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Thys

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Everything posted by Thys

  1. Check the earth (-) connection to the body. On each harness running to the headlamps an earth wire protrudes and this wire is bolted to the body on a stud. That solved my headlight gremlins.
  2. Good afternoon Jim, and thanks for the reply. I did the bottom end service myself, no extra hands, so by the time I removed the cross member and one mounting to access the last sump bolt, I triple checked the new filter, unless of course the previous filter was also the wrong one. I must admit, after fitting the new filter and fresh ATF (drained and replaced twice at 100km intervals to allow for the ATF in the torque converter) I had a 100% improvement. The filter and gasket I bought from Wayne. Cheers
  3. Jim, new filter, new ATF, autobox dipstick still moves up, can a blocked breather cause the pressure build-up, and if so, where is the breather located? Cheers, Thys
  4. DizzyDisco, Good luck, and keep us posted on you progress.
  5. Could it be one of the injector washers in the initial stage of failing, mine had that problem, and it was difficult to define and pinpoint the noise?
  6. On my 1996 Disco 300 Tdi there are 3 right handed and 1 left handed ball joints. The track rod takes right handed ball joints on each side, and the drag link takes 1 left and 1 right handed ball joint.
  7. If ever you want to confirm the condition of your shocks, choose the worst known tarred road and drive on it at the town legal speed(60km/h) and the secondary road limit (100 km/h). Thats how I came to the conclusion that something is shockingly wrong. Jim you may know the stretch of road I am referring to; it is the road from Zwartkops racetrack down to the Sesmylspruit. Just to confirm my fears I took my Discovery to a local test center, and they got front road grip % values of 45% and rears of 37%. The norm for OK is 65% or better. Now comes the fun; I started phoning for prices. The advice differs widely, from top of the range like the OldManEmu, down to standard types like Armstrongs. I do not do grade 4 & 5 trails. I do travel on bad dirt/farm roads. If the road or path is really bad, I do it at a crawl. Ok so why do I have a Land Rover: my town cars cannot be used efficiently on the off-tar roads, and I like my Land Rover. So I made a cost vs distance and cost vs duration, based on my driving style and type of roads, not allowing for fitting, as I do it myself, and the standard shock gives the best break even value. What am I missing here? Skokbrekers.pdf
  8. Just after I bought my 96 300 Tdi, she developed a whistle when accelerating, all the turbo pipes were intact. Took a 400 km trip. Close to the destination I had to negotiate a steep mountain pass, and there she blew. It was the manifold gasket at no 4. I was close to the top, nursed her over the crest, and managed to coast into town. The LR dealer found the manifold gasket blown, and a missing stud on no 4. I must admit during the initial whistling there was no loss of power, but when she blew the power was gone.
  9. Tony, I learned the hard way, replaced the head gasket, skimmed the head, had it pressure tested; after removing the head three times I bought a new one, had the valves seated, and no more problems. My advice, if the head plays up close to the 200 000 km distance, replace, do not repair.
  10. Thys

    New Tyres

    It's time to change the tyres on our Disco 1, currently we have a mixture of Goodyear and Nexan all in size 235/70/16. Can anyone recommend a brand/model of tyre and can I up size slightly whilst keeping the original alloys? Bigant Bigant, My Discovery 1 300 Tdi has the white LR steel rims. When I bought the Discovery she had Bridgestone Dueler ATs 205/80/16. The previous owner newer rotated so I ended up with the rears having a slightly lesser diameter than the fronts. This bugged me, but the thread depth was still good, so I stuck with them. End last year I was offered 4 Dunlop SP TrackGrip 245/70/16 for R 1000.00. They where virtually new. He had them on his Jeep Grand Cherokee, and when the diff started humming the stealers blamed the Dunlops. He bought 4 new Michelins, and, yes, the diff hummed.....He sold the Jeep and bought a Toyota Fortuner. The rim sizes differed, so I got a bargain. The 245/70/16s works very well, no wheel arch mods required, the LR steel rims on my Disco are 7J, and the Dunlop specs are fine with a 7j. The vibrations are gone on the transfer box, she handles better, looks good, so this is my penny's worth. I think the alloys can actually take wider than 245's, but then the wheel arches are in jeopardy when axle twisters strikes.
  11. Hi Jim, No mine is the 96 300 Tdi, pure mechanical, but the one you referred to is the one I drove yesterday, as the owner mentioned to me he had the cambelt replaced by your service centre a couple of months ago, and he is from Pretoria. I prefer my olde 300 Tdi, don't like all the electronic goodies.
  12. I drive a '96 300 Tdi automatic with AC, and was/still is impressed with the performance, acceleration and fuel consumption. Yesterday I drove a '98 300 Tdi automatic with AC but the later electronic diesel system. I was very impressed with the performance of the Discovery, it accelerates quicker, is very responsive, and quieter, but he still had the shield underneath the bonnet, mine's long gone. The only downside is the diesel consumption, it seems less economic than my older full mechanical diesel system. What is the reliability issues with the last 300 Tdi's? I presume field repairs would be a problem?
  13. Thys

    Bigger tyres

    My 1996 3-door Discovery 300Tdi Auto has the original steel rims and was fitted with 205/16 Duelers. I was offered a set 245/70/16 Dunlop SP Trac Grips. Dunlop's web site shows the minimum rim width to be 7J. The steel rims were measured and were in fact 7½J. I bought them, and what a delight. I upped the pressures to 2.0 front and 2.7 back, to prevent the possibility of wallowing. I did high way driving and off road and no problems. The speedometer and odo meter now under reads by 2%, and no tyre chaffing on the wheel arches .
  14. Hi bigJohn, my 1996 300 Tdi 3dr auto was bought from the floor brand new with the indicators in the rear bumper and rear clusters, so you should be able to do the conversion with ease.
  15. Simon, I may sound a bit pedantic, but there ain't nothing like a dumb question, you are the one who askes the question, but rest assured, the question and answer is of great value to all.
  16. I got my hands on a set of Dunlop SP Track Grips. The only query I had was my steel rim width. My Dueler AT's are 205/16's. The Dunlops are 245/70/R16C's. I checked the technical LR specifications for my Discovery 1 300 Tdi, and the data sheet indicated 6½J. The Dunlop data sheet for the specific tire indicated a minimum of 7J. Took the Disco to my local tire dealer and we measured 7½, so off with the 205 Duelers and on goes the 245/70 Dunlops. My calculations indicated a 2% difference in speed, so based on the legal 10% allowance I was satisfied. I took the Disco on a 380 km trip, which included high way, secondary and 4x4 tracks. All I can say at this point in time is a big WOW. The ride is smoother, TC noise less, and she looks great with those 245's. I was warned that this specific Dunlop gives less kms than the Duelers, but as I got them as a "present", who cares. I did one other thing, and that was to raise the pressures to 2.0 at front and 2.7 at the back, as I was warned that the vehicle will tend to "wallow" if the 205/16 pressures are maintained, well, no "wallowing" yet, will wait and see what happens if I go sand driving with the Dunlops slightly deflated.
  17. If you can get hold of James Taylor's book, "Land Rover Discovery 1989 - 1998", you will find a chapter on Special Vehicles. I can recommend this book as it covers the Discovery from Design and Development and all models up to 1998. Publisher: MOTOR RACING PUBLICATIONS LTD, Unit 6, The Pilton Estate, 46 Pitlake, Croydon CR0 3RY, England. ISBN 1899870 40 7
  18. I nearly went down the same road. I found a Disco 1 300Tdi, full house for the right prize, but as a rule I take my wife along before the final deal. Every thing was fine until we took the Disco for a test drive. Wife got extremely quiet...... Driving back home she just mentioned that something did not feel good about the vehicle. I stalled the sale, and did some more digging and inquiries, it turned out that the Disco was older that the seller indicated, it was in fact a 200 Tdi. At that time my LR knowledge was limited to all the horror hear-say stories thrown around.I canceled the deal, and one week later found the white 3 door I now own, and this time the wife also had the right "feeling" when she saw the vehicle, and she does not take kindly to white vehicles, except our white Discovery.
  19. Does this happen on a single lane road, or in the middle lane of a three lane high way? Reason being, in South Africa, and I do believe else where too, the cross section of the roads has a camber to the sides, to assist proper draining, it is more severe in a single road, than a high way, and the wheel alignment guru's should know how to compensate for that. My Disco's steering is dead straight on a three lane highway, if I travel in the middle lane, if I move to the left lane, I have a slight correction to the right, and versi versa.
  20. I had the same symptoms, and replaced the pump, when bench testing the old pump, it had no suction or discharge pressure, but as you observed, the engine started, revved, no problem, I presume the diesel injenction pump is strong enough to suck the diesel from the tank, through the diesel filter and into the injection pump. I must admit, the filter was full.
  21. Hi Discotec, welcome to the Forum, and congratulations on your purchase. As you have already noted, the answers are on the Forum, and you will(should) have a most enjoyable time here between us Discoheads.
  22. Well as mentioned I did the full oil service, or started it last Saturday, left the auto box bottom-end service for yesterday. If you do this on your own, without the luxury of a high level ramp or service pit, and an extra pair of hands, make sure you have at least two jacks available. It still baffles me that the Land Rover Discovery I designers managed to place the 6th auto box sump clamp bolt in such a way that one has to remove the cross member and loosen the TC mounting......... Anyway I did it, took a while, and some sweat and cursing. At a stage I really used my best "technical" vocabulary, apparently at the top of my voice, to such extend that I heard my neighbor telling his wife it would be better if she went shopping while Thys is busy with his Land Rover. He was to embarrassed to explain to her some of the phrases I uttered. In the end, after apologizing to my neighbor's wife, and completing the bottom end service, the difference was remarkable, the box was as smooth as can be, no jumping into "D" or "R". The ATF was bark brown to black. I replaced the filter, and will drain again mid week, to compensate for the ATF in the torque converter.
  23. Thanks Jim, I will do the 10 000km check, and then a 20 000km stint. I use Caltex Turban GL5 EX . I do not tow or do any serious off roading/wading, so maybe the TC works a little less harder, and the autobox should also contribute to less "shocks" on the drive train? Cheers
  24. Thanks Jim, Ally V8 and bobtail4x4, I will schedule the oil changes at 20 000 km, and then revert to the 40 000 km schedule. Cheers
  25. I did the big oil service today, all went well until I drained the transfer box. This is the box that sterts whinning at 80 km/h. The oil that came out was black, thick and sludgy, plus the drain plug had a good collection of metal flakes, as per the attached picture. I took the sludge, metal flakes off the magnet point, and smeared it on a piece of paper, no hard solid metal, just "glitter". Is this the beginning of the end of my Disco's transfer box?
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