Maintainance tips for a newbie LR owner

[bujeko]

Maintenance tips for a newbie LR owner

I finally did it! I've always dreamt of owing an LR and finally took the plunge. Almost everyone I knew adviced me against buying an LR, but hey, you can't choose who you fall in love with--and I fell in love with the Discovery II.

So last week, I bought an '01 LR DiscoII SE. Though it had 95k miles, cosmeticaly clean in & out, and drove great. As of today, I still haven't had any problems (crossed fingers).

Through this site, I've learned alot about LRs, including some great techs here in SoCal. I'm lucky to be living in Riverside and close to Inland Rovers. I'll be taking my DiscoII this week for routine maintainance.

Are there any important maintenance issues or areas I should be addressing with the Service center? It would be great to have an idea on the costs as well. Based on their reputation, I'm confident they'll guide me to the right direction. Nonetheless , I'd appreciate your thoughts so I know what to expect.

Thanks, and glad to be here.atriot:

 

[RBBailey]

Do you own work, get help if you need to, but it is worth it to do your own work.

Change the oil when it is dirty... not at 3k, not in 2.5 months... when it is dirty.

Keep the coolant level topped off, drive moderately, find the sweet spots, use regular gas.

Make sure all the other fluids are good, in fact, unless a Land Rover shop of some sort has recently changed the diffs, tranny, and transfer case oil, do it now.

Don't be afraid of leaks, but do take the time to actually physically wipe things down, keep the engine and underside clean so that you can see what is leaking, how much, and from where.

Get an OBDII code reader from Harbor Freight (I finally got one today for $39.99 online price) when the service engine light comes on, or other, get the code, come to this web site, figure out what it means, then get it fixed -- I'm doing that right now.

If you off road, start by actually coming back from your first few trips with no dents. If you like it, start upgrading.

 

[JahRasta]

Get an OBDII code reader from Harbor Freight (I finally got one today for $39.99 online price)

Not to stray from the subject, but how is that OBDII scanner? Is it any good?

 

[rmuller]

Not to stray from the subject, but how is that OBDII scanner? Is it any good?

I have one, have used it a dozen times, on both my truck and a friend cars.. works fine.. pulls the codes and resets them.. don't need much more.

 

[JPA]

Do you own work, get help if you need to, but it is worth it to do your own work.

X2 on doing your own work. There's nothing more helpless than having a problem knowing you are at the mercy of someone who charges exhorbitant prices for parts/labor. Learn as much as you can from this board...use the search feature...most every subject has been covered thoroughly. Lots of really smart folks on here too, a few smart arses as well

This forum has saved me over $1000 on labor alone and Will Tillery has saved me tons on parts. Call him when parts start dying on you and you don't want to pay $1,000,000 on a MAF sensor - he's a Godsend..quality used parts and new ones too <I think>

 

[hywy61]

you have records of service?

If not i would swap out all fluids. Oil, transmission fluid, axle fluids, gearbox, coolant, bleed the brakes.

Change the pcv oil separator - they sell a little kit on Atlantic British - 25.00

You about the mileage for the serpentine belt swap - check that for cracks.

Buy a workshop manual. I am no mechanic but do all these things except the coolant.

You can save alot of cash.

 

[Azdiscovery]

New to land rovers eh??

Get used to leaks if you dont drive it and let it sit. Also get used to leaks period... its british and if it doesnt leak its empty...

check the power steering lines and make sure they arent leaking and add some lucas power steering additive to it. even if its not leakin. helps condition the seals.

DONT FORGET THE SWIVEL BALL FLUID or GREASE.

 

[ID_Disco_II]

Hey bujeko, congrats on taking the plunge. I agree completely on the advice to do as much work as you can; it really does help to learn the vehicle. For the stuff you can't do yourself, take the time to find a mechanic you can trust working on your Rover.

Believe it or not, one other thing that will help immeasurably is having alternative transportation options. I am not trying to be a smart-a$$ (sad when I actually have to clarify that); but, due to the nature of the beast and parts to feed it you may find yourself having to do without it for extended durations. Having other options saves you some headaches, saves the repair shop some pressure, and also gives you the added time to tackle larger jobs yourself. Personally, I was very thankful I had my motorcycle to commute with while my Disco was waiting for parts...

Anyways, best of luck and welcome to the family...the Addams family...

 

[bujeko]

Thanks a lot for the great tips guys. I must admit it's getting overwhelming, but I'm trying my best to keep up.

Your tips about Leaks are so timely. Yesterday I had my first taste of the famous LR leak (see attached pic). It was more watery than oily, brownish, and appeared about a foot inward from the front left wheel. The picture below shows the accumulated leak for a couple of days.

I drove the DII to the shop today for my first maintenance. They recommended the 90K plus the first visit inspection. I told them about the leak and should hear from them tomorrow.

 

[QCNR]

Go HERE, download, burn, and read.
Will help you.

 

[Eekie]

I wold put some cardboard under that rover to protect that nice clean garage floor.....

 

[Meisterbr?wn]

That looks like it could be the steering box (BTDT) or one of about 2,000 other leaks.

Welcome to the Club.

The biggest piece of advice I can add is my endorsement for high-end 92 octane fuels (Chevron being my favorite). I was experiencing cold start and engine tapping issues a couple years ago. I did a fuel rail test and narrowed the starting problems to leaky injectors. I decided to try switching fuel brands as a last-ditch effort before sending my injectors off to be cleaned. Two tanks of Chevron and the Rover was running great again: no starting issues, no engine tapping. I haven't looked back.

The marginal cost between 87/89 octane cheap-o fuel and 92 Chevron is worth every penny.

Enjoy your rig, they're great.

 

[rcshauger]

Get under there, wipe things down and see where it is leaking. You can go from there. I had a leaky steering box, bought a good used one cheap from Will Tillery (on the board) and had an independent shop put it in. I did not want to start wrenching on that big of a project, so I paid a couple hundred to have someone do it right quickly. But the more familiar you get with your truck you will get the confidence to work on things yourself. Have fun with your truck and get it muddy!

 

[justinhaaga]

go to the dealer as much as the book says, yes that's 2x a week............best advice i can give is don't be afraid to get your hands dirty.

OBDII scanner is a great tool. I clear CEL going up mnt passes. It's fun. CATS trigger them, bam gone. Oh you say replace your cats? nawwwwwwwwww.

 

[EJB90]

I would say do your own work as well. I am a 16 year old kid with no experience and I saved myself from spending $750 on a new ignition and installation by spending less then $35 on a used part and installing it myself.

Used parts will save you a ton of money in addition of doing your own labor. There are a lot of great people here that part out rovers.

 

[BlackAndTan]

The biggest piece of advice I can add is my endorsement for high-end 92 octane fuels (Chevron being my favorite). I was experiencing cold start and engine tapping issues a couple years ago. I did a fuel rail test and narrowed the starting problems to leaky injectors. I decided to try switching fuel brands as a last-ditch effort before sending my injectors off to be cleaned. Two tanks of Chevron and the Rover was running great again: no starting issues, no engine tapping. I haven't looked back.

I can't second this strongly enough. In my case, engine codes and sluggishness went away after a tank of Shell (switched from Mobil). As supposedly shop-to-shop can vary, if you notice your vehicle runs great after a tank from a certain station, keep going to that station. I only use shell now. (Well maybe I'd go to Chevron in a pinch. There's a lot of hearsay about what makes one brand better than another and I'm not entirely sure what the deal is, but suffice to say I'm just going to use what has proven itself to me - some say the advantage Shell has is the detergents they use etc.)

Other stuff:
- never, ever use lower than recommended octane - use 92 or such (or higher - do they sell that still?)
- I've never driven anything that was as picky about its fuel system, just to reinforce the above
- find a good LR parts supplier (like British Pacific, etc.) in your region and order from them if the mechanic you work with is cool with it, or if you do your own work. Quotes you get at shops are sometimes way high and use the dealer-list-price for a part even when they don't use an actual dealer-supplied part.. cost can be 100% more
- read up here about how to care for your leather seats and be really meticulous about it and moisturize them... they flake like heck if you don't
- can you keep it out of the sun or in a garage? That's important for the seats in these things too I think, and the paint on the D1's sucked, so anything you can do to keep it in tip-top shape is worthwhile
- personally, my experiment about a year ago with using AMSOIL lubricants and oil as I think LR recommends, went pretty well... the vehicle seems to like them
- pay attention to what people say on here about using heavy-enough fluids... that helps with leaks and stuff and probably makes things last longer (but search for other threads on this, don't take my word on that)

 

[BlackAndTan]

Go HERE, download, burn, and read.
Will help you.

Two questions:

-There's a lot of stuff for download there... which item exactly?

-Uh, what is it?

 

[SCSL]

Re: Maintenance tips for a newbie LR owner

I finally did it! I've always dreamt of owing an LR and finally took the plunge.... So last week, I bought an '01 LR DiscoII SE.

Congrats and welcome !! :applause: :applause:

We will not hold living in California against you

I have had too much to drink to read through all the comments but here's my .02 for an '01 D2:

- front driveshaft---- if it hasn't been replaced, it's a ticking time-bomb. Search this forum and replace with one with zerks

- change your oil frequently,, 3k seems to be the consensus opinion,, dino-juice is fine provided you change it regularly,, others swear by synthetic but if you change very 3k it does not matter

- ensure you get all major services on time... avoid the dealership if possible; find an honest local LR mech

- gently tighten your valve cover bolts,,, they loosen up & leak, giving the impression of other problems that likely don't exist (stealership will exploit this)

- do a search on CDL... check your xfer case to see if your '01 is early enough in the production run to have a CDL-equipped xfer case.. if it is, you're in luck. This is one of the most important 1st mods you can make... you can swap in a DI shifter or go cheap with a home-made lever (search)... out west, the lever works just fine since you're not typically in hip-deep mud

- Do not follow Matt Greenspan through any off-camber situations (trust me on this one)

 

[Two Cold Soakers]

Two questions:

-There's a lot of stuff for download there... which item exactly?

-Uh, what is it?

-Third one down labeled D2. (or your vehicle, as the case may be)

-The Rave CD. It has workshop manuals, electrical diagrams, troubleshooting keys....

The D1 Rave took over an hour to download on a FAST connection, start it and go to bed.
I promptly burned it to a CD.

Very worth the time :bigok: