Disco DJ

Welcome, plenty of people here to help

IF it is the switches it needs doing more thoroughly than that I'm afraid! The gunk inside the mechanism that flicks the contacts open to closed gets restricted. You need it in little tiny pieces, clean it up, then have fun reconstructing!

Are you sure you cleaned the switches properly? Blasting them with cleaner is a waste of cleaner. I stripped mine down into little pieces at the kitchen table and just wiped everything clean with tissue. It is a bit fiddly. Also you could check their function with a multimeter whilst you're there. Did you say the fronts work fine? If so, can you swap switches to test?

I had this on mine. All the switches were full of crud. Have you taken the switches out and stripped them right down and cleaned them? Good chance that might fix it. They are a little fiddly, that's why I said take them right out (and work on the bench/table)

Does it just "click"? If so it could be the contacts in the starter motor gone, very common! (Mine did it!) Search "repairkitsuk"

Good news!! This is a well documented common problem and a cheap fix! See; http://www.repairkitsuk.com/1.html Bad news- it's a fiddly job! Done it myself, DIY grade repair but does take time!

+1^^^^ Had mine 10+ years, done 130,000 miles in it. Never heard that D2's had major chassis worries, thought that was all D1's!! Air suspension isn't "wallowy" it's brilliant for comfort and perfect for towing. Plus you can manually raise the rear slightly for off road. That's if it's working of course!! All 7 seaters came with air, option on the 5 seaters I believe. Avoid sun roof, look for air con (works well as long as used constantly). 30mpg or just under has been the constant over 10 years with mix of country lanes/motorway/town etc. You should get a good one (facelift model) for less than £5k Dave

Presume all lights (especially abs) come on with ignition and then go out? If lights are working it "shouldn't" be abs related!? Dave

There's loads of Info and guides about, have you not considered giving it a go yourself? Nice to know its been done properly and good satisfaction to be had. Saves a bundle of dosh too! Not everyone's thing, but it is all dead easy, it must be if I can do it!! Dave

I'd say the running costs are fairly similar if you're servicing yourself. However, when they go wrong the Disco will do so more often and cost more! That's prob why old Defenders seem to hold their value. Dave

3rd is the magic gear. You can motor up hill at 50 or crawl at tick over! Just to try it, I let my TD5 (with trailer) just pull itself up a small hill the other day in third, with NO gas pedal usage! It just drove itself up!Dave

I tow regularly with my D2 TD5 (2002). Standard height, Air suspension, michelin latitude cross tyres (last for ages!) Never put a foot wrong, but I don't try to race round in it! Plenty of power with big Ifor and 2 x 600kg horses. Also same trailer fits 58 bales of hay and I collect from a site with very steep hill to climb! No probs with manual, never tried an auto. Dave

You could drive better, but where's the fun in that?! Mines always been around 29mpg +/- 2mpg since I got it in 2003! Dave

Does it clonk on take up within the same gear? Ie accelerate, ease off accelerate again? If so it maybe a worn prop shaft as they're known to give a good clonk when on their way out! Dave PS maybe some specifics would help eg model/transmission etc?

Just found a leaky pipe on mine. The pipe that comes off the bottom of the expansion tank and goes to the fuel cooler "wore through" by rubbing about half way along. Played with the pipe looking for the leak and it crumbled (very brittle). New pipe ordered but patched together with a washing machine hose!! Dave

Slightly condescending opinion there tbh mate. I don't think people are confused, there are just differing points of view. Some people love their 300's some love their TD5's. Some hate them equally! So you know a couple of people that have had problems with their TD5, not exactly a poll is it? I don't think a 300 would "beat it to death" as you found out in your other post when you got stuck on an incline. The TD5 would probably have pi55ed it like your TD4 did with traction control. It may be that yours isn't running right? Dave

How good are the brake discs? (Measure the thickness) If they're worn, change them anyway first (never a waste of time having good brakes!) and see how you get on. This fixed mine last month and it hasn't come back yet. (My Fault code read as both rear sensors, intermittent fault) Dave

I've had my 2002 TD5 since it had 4k on the clock, so about the same as you and I've driven over 120,000 miles in it. I've had LOADS go wrong with it, but it still remains a great tool (for towing especially) You could buy a TD5 and have no issues. You could buy one and get a £1500 fault within a month! The question is how good is YOUR Disco? If the only faults are ones you can rectify yourself, fairly cheaply, I'd stick with yours. Unless you can buy a TD5 from a friend you may be getting more problems than you have now! BUT they are great cars- when they're running well. Dave

Took me a week to check mine as kept going out and forgetting then not checking cos it was hot. Also found the oil was low, but that's another story! Dave

Mine did that couple of weeks back. Checked it once cold and the level was RIGHT down. Possibly so little water in there it was measuring air for a bit and the reading fell! Found a couple of leaks and added a bottle of Radweld for good measure and have had no problems. Coolant temp sensor is easy to change though (that was my first thought before I realized I didn't have much water in there!) and about £14 I think. Dave

Yep, I can vouch for that. I was losing oil so just changed mine. It was leaking badly (you can see the crud around the cover if it is leaking) and if you tap it it'll be loose! Remove engine cover and fan/radiator cover and you'll see the black disc on the front of the engine behind the top of the fan blades. It has an o ring round the outside that flattens out and hardens over time. You'll see a grove either side of the disc to pop it out (although if it's loose enough it'll pop out easy) New ones (from LR) are around £14. Fitting the new one isn't "easy" as it's a lot tighter, so I covered it in oil to help it go in and gave it gentle persuasion with a large tool!! Dave

I'm no expert on this but out of interest, if you loaded the back or hitch a heavy trailer, will it level again? That would give some indication that the system is functioning. Does sound like a SLABS problem or perhaps calibration, I know they're fussy systems. Most of them just leak, at least you know where you are then! Dave

You had the doors closed didn't you? Dave

I'd be happy going 10k in MY Disco, because I know it. Don't think I could buy a sh Disco and have the same faith, as said laws of prob say you WILL have a break-down! I did tour Iceland a bit (2kish) in a Suzuki Grand Vitara- quite capable and didnt ever feel like it was going to put a foot wrong (few rocks and a fair bit of snow). That's not a bad cheap alternative tbh. Dave

I've got fully synthetic oil and it runs lovely, so it's not just that. The Turbo does kick in at around 2500 rpm so that seems relevant. No idea from there though, sorry! Dave