DiscoDunc

Does anyone know of anything taking place in the North Lancashire/South Cumbria area, suitable for complete novices (i.e. me!)? I work all over the country so I don't get much chance to get off-road, but it looks like I'm home between Christmas and New Year this year (orders from SWMBO, her sister and family are coming to stay) and to avoid killing anyone it'd be good to get out (apart from Saturday 30th, when son & I are going to Old Trafford to watch Man U stuff Reading.....hopefully!).

Mine's Niagara Grey, with matching alloys, and I may be biased but I think it looks really good.

Objects in the rear view mirror may appear closer than they actually are. On the other hand, they may have been just in front of you a moment ago!!

Sounds very similar to issues I had with my autobox a year or so ago after having it 'repaired' after I lost all forward gears. I ended up (after a fruitless several months talking/spending with the main dealer ) taking it to Ashcrofts and getting a recon 'box from them. That cured the problem and according to Dave Ashcroft the governor in my old box came out of a Vauxhall, ironically. I'm not suggesting that the governor in yours came out of a Land Rover ( ) but I suspect it may be faulty, since it shouldn't be doing what it's doing. And Fatboy was right......there was no need to stick that photo on, it's just not fair!

Cheers for that. I'll probably be sticking a post in the for sale section once it's all up and running! The write-up's a good idea, I hadn't thought of that. I'll give my literary talent an airing!

Excellent! That's just shut a woman up in the office who's been berating me for weeks about driving a Discovery. She's just bought a Prius. Oh revenge is sweet!!! I didn't have to say anything, other than "Read this". Her face was a picture, and when a colleague on the adjoining desk asked her what the matter was the reply was a hurried, "Nothing, everything's fine!"

I'm constrained by time and cost. I've already bought the engine, and the cost of any MOT failed Disco that I've seen is about double what I paid for it. I almost bought a Disco engine, but ran into a problem of not having available cash and the chap selling it not being able to accept credit card payment, so that fell apart! The condition of the one I've bought is known, and any problems highlighted so far don't seem insurmountable, so I'll stick with transplanting it into my Disco. Thanks for taking the time to read the post and reply.

I've heard rumours that Top Gear may be cancelled. I hope they're unfounded. It would be a shame if one of the most entertaining shows around fell victim to a fluke accident and an overdose of political madness correctness. I believe they've resumed filming the bits of the new series that don't need Hamster in them, so hopefully that'll get broadcast, but whether or not we'll get any more series afterwards remains to be seen. Here's to a full recovery for Richard, and a selfish hope that he'll want to carry on where he left off.....sort of...you know what I mean...

Does anyone know why Land Rover, an English company, sticks the bonnet release on my RHD Discovery and, looking Les's photos (good effort, but don't give up the day job! ), 110's too, down in the passengers footwell where I have to get out and go round the other side to be able to open the sodding bonnet? (Though given my recent display of competence when under the bonnet perhaps I shouldn't bother! ) I assume it's because they have a bigger market for LHD vehicles so the natives have to suffer, but if anyone can confirm or deny my cynical viewpoint I'd be grateful. Well, better informed, anyway.

Just rang them, £55. Excellent.

Glad I'm not the only one!

I have a sick sense of humour (and I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one!) so I found this amusing, especially since nobody was hurt as a result. Arundel Fire Station (a retained station, not whole-time) has suffered extensive damage as a result of a fire that started in the appliance bay. The appliance (Fire Engine in English!) has been even more cooked than my own poor Disco. The station did not have any smoke/fire alarms fitted. West Sussex Fire and Rescue Services hastily concocted press release tries to convince us that those devices are for saving lives, not property, and as the station's not manned full-time they wweren't needed! Yeah, right! WSF&RS website proudly boasts that they have 28 stations.....I'm waiting for them to amend it!

Mine's built in to the osr window. I don't know how much they are, but if they're not too expensive, or you can get one from a scrappie, it may be worth investing in one. Solves the problem of remembering the aerial's still up when you go through through the car wash, too!

I had something brown as I realised the amount of damage I'd done, and did a rapid comparative analysis with the state of my bank balance and my impending lack of employment (I'm a self-employed communications engineer and the people I'm working for at the moment have run out of funds and can't afford to extend my contract which expires on Friday November 3!) and the not-far-enough-off festive season with all its associated expenses!

Ahh! I believe I qualify as living proof of how ineffectual it is! Tell you what, though. I haven't left the lid off anything since I extended my culinary expertise to include boiled Tdi300 with steamed head, accompanied by a side order of melted plastic.

Excellent response. I wish I could be that eloquent. Time and time again we're singled out as the cause of the worlds pollution, yet buses and HGVs thunder past me belching out huge clouds of black smoke, and have you seen the carp a diesel train chucks out?! Grrrrhhh!!!

Bought the engine yesterday - just need to get it from where it is to where I want it! I stuck a post in the International section this morning, and I've had a useful response already. I like this site. I don't want to denigrate other LR forums but I had a better response from here in a few hours than I did on another site in 2 days!

Thanks, James. Yeah, I've got cruise on the Disco (though it stopped working a while ago and I never got round to investigating!) and I certainly don't want any less power than I had, so I'll get the guys to swap the injection pumps. Cambelt was done recently on the donor engine, along with new pulleys, so I'll leave that. I've amended my sig, so now people know I've got an auto, so no clutch issues with this swap! If that sensor on the top is anything to do with temp then it didn't do me much good on the engine I cooked! Thanks for the advice, much appreciated. Dunc.

Excellent! Thanks Chris. There's a company about 300 yards away from the garage the engine's going to that's in the palletline scheme. At least they'll know the destination!

The really great thing about this scheme is that they're saying electric cars wouldn't have to pay! Everyone knows they're pollution-free, right?

Hi folks, Does anyone know of a transport firm that could pick up a crated Tdi300 engine from a garage in Stockport and take it to another garage in Morecambe on either Friday afternoon or Monday morning (for as little money as possible, naturally!). I'm not exactly sure when it'll be ready for collection. It's coming out of a Defender (and going into my Discovery) which is going in today (Wednesday) for the garage to start work on removing it. I'm hoping it'll be ready on Friday, but I won't know until the garage ring me to tell me! Many thanks.

That should work, then. All the ancillaries appear to have survived, but the head and block have been treated to a period of extreme heat beyond their manufacturing tolerances so replacement of the whole thing was the only viable option. I basically cooked the old engine by running from Lancaster to Portsmouth with the expansion tank cap off (I topped up the coolant before I set off and forgot to put the cap back on. Doh!) and melted things (the temp guage stayed in the normal position right up until the dying seconds) and put a hole in pistons 3 & 4. I imagine that the mechanics who're doing the work will transplant any necessary stuff as required but any advice I can get off the forum to make their lives (and mine) easier is much appreciated. So far it seems as though the engine mountings, A/C pump and Alternator need to go over, and the injection pump has now been added to the list. The advice I've received so far has been very constructive. You have made a newbie feel very welcome, thanks, guys.

Thanks, James. You have spotted that I'm going in the opposite direction, though, haven't you? The engine I've just bought unseen from a chap I don't know on the dodgiest auction site known to man (not that I've experienced any problems with it, m'lud) is coming out of a Defender and (hopefully) going into my deep-fried Discovery.

Thanks, BogMonster. Er, what's an EDC engine? I have an electronic throttle, and aircon. Does that mean I've got one? If so, could you expand on the 'bodge it a bit' statement?! Thanks.

I've got a 97 Tdi300 ES Auto and I used to tow a 1 tonne Ifor double horsebox along with another tonne and bit of horses, never had a problem. B) I was never going to win the Traffic-light Grand Prix, but then again, I wasn't without the trailer either