working on the disco

[platanos]

as some of you know i just bought my first discovery. its a 95. i'm not much of a mechanic but i'm learning. i just did my first ever oil change on my bmw just last week. so.... i checked the rattle under the disco. it seems that the cat on the driver's side is bad. how do i swap it out? are there online write-ups? is there a parts list for our cars thats accessible to us? i ask this because there are site like these in the bmw world and i'm hoping its the same for the land rover community. when i was under the disco i also noticed that there was alot of "wetness" like fluids on the parts. is this normal or maybe a leak somewhere? the engine oil is full and it was not black. the trans oil was red. anything else you guys can think of to check out? the radio is locked. i have the books on the disco and there is a card that has a radio code but it does not work. what can i do about this? thanks for the help!!

Fernando

[roverX]

My advice is try not to go crazy trying to fix the leaks. They ALL leak and that's OK. Two things to remember:
1 - If it stops leaking, it's empty.
2 - It's leaking because it's marking it's territory.

If you post a list of things you think needs to be done, we can point you in the right direction.

[wade]

After I bought my 97, one of the first things I did was buy a workshop repair manual on CD on ebay. It has photos and step by step instructions. If you will read on the radio, if someone tried to put the code in wrong multiple times, it will not take unless you turn the radio on and leave it alone for about two hours while driving. After that it will take the code. Lastly, read all you can online in forums like this one. I hope that helps you. I'm also not ashamed to call my Rover dealer and ask for help. I buy some parts there, so sometimes they don't mind some free advice. Blessings.

[weldontr]

I too just recently purchased my first disco...and i've come across a pretty good website for parts:

www.roverlandparts.com

and,

www.car-part.com

good luck!!!

[Disco Mike]

Here is a web site for good prices on cats.
http://www.completeexhaust.com/produ...roducts_id=184
How many miles on your truck, have the O2 sensors, plug wires and plugs been changed out in the last 30,000 miles or so?? The reason I am asking is to try and fins out why the cat failed, nothing worse then replacing one and having it fail again because of another problem.
Mike J.

[platanos]

my truck has 110,000 miles on it. i don't know if the O2 sensors have been changed. or the plugs and wires. how do i tell if they have and if they weren't is this something i could do on my own?

thanks to all for the web sites!!

fernando

[roverX]

Originally Posted by platanos

my truck has 110,000 miles on it. i don't know if the O2 sensors have been changed. or the plugs and wires. how do i tell if they have and if they weren't is this something i could do on my own?

thanks to all for the web sites!!

fernando

You should change your plugs and wires anyways. This is going to create a controversy but wtf...put in Bosch +4 plugs with the Magnecore 8mm wires. Although DiscoMike is too modest to say this but he was an underwriter for Rover in a previous life and has given me a shit load of advice. I bought my truck (96 D1) 3 years ago with 65K miles on it and now I have 145K miles on it. I have done everything DiscoMike had told me to do and my truck has never let me down.

[Rudy R]

platanos you may want to degrease the motor. costco has this degreaser called oil eater in a 1 gal jug that works very good, just spray it on and hose it off. than you can see were the oil is coming from my bet is the power steering tank.

for the radio the deailer told me if you had tryed entering the code more than three times you must turn the engnition switch to the on position with out starting the truck ( so the dash lites come on) let sit like that for an hour. than punch in the numbers. but what you may want to do is call the LR dealer and get the number from the parts dept no charge they will ask for the VIN #


I also not a great mechanic but I am trying.

p.s DISCO MIKE knows his stuff.