[Aether]

I'm in the market for a DII and I found one that looks like it could be a great daily with a little bit of work. It does need a couple things that are relatively easy to do and most of the parts are included. The seller says that it needs new tires as the ones on it have some pretty bad dry rot, as well as the brakes done (he is including tires as well as pads, rotors, and calipers with it). The rear air suspension also looks to be sagging, and from what I've look at, it's not a head thing to fix, just gotta get the parts.

I'm going to be going out and looking at it on Sunday, but I'm trying to see if there is anything else that I should be looking for that might be a problem area in a short time. So far we've agreed on a rough price of 4k with everything.

 

[Aether]

Completely spaced on putting the year. It's a 2003. I know that's kind of a problem year that does have a lot of issues depending on maintenance and the truck too. I'm okay wreching around, but I definitely am not able to tear down the engine on my own, but I gotta couple of buddies that would be.

 

[Bigmant773]

Suspension stuff is an easy fix, you should be more concerned about any engine issues.

Look for any leaks, oil or coolant. At 100k and 20 years old, depending on how religious the maintenance has been, it’ll need head gaskets between now and 150k.

Listen for any knocking as it runs. It can be as benign as sticky lifters, or a slipped liner.

Three amigos lights are fixable as well, but will require you to buy a scanner that can read the ABS codes. Atlantic British makes one, but there are others.

If the front drive shaft has never been replaced, it’ll need to be with a fully greasable one.

In summary, the above is just the tip of the iceberg. 4k is fair for a disco with good paint and an engine that runs semi-reliably. But if you think you’re not an engine guy, it’s best to decide NOW that you are going to turn into one. These trucks are awesome looking and highly capable off-road, but the engine is a weak point until rebuilt fixing the flaws and then maintained religiously.

 

[V50_M66]

As long as it comes with ALL the suspension parts you’ll need, that price is fair enough. However, you will find that $4k won’t even begin to cover the amount of work this truck is going to need. They are unreliable like you wouldn’t believe, and if you aren’t doing all of your own work it will quickly bankrupt you. Plan on replacing every part of the cooling system the second you get it, and budget for additional parts that it will need, because it will need them. Good luck!

 

[masantschi]

I'm in the market for a DII and I found one that looks like it could be a great daily with a little bit of work. It does need a couple things that are relatively easy to do and most of the parts are included. The seller says that it needs new tires as the ones on it have some pretty bad dry rot, as well as the brakes done (he is including tires as well as pads, rotors, and calipers with it). The rear air suspension also looks to be sagging, and from what I've look at, it's not a head thing to fix, just gotta get the parts.

I'm going to be going out and looking at it on Sunday, but I'm trying to see if there is anything else that I should be looking for that might be a problem area in a short time. So far we've agreed on a rough price of 4k with everything.

Welcome to the forum.

For a first time D2 owner, you may want to consider something a little more road ready. I understand the appeal of fixing one up, but there's quite a bit that can be wrong on these trucks after they've been sitting for long periods and not being familiar with the pitfalls and traps can be very frustrating.

1. If you're bent on that truck though, there are 2 issues you need to be concerned with. The easiest to validate is the frame. Check the rear frame for rot/rust. The truck looks like a CA truck and you're probably good, but then that truck is 20-years old and if it's more than a 1-person owner, it could have done a tour in the mid-west or northeast.

2. The second and you already seem to know, the Engine - i.e. it's a 2003. At the same time, it has over 100K on it and the likelihood there's a bad motor in there is slim at this point. If they tell you anything about it having overheated, be VERY leery! As you seem to be aware, the GLARING item on this model year is the Engine. I would make sure that engine runs, and runs well. Don't just start the truck up and let it run for 5-min and shut it off if it doesn't overheat. I have personally had one of our trucks sit at idle with a cracked block and take 15-min for it to finally overheat (it was more than a decade ago and the thread is likely still on this board...heh). Bring it up to temperature and listen to every sound.

If all that's good, honestly, everything looks very straight on that truck and worth the ask. It's extremely clean on the inside, which will limit some of the nickel and diming, though who knows what else isn't functioning properly and how close you want the truck to be to a daily or reconditioned status? Our trucks are well known for door latches breaking. Window regulators bending very easily. Sunroofs leaking. Sunroof motors locking up, etc. Not trying to scare you, just set your expectations realistically and let you know the items the seller listed are just the tip of the iceberg - like any 20-year old truck sitting in a state of disrepair. You are likely going to be replacing anything and everything on that truck that is made of plastic (reservoirs & coolant connections), rubber (brake lines, vacuum lines, hoses, etc.) or insulated. But it looks like there's good guts on this truck.

 

[Aether]

The good guts are what I'm hoping for. The seller is about an hour and a half away so I just haven't had time to get up there between work and family.

So long as everything goes well and I do end up getting it, the play is to get it drivable, and then over the next 6 months work through the high milage maintenance checklist sticky thread on this form. 180 thermostat seems like a good place to start from what I've read.

Eventually I want to build it out into an overlanding rig(2-3years), and I figure that's when I'll look at doing head gasket and stiff like that if it hasn't needed to be done already. After that I'll probably work on swaping the rear air shocks to coils. For now is there a specific place that's best to get those if the seller doesn't have them?

 

[discovering]

Welcome to the forum! There are lots of smart people here who have seen just about every problem with Discos imaginable.

I can't stress enough what others have said about the cooling system. If it overheats even once it's prone to slipping a cylinder liner and then you're in for either an extensive and expensive rebuild of the engine, or an expensive and time-consuming LS swap. One of my Discos slipped a liner at 160k miles without an overheating event, so take that for what it's worth. My current Disco had pinned liners when I bought it and three of the pins fell out within a block of each other (ugh) so I swapped in an LS based engine.

If it's got a "banging" / loud rhythmic thunk (a bit more than a tap) at idle that goes away at about 1500 RPM, it probably has a slipped liner and you should probably leave it. Be sure run the engine long enough that it fully warms up.

I recommend browsing the forum to learn about the other things you're likely to encounter like the three amigos.

If you're going to replace the front driveshaft with a greaseable one, you have to grease it every 6k miles. If you don't think you'll remember / can't be bothered, get another non-serviceable one and it should last another 100k. You don't want it to fail because it can take out the trans and transfer case.

If you end up buying it, come back and ask for a list of things to address on it before hitting the road.

Be careful - Land Rovers get in your blood and suck all the money from your wallet... but man they're awesome!

 

[Bigmant773]

The good guts are what I'm hoping for. The seller is about an hour and a half away so I just haven't had time to get up there between work and family.

So long as everything goes well and I do end up getting it, the play is to get it drivable, and then over the next 6 months work through the high milage maintenance checklist sticky thread on this form. 180 thermostat seems like a good place to start from what I've read.

Eventually I want to build it out into an overlanding rig(2-3years), and I figure that's when I'll look at doing head gasket and stiff like that if it hasn't needed to be done already. After that I'll probably work on swaping the rear air shocks to coils. For now is there a specific place that's best to get those if the seller doesn't have them?

Atlantic British, Lucky 8, and Rovers North will be your best bet for most if not everything you’ll need.

 

[masantschi]

Atlantic British, Lucky 8, and Rovers North will be your best bet for most if not everything you’ll need.

FYI - The only other U.S. Parts provider I will go with, aside for these, is British Parts of Utah. They sell Stock & OEM parts for much the same price as above. If I see the price lower at one of the ones above, I usually call Enzo and he'll adjust the price. I've been going to them for a little over 13-years now. I've had 1 faulty part from them (that cracked timing gear you see in my album pictures) and the replacement part was shipped overnight to me at no cost.

Most of these also sell on Amazon & eBay. Just check the sellers when you're making a purchase on those.

*edited bad grammar

 

[Land Rover Doc]

Check the ride level sensors in the rear. I bought my Disco with a flat rear end and it was a simply a broken arm on the sensor. Easy fix for me. Just had to replace the sensor.