A Bad Day For The Rover
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I should also mention! Two days ago I had a 45min convo with Mark from Tornado Systems who is retuning the ECM (ECU).
An absolutely great conversation, and it is clear that he has seen more than a few of these trucks in his day.
He speaks to just how choked off these engines are from the factory, and all in the name of better emissions. You can read the nitty gritty on his website, but in general, a basic tune from him will make the fuel and ignition timing far more adequate for these engines, and will even make them SOUND like a V8. Couple that with a 4.6 MAF and air box lid, and you have yourself some very decent gains, especially around the 3000rpm range, which you need for passing and going up hills.
While he said that he has a tune for someone doing a 4.6 crank, rods and 4.0L pistons, he had not dynoed that tune before. But he gave assurances that it would be just fine.
Consider for a moment, that a modern day Defender has three options. A 296hp, 395hp, and 518hp engine. If I can be anywhere near the 300hp mark, then I would call that a win for this 21 year old discovery! It honestly might be possible with the stroked engine, extra compression, better cam and updated tuning. Definitely looking forward to it!
An absolutely great conversation, and it is clear that he has seen more than a few of these trucks in his day.
He speaks to just how choked off these engines are from the factory, and all in the name of better emissions. You can read the nitty gritty on his website, but in general, a basic tune from him will make the fuel and ignition timing far more adequate for these engines, and will even make them SOUND like a V8. Couple that with a 4.6 MAF and air box lid, and you have yourself some very decent gains, especially around the 3000rpm range, which you need for passing and going up hills.
While he said that he has a tune for someone doing a 4.6 crank, rods and 4.0L pistons, he had not dynoed that tune before. But he gave assurances that it would be just fine.
Consider for a moment, that a modern day Defender has three options. A 296hp, 395hp, and 518hp engine. If I can be anywhere near the 300hp mark, then I would call that a win for this 21 year old discovery! It honestly might be possible with the stroked engine, extra compression, better cam and updated tuning. Definitely looking forward to it!
Thank you! That truly means a lot. And hopefully this thread will help someone else in the future!
2001 & 2004 Discovery Series II SE7, with AND without SAI
Joined
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547 Posts
Convinced me to send mine in.
What did you send in??
2001 & 2004 Discovery Series II SE7, with AND without SAI
Joined
·
547 Posts
Convinced me to send in my ECU. Gonna daily this 04 I'm rebuilding while I look for another and I want the best gas mileage I can get, with premium.
That’s great! Super easy to remove, and if you haven’t talked to Mark for tornado yet you should. Talking to him has got me more excited about this car than I’ve been in a long time
So as the latest update, since I am still waiting for the machined parts to come back, I have found another repair that should help the cooling system.
Perhaps a little known fact, the AC condenser has a small electric fan attached to the front of it (behind the front grill) and when the engine temp exceeds 212, or when the AC is on, the fan should be on. Mine is of course frozen, as I’m sure most people’s are.
A new fan will run you in the range of $300, which I find to be a bit absurd, but hey it’s a British luxury vehicle. You can instead spend $56 on Amazon and replace the motor on the fan itself and re-wire it in, and you should be good to go.
I bought this:
TYC 260230
There are a few other similar ones, even one from a Honda civic that I believe was $40. This from Amazon arrives tomorrow, so that appealed to me most. More to follow and pictures of the install as I do the job!
Also… check out the valve covers and intake manifold after vapor honing. I doubt they looked this good from the factory!
![Yellow Engineering Gas Office equipment Machine]()
![Crankset Automotive tire Hood Motor vehicle Wheel]()
Perhaps a little known fact, the AC condenser has a small electric fan attached to the front of it (behind the front grill) and when the engine temp exceeds 212, or when the AC is on, the fan should be on. Mine is of course frozen, as I’m sure most people’s are.
A new fan will run you in the range of $300, which I find to be a bit absurd, but hey it’s a British luxury vehicle. You can instead spend $56 on Amazon and replace the motor on the fan itself and re-wire it in, and you should be good to go.
I bought this:
TYC 260230
There are a few other similar ones, even one from a Honda civic that I believe was $40. This from Amazon arrives tomorrow, so that appealed to me most. More to follow and pictures of the install as I do the job!
Also… check out the valve covers and intake manifold after vapor honing. I doubt they looked this good from the factory!
4.6 crankshaft finally came in! Apparently it’s off of a 2003 4.6 with 180k on the odometer. It’s funny, without having the machine shop measure it, it looks FAR better than the one I took out. I guess that’s to be expected on an engine that didn’t spin a bearing haha.
On another note, the dummies put the 4.6 air filter cover in the same box… you can imagine what happened to it when it’s the same box as a 100lb crankshaft. But here’s a picture anyway!
It’s honestly laughable. BUT the eBay seller was amazing and already messaged me back saying how unacceptable it was and that they’d have a word with their shipping team. I’m getting a refund and a heartfelt apology, so you can’t ask for more than that.
Time to get it down to Q and E to have them polish her up, and we’re off to the races!
Well, after ordering some new rubber mounts, the exhaust is finally on! And man… does it look SWEET! Especially the new chrome dual tip exhaust, oh man it looks great. It really modernizes the truck and brings it into this decade.
![Automotive tire Motor vehicle Tire Automotive exhaust Automotive fuel system]()
![Wheel Automotive tire Tire Automotive lighting Motor vehicle]()
![Motor vehicle Automotive exhaust Muffler Automotive tire Rim]()
Putting it on was a heck of a lot easier than taking the old one off, let me tell you. I’m going to leave the clamps snug, but not tight just in case it needs some tweaking once the catalytic converters are on and attached to the engine.
Lastly, I put on the fan motor to the AC condenser electric fan. Not a hard job by any means, just slightly annoying.
There are three plastic “pop screws” (I don’t know what else to call them) on top of the grill that allow it to be removed from the frame. Of course 2/3 broke, so I’ll need to order those. Then the trim below each headlight is attached to the grill and must be removed first before the grill comes free. Three annoyingly hard screws to reach later and the grill was free.
![Automotive parking light Grille Automotive lighting Hood Automotive tire]()
![Wheel Automotive tire Motor vehicle Automotive design Hubcap]()
Out with the old.
![Automotive parking light Grille Vehicle registration plate Automotive lighting Hood]()
![Automotive tire Tread Rim Automotive wheel system Spoke]()
![Tire Eye Manhole cover Automotive tire Wheel]()
And on with the new. No issues taking the fan off or the old motor out despite forum posts about screws being rusty and snapping off. I also did not have the need to trim any plastic. This motor fit PERFECTLY, and when you compare the two side by side are almost identical. The only hard part of the removal was the top right bolt that holds the fan to the condenser which sits behind the hood latch. The only tool that fits is a midget wrench, 5/16 if I’m not mistaken. A million and one turns later and the fan came out.
I cut the connector off the old motor and connected it to the new using bullet connectors. I figured if I got the wiring wrong it’ll make it easier to switch so I can reverse the fan direction. For reference, here is the diagram I went with:
![Font Rectangle Brand Logo Paper product]()
Hopefully that makes sense. If not, red from the motor goes to blue on the connector which goes to the red stripe wire on the connector attached to the car.
I’ll have to wait until the engine is back in to see if it all works, but all in all not a hard job. Onto the next project!
Putting it on was a heck of a lot easier than taking the old one off, let me tell you. I’m going to leave the clamps snug, but not tight just in case it needs some tweaking once the catalytic converters are on and attached to the engine.
Lastly, I put on the fan motor to the AC condenser electric fan. Not a hard job by any means, just slightly annoying.
There are three plastic “pop screws” (I don’t know what else to call them) on top of the grill that allow it to be removed from the frame. Of course 2/3 broke, so I’ll need to order those. Then the trim below each headlight is attached to the grill and must be removed first before the grill comes free. Three annoyingly hard screws to reach later and the grill was free.
Out with the old.
And on with the new. No issues taking the fan off or the old motor out despite forum posts about screws being rusty and snapping off. I also did not have the need to trim any plastic. This motor fit PERFECTLY, and when you compare the two side by side are almost identical. The only hard part of the removal was the top right bolt that holds the fan to the condenser which sits behind the hood latch. The only tool that fits is a midget wrench, 5/16 if I’m not mistaken. A million and one turns later and the fan came out.
I cut the connector off the old motor and connected it to the new using bullet connectors. I figured if I got the wiring wrong it’ll make it easier to switch so I can reverse the fan direction. For reference, here is the diagram I went with:
Hopefully that makes sense. If not, red from the motor goes to blue on the connector which goes to the red stripe wire on the connector attached to the car.
I’ll have to wait until the engine is back in to see if it all works, but all in all not a hard job. Onto the next project!
2001 & 2004 Discovery Series II SE7, with AND without SAI
Joined
·
547 Posts
I think I broke every one of those little screws when I upgraded my '01. They were completely rusted and snapped with a full turn each.
What rear bumper did you go with on that truck?
What rear bumper did you go with on that truck?
Phew, sounds like I got lucky then.
I went with a Lucky8 bumper about a year and a half ago. Looks great, and was about $500 if I’m not mistaken. I have an Amazon front bumper that was about the same price. Only thing I’m not happy with is the front has a wrinkle paint job and the rear is a glossyish black.
Be glad you got the Lucky8 when you did. Been procrastinating getting one for mine and it's now up to almost $700
2001 & 2004 Discovery Series II SE7, with AND without SAI
Joined
·
547 Posts
I'm putting the ARB Sahara on the front of the '04 and the Terrafirma (with shackles) on the rear. It's pricey too but I like the shackle design on the Terrafirma [rear] bumper. Will post pic's when I get done with this one.
Finally got all the parts back from vapor honing at Downshift LA. He said that the timing cover was by far the worst and took him an hour alone. But you can see the difference in the rocker arms.
I may have to take the rockers apart and lubricate everything, but other than that they turned out amazing!
![Automotive tire Bicycle part Crankset Engineering Bicycle chain]()
![Engineering Toy Machine Auto part Temporary tattoo]()
![Wheel Tire Automotive tire Vehicle Crankset]()
I may have to take the rockers apart and lubricate everything, but other than that they turned out amazing!
Couple extra things done today, now that some parts are back from vapor honing.
For everyone’s reference and curiosity here is the old oil pump (right) and new (left).
![Automotive tire Grey Bicycle part Rim Font]()
![Automotive tire Crankset Gear Rim Bicycle part]()
Other than those circular marks, there is no discernible wear. I even measured both with calipers and they were identical. So the oil pump was not the cause of this issue.
Also for future reference, the oil pump is bezeled on one side, and completely flat on the other. The bezeled side will be on the engine side of the timing cover when you reinstall. Here is what the bezeled side (second picture) looks like:
![Automotive tire Wood Crankset Tool Tableware]()
![Automotive tire Wood Crankset Rim Bumper]()
Digging through my box of goodies from Atlantic British, I also found that they sent me a new air intake coolant plenum that is used to warm the air entering the engine.
![Wood Gas Rectangle Font Auto part]()
![Wood Font Motor vehicle Automotive exterior Gas]()
![Automotive tire Gas Engineering Machine Automotive wheel system]()
Mine was never hooked up since we got it, it was probably leaking for the previous owner so he disconnected it. But you can tell the difference, and it gets quite nasty looking. However you can see on the third picture, the coolant actually doesn’t go anywhere and just sits in that hole to warm the intake. Not a necessary quality of the Disco, but at least it looks better.
I then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to remove one stubborn stud from the left exhaust manifold. I ended up drilling it out and tapping the hole, but it is never a fun job. Glad to get it done ahead of time though since it would have sucked to have to do once the engine gets back to me.
For everyone’s reference and curiosity here is the old oil pump (right) and new (left).
Other than those circular marks, there is no discernible wear. I even measured both with calipers and they were identical. So the oil pump was not the cause of this issue.
Also for future reference, the oil pump is bezeled on one side, and completely flat on the other. The bezeled side will be on the engine side of the timing cover when you reinstall. Here is what the bezeled side (second picture) looks like:
Digging through my box of goodies from Atlantic British, I also found that they sent me a new air intake coolant plenum that is used to warm the air entering the engine.
Mine was never hooked up since we got it, it was probably leaking for the previous owner so he disconnected it. But you can tell the difference, and it gets quite nasty looking. However you can see on the third picture, the coolant actually doesn’t go anywhere and just sits in that hole to warm the intake. Not a necessary quality of the Disco, but at least it looks better.
I then spent the rest of the afternoon trying to remove one stubborn stud from the left exhaust manifold. I ended up drilling it out and tapping the hole, but it is never a fun job. Glad to get it done ahead of time though since it would have sucked to have to do once the engine gets back to me.
2001 & 2004 Discovery Series II SE7, with AND without SAI
Joined
·
547 Posts
I'm certain you are but only because it's still on there in the picture - Make sure you get 100% of all that water pump gasket material off that front cover.
Already done! Thanks for looking out, I was actually surprised the vapor honing didn’t get it all off.
A little extra work yesterday, decided to take the rocker shafts apart to clean them. The insides looked about as bad as the outside before the were vapor honed so I cleaned them up and reassembled with assembly lube.
You wouldn’t believe the difference. Or maybe you can, since you know, it’s been 20 years since any of this has been cleaned haha. Completely free movement and I’m ultimately happy to put it back in the truck.
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