ECU is in the R/H front corner of the engine bay can suffer from engine oil creeping with capillary action through the injector harness & filling it with oil. The Defender has the ECU under the seat.
Early engines were I hear a bit of bother (I changed one on an X reg that suffered something major going bang inside).
Defenders do have a problem with the low pressure fuel pump going wrong but I dont know if it affects the Disco.

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kevmcdo

posted on 1/11/09 at 01:27 PM Reply With Quote
On Discovery number 4 and td5 number 2. Struggle to find another car that gives me a bit of everything. I can tow almost anything without hassle, mine has had the ecu flashed though ( 179bhp now ) . The only problem I have towing is remembering that there is a trailer or caravan behind me... ;op

The ecu is behind the head light next to the battery and jack so wading should not be a problem.

If you go for one I have a VanAaken power box in the garage that is go for approx 160 bhp.

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DRC INDY 7

posted on 1/11/09 at 02:55 PM Reply With Quote
The TD5 does not have swivels at the front just top and bottom ball joints


the 2 discoverys i had as company cars a 1994 300tdi and a 1998 300tdi never let me down





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franky

posted on 1/11/09 at 03:36 PM Reply With Quote
As the fella next door puts it..... The UN or the Redcross etc use landcruisers for a reason.....
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Jon Ison

posted on 1/11/09 at 03:51 PM Reply With Quote
Maybe just a bad example but worse vehicle we have ever owned, would not go back if given one for free.






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Ian Pearson

posted on 1/11/09 at 04:51 PM Reply With Quote
Hi,

I was looking for a Disco but bought a 1991 80 Series Toyota Landcruiser. Fantastic car, and the Landcruiser in it's many forms is responsible for displacing the Landrover from Africa, Asia, Australia etc. I have a 12 valve which is very thirsty, but the 24 valve is better. As they are gas guzzlers you can them for relatively decent money. The 80 Series was superseded by the 100 Series. Not a Landy bash, just the result of a lot of reading and observation. The UN use the Landcruiser all over the world. When I worked in the Mid East, the Bedu vehicle of choice in the desert was the Landcruiser. Not sure if it's a recommendation, but the "technical " in Somalia is a Landcruiser! Happy hunting.

Posted this years ago on this Forum.

I loved the Discovery from the moment I saw the first ones back in the late 80's early 90's? (memory). I was brought up in Africa on a diet of Landrovers, and have spent the last year looking at buying one to tow all my various toys from A to B. The more I have looked, the worse the story seems to be. The following is not necessarilly 100% correct, but here goes.

The Disco is very prone to corrosion due to the mix of aluminium alloy and steel used in the build. The roof is steel, the window frames are steel, the chassis is steel, but I believe that the rest of the body panels are alloy. It would appear that there is no barrier between the alloy and steel, so you will find corrosion on almost all Disco's. The main problems that I have been told about along with the visible corrosion that I have seen time after time is as follows.

1) Underneath the black rubber strips on the doors where the frame meets the doors. The rubber looks as though it is bubbling.

2) Open the rear doors, and at the top of the rear arch, there is often the start of corrosion present.

3) There is almost always some slight sign of bubbling somewhere on the tailgate.

4) The boot floor is a favourite if you talk to garages that specialise in Disco's.

5) Apparently, the steel roof/alloy body join is not that water tight, and so you get water ingress that is not always visible. This leads to a lot of invisible damp leading to the corrosion.

6) The manual gearbox is unreliable, the automatic is bullet proof.

7) The dash will curl up if not protected from the sun. A fixing kit is available for this.

8)The headlining nearly always drops down. Not sure how expensive this is to replace.

9) The head lining on Disco's with sunroof's seems to fair better as it's held up by the sunroof sorrounds, but apparrently they can leak a fair bit.

10) The bottom of the doors rust.

11) The sills are prone to rust as well.

The 200 Tdi and the 300 Tdi are virtually the same engine, but the purists seem to prefer the 200 Tdi.

I had my car MOT'd at a Landrover specialist last thursday, and as I arrived, the tester was taking out a Disco for a test run post service. When he got back, I grilled him for about 20 mins on the pro's and cons, and he prettyy much confirmed all the above. He told me to steer clear, and if I was set on a Landrover product to go for a classic Range Rover. He basically said that the problem was appalling build quality, cheap unreliable parts, but apart from that they're a good vehicle!

I have driven them, like them, and if you read any of the Landy mags they rave about them. They are very good off road, very good towing vehicles, but let down by an appalling build quality.

If you want a good one, there are several company's that specialise in importing 2nd hand Disco's from Japan. I have been and seen several, and they are nearly all in superb condition. A much higher spec than the UK, all are automatic, but you pay a premium. These guys import loads of them,but they cost more than a UK Disco.BLACKDOWN4X4

So, having tried for so long to talk myself into buying a Disco, I decided today to spend the money on a Landcruiser instead. She's in mint condition, has a 4.2 Td and goes like a train, shame about the fuel consumption though.

HTH, Regards, Ian.

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MkII

posted on 1/11/09 at 04:54 PM Reply With Quote
just been to look at a ,03 td5,not impressed especialy as they wanted £4.5k plus my navara which is a 05 plate!
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locoboy

posted on 1/11/09 at 06:39 PM Reply With Quote
How long have you got,

I work at a land rover breakers and specialise in Td5 Discos.

Many of the problems listed here are not common on the Td5 cars but are on the 200 and 300 tdu Disco 1's.


Hers is the info i posted a while ago in another thread

'I manage the running of a 4x4 breakers and we specialise in LR discos from 1989-2004.

They all have problems but whcih cars dont?

But, we sell engough spare parts for the Td5 discos to keep me and another 3 blokes in job - that in its self says enough!

Common items to ckeck are
Power steering boxes - leaks
ACE pipes and valve block - corrode and leak
wheel bearings - chant buy the bearing it needs to be the complete hub and we sell them 2nd hand for £90 each
head gaskets
Check for oil in the ECU loom, they have a BAD tendancy to draw oil via capillary action from inside the injector cover down the wiring loom into the ecu and then it starts to missfire and then woutn start etc, ECU if 150 quid and a replacement clean loom is £100.
Intercooler hoses, they often perish
Exhaust manifolds warp and blow
Gearboxes - well its a landrover, they are supposed to only do 80K miles before a rebuild!
propshafts wear like no bodys business on the front of a TD5, they have a double UJ on one end and are over £300 new, we sell them for £125
Transfer box, again often give knocking on taking up drive
Sunroofs WILL leak
the window switch surround will come loose
the electric seat controls will stop working or you will knowch the button off with your ass! £40 from us
The central locking actuators WILL pack up £45 from us
The sunroof motor will probably sucomb to the water leaking in the sunroof £50
The ABS / hill decent and TC light will come on when the shuttle valve in the abs pump pack us, £1000 from LR or £180 from us.

At the end of the day its called a disco because when your driving it you have that many lights on the dash at once it feels like your at one!

That said they have a massive following and if you do buy one keep my details - you will need it!

We also break mitsi's and for ranger too - dont get me started on them as they are just as bad in their own way.

Suffice to say i dont run a 4x4 of any sort, although if i were to it would be the L233 range rover as they seem to be the best to date for reliablilty and predictablity.

Last word of advice, DO NOT GO NEAR A P38 Range Rover - If you do you will be personally securing my job for another month!'





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