[jordanwexler]

G'Day Mates!!

I am new, not only to Disco's, but also Rovers in general. Three days ago, my wife and I acquired her dream car - A Disco II from copart. The interior is IMACULATE and electronics are maso-menos. The only fails are a couple of switches for the glass (already coming from ebay). Weather stripping will need a bit of attention, as the headliner is starting to fall. Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) from 2001 Step-mom would shed a lone tear if she only knew how long my wife has been waiting to have this in her driveway. Guys (and Gals), I am kicking myself HARD for not doing more homework prior to bidding (facepalm).. Not to mention - I am beating myself stupid for having not crawled under the truck first (FACEPALM).. UnG-dly amounts of work have been done to this vehicle to keep her going (brake lines, suspension, exhaust, head gaskets to name a few), which is nice, however the frame rot has her days number and inevitably on borrowed time. The Chicago winter salt could give any Tacoma or 4runner owner a good laugh if they could see under this Disco with me. It is at its worst, besides the gas tank at the frames lowest points and at its best; nowhere. All this being said, I believe her clacking piston sleeve will remain unheard and drowned out by the radio until she blows and seizes - pray for me and my wife that day is years off, for she is 35 weeks into our first daughter (two boys already 10 and 8) and wants this truck to be her "Go-Home" vehicle, and we're driving her daily.

Sorry for the run-on story - just trying to lay it all out there for my first post.

The reason for my post (did i make you laugh yet?) - my left (drivers side) upper tail light housing is cracked and pooling water, but not exposed and deeming it garbage. I drilled three 1/16th" holes on the inside black plastic; two at the lower corners of the bulb house for draining and one the the center of the top bulb house for air to manage the issue in the mean time. One post claimed the draining allowed water to the tow harness which then caught fire - YIKES!! - my concern for this particular Disco, is draining water from the interior of the body will only hasten more rust wherever it decides to drip to..

Upper tail light housings for 2002-2004 Discos not only seem to be non-existent in ANY after market format but also OEM's are discontinued and sold out from any and all parts dealers (Land-Rover or not). I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

A) is this true?
B) can someone please help me understand how this re-route works before I dump $300 into new upper tail-light housings?
3) I will take pictures and post - THANK YOU all for reading and replying - cant wait to see how y'all eviscerate me for my noob-ness on Rovers.. The Infiniti forums (when I used to own a two door '08 G37) would drip from their jewels at any chance to gut a fool for sounding incapable or incompetant - please be gentle
d) again thanks in advance

 

[V50_M66]

G'Day Mates!!

I am new, not only to Disco's, but also Rovers in general. Three days ago, my wife and I acquired her dream car - A Disco II from copart. The interior is IMACULATE and electronics are maso-menos. The only fails are a couple of switches for the glass (already coming from ebay). Weather stripping will need a bit of attention, as the headliner is starting to fall. Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) from 2001 Step-mom would shed a lone tear if she only knew how long my wife has been waiting to have this in her driveway. Guys (and Gals), I am kicking myself HARD for not doing more homework prior to bidding (facepalm).. Not to mention - I am beating myself stupid for having not crawled under the truck first (FACEPALM).. UnG-dly amounts of work have been done to this vehicle to keep her going (brake lines, suspension, exhaust, head gaskets to name a few), which is nice, however the frame rot has her days number and inevitably on borrowed time. The Chicago winter salt could give any Tacoma or 4runner owner a good laugh if they could see under this Disco with me. It is at its worst, besides the gas tank at the frames lowest points and at its best; nowhere. All this being said, I believe her clacking piston sleeve will remain unheard and drowned out by the radio until she blows and seizes - pray for me and my wife that day is years off, for she is 35 weeks into our first daughter (two boys already 10 and 8) and wants this truck to be her "Go-Home" vehicle, and we're driving her daily.

Sorry for the run-on story - just trying to lay it all out there for my first post.

The reason for my post (did i make you laugh yet?) - my left (drivers side) upper tail light housing is cracked and pooling water, but not exposed and deeming it garbage. I drilled three 1/16th" holes on the inside black plastic; two at the lower corners of the bulb house for draining and one the the center of the top bulb house for air to manage the issue in the mean time. One post claimed the draining allowed water to the tow harness which then caught fire - YIKES!! - my concern for this particular Disco, is draining water from the interior of the body will only hasten more rust wherever it decides to drip to..

Upper tail light housings for 2002-2004 Discos not only seem to be non-existent in ANY after market format but also OEM's are discontinued and sold out from any and all parts dealers (Land-Rover or not). I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

A) is this true?
B) can someone please help me understand how this re-route works before I dump $300 into new upper tail-light housings?
3) I will take pictures and post - THANK YOU all for reading and replying - cant wait to see how y'all eviscerate me for my noob-ness on Rovers.. The Infiniti forums (when I used to own a two door '08 G37) would drip from their jewels at any chance to gut a fool for sounding incapable or incompetant - please be gentle
d) again thanks in advance

You could always try to re seal what you have. Pull it out (super easy 4 screws) and run sealant/epoxy/whatever along the mating surface between the black housing and the lens. That’s usually where they leak. Then seal up the holes you drilled. Make sure it’s perfectly dry inside first - bring it inside the house and let it dry over a vent or something.

And about the truck itself - I don’t want to sound harsh as you are new to the Rover world, but I really hope you got that thing for basically free. As has been said, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap British car, and it will be a nightmare.
The sleeve has already dropped on the engine, so you are on borrowed time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s blown by the end of the year. The only fix is a new engine to the tune of over $5k or an LS swap for around $8k.
The frame rust is common and will spell death for your truck. You might get another winter out of it if it’s as bad as you say it is. It is very possible to do a frame swap or partial frame replacement, but it is a massive and expensive undertaking.
These things also have major cooling system problems, head gasket problems, oil pump problems, etc, all of which can and will strand you. Don’t ask me how I know.
Also, these things are quite unsafe. I would never take my children (if I had them) around on a daily basis in one. Weekend camping trips or something like that, sure. But I wouldn’t trust my kids lives to these dangerous and unsafe old trucks in day to day modern traffic, especially in more populated areas.

I know I sound harsh, I really do. I’m not trying to turn you away from the D2. I love mine, but it’s been a hell of a journey. Take this as more of a warning from a guy that bought a super cheap crappy D2 and has already been through a ton of trouble and years of experiences with it. Get your wife a safe reliable car (even if it’s like a cheap Corolla or something) so the kids and her are safe and won’t break down, then build the truck in the meantime so she’ll have a good example. Or, what I would do, find one at least without rust and take care of overdue maintenance and repairs so she has a good car to drive.

They can be great, but it will take way more work and time than it will be worth for a rotted out example, and I would not let anyone you love drive it daily unless she doesn’t care about breaking down. They can be fun dailies, but only once they are sorted. Of course, I’m going off of what you said, but if it’s as bad as you make it sound, these are just going to be the realities.

To put things into perspective, I have a cheap, poorly maintained (prior to my ownership) example (but rust free and with no dropped sleeve), and over the course of the last two years I have put at least $6k into just keeping it running (1 set of head gaskets, 2 oil pumps, timing chain, gaskets galore, entire cooling system, transmission work, driveshaft stuff, brakes, etc), and that’s doing work myself and trying to keep it cheap as much as I could. And it’s still far from perfect. It’s stranded me three times, has constantly tested my patience, and still needs at least another $1k in work to make it operate and look like it should.

So, my suggestion - sell the one you got (or keep it for parts of you have the space/extra cash) and find a nicer one with a good engine and minimal rust. Then, use it as an opportunity to build it so that it’s reliable and can be used by your wife as a daily if she wants, without much fear of getting stranded or having issues. You could even use it as an opportunity to have a project that both you you have input on (for example headliner pattern/color, redoing it together and/or with the older kids, etc).

Again, not trying to discourage you at all. It’s great to have another Rover guy around and I commend your risk and desire to make your wife happy, but it’s nice to know what you could be getting into, and I’d hate to see you dump tons of money into a truck that sounds ready for the scrapyard.

 

[PTSchram]

And some say I am brutally honest about Land Rovers!

 

[2004 Disco 2]

G'Day Mates!!

I am new, not only to Disco's, but also Rovers in general. Three days ago, my wife and I acquired her dream car - A Disco II from copart. The interior is IMACULATE and electronics are maso-menos. The only fails are a couple of switches for the glass (already coming from ebay). Weather stripping will need a bit of attention, as the headliner is starting to fall. Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) from 2001 Step-mom would shed a lone tear if she only knew how long my wife has been waiting to have this in her driveway. Guys (and Gals), I am kicking myself HARD for not doing more homework prior to bidding (facepalm).. Not to mention - I am beating myself stupid for having not crawled under the truck first (FACEPALM).. UnG-dly amounts of work have been done to this vehicle to keep her going (brake lines, suspension, exhaust, head gaskets to name a few), which is nice, however the frame rot has her days number and inevitably on borrowed time. The Chicago winter salt could give any Tacoma or 4runner owner a good laugh if they could see under this Disco with me. It is at its worst, besides the gas tank at the frames lowest points and at its best; nowhere. All this being said, I believe her clacking piston sleeve will remain unheard and drowned out by the radio until she blows and seizes - pray for me and my wife that day is years off, for she is 35 weeks into our first daughter (two boys already 10 and 8) and wants this truck to be her "Go-Home" vehicle, and we're driving her daily.

Sorry for the run-on story - just trying to lay it all out there for my first post.

The reason for my post (did i make you laugh yet?) - my left (drivers side) upper tail light housing is cracked and pooling water, but not exposed and deeming it garbage. I drilled three 1/16th" holes on the inside black plastic; two at the lower corners of the bulb house for draining and one the the center of the top bulb house for air to manage the issue in the mean time. One post claimed the draining allowed water to the tow harness which then caught fire - YIKES!! - my concern for this particular Disco, is draining water from the interior of the body will only hasten more rust wherever it decides to drip to..

Upper tail light housings for 2002-2004 Discos not only seem to be non-existent in ANY after market format but also OEM's are discontinued and sold out from any and all parts dealers (Land-Rover or not). I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

A) is this true?
B) can someone please help me understand how this re-route works before I dump $300 into new upper tail-light housings?
3) I will take pictures and post - THANK YOU all for reading and replying - cant wait to see how y'all eviscerate me for my noob-ness on Rovers.. The Infiniti forums (when I used to own a two door '08 G37) would drip from their jewels at any chance to gut a fool for sounding incapable or incompetant - please be gentle
d) again thanks in advance

G'Day Mates!!

I am new, not only to Disco's, but also Rovers in general. Three days ago, my wife and I acquired her dream car - A Disco II from copart. The interior is IMACULATE and electronics are maso-menos. The only fails are a couple of switches for the glass (already coming from ebay). Weather stripping will need a bit of attention, as the headliner is starting to fall. Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) from 2001 Step-mom would shed a lone tear if she only knew how long my wife has been waiting to have this in her driveway. Guys (and Gals), I am kicking myself HARD for not doing more homework prior to bidding (facepalm).. Not to mention - I am beating myself stupid for having not crawled under the truck first (FACEPALM).. UnG-dly amounts of work have been done to this vehicle to keep her going (brake lines, suspension, exhaust, head gaskets to name a few), which is nice, however the frame rot has her days number and inevitably on borrowed time. The Chicago winter salt could give any Tacoma or 4runner owner a good laugh if they could see under this Disco with me. It is at its worst, besides the gas tank at the frames lowest points and at its best; nowhere. All this being said, I believe her clacking piston sleeve will remain unheard and drowned out by the radio until she blows and seizes - pray for me and my wife that day is years off, for she is 35 weeks into our first daughter (two boys already 10 and 8) and wants this truck to be her "Go-Home" vehicle, and we're driving her daily.

Sorry for the run-on story - just trying to lay it all out there for my first post.

The reason for my post (did i make you laugh yet?) - my left (drivers side) upper tail light housing is cracked and pooling water, but not exposed and deeming it garbage. I drilled three 1/16th" holes on the inside black plastic; two at the lower corners of the bulb house for draining and one the the center of the top bulb house for air to manage the issue in the mean time. One post claimed the draining allowed water to the tow harness which then caught fire - YIKES!! - my concern for this particular Disco, is draining water from the interior of the body will only hasten more rust wherever it decides to drip to..

Upper tail light housings for 2002-2004 Discos not only seem to be non-existent in ANY after market format but also OEM's are discontinued and sold out from any and all parts dealers (Land-Rover or not). I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

A) is this true?
B) can someone please help me understand how this re-route works before I dump $300 into new upper tail-light housings?
3) I will take pictures and post - THANK YOU all for reading and replying - cant wait to see how y'all eviscerate me for my noob-ness on Rovers.. The Infiniti forums (when I used to own a two door '08 G37) would drip from their jewels at any chance to gut a fool for sounding incapable or incompetant - please be gentle
d) again thanks in advance

G'Day Mates!!

I am new, not only to Disco's, but also Rovers in general. Three days ago, my wife and I acquired her dream car - A Disco II from copart. The interior is IMACULATE and electronics are maso-menos. The only fails are a couple of switches for the glass (already coming from ebay). Weather stripping will need a bit of attention, as the headliner is starting to fall. Isabel Kelly (Julia Roberts) from 2001 Step-mom would shed a lone tear if she only knew how long my wife has been waiting to have this in her driveway. Guys (and Gals), I am kicking myself HARD for not doing more homework prior to bidding (facepalm).. Not to mention - I am beating myself stupid for having not crawled under the truck first (FACEPALM).. UnG-dly amounts of work have been done to this vehicle to keep her going (brake lines, suspension, exhaust, head gaskets to name a few), which is nice, however the frame rot has her days number and inevitably on borrowed time. The Chicago winter salt could give any Tacoma or 4runner owner a good laugh if they could see under this Disco with me. It is at its worst, besides the gas tank at the frames lowest points and at its best; nowhere. All this being said, I believe her clacking piston sleeve will remain unheard and drowned out by the radio until she blows and seizes - pray for me and my wife that day is years off, for she is 35 weeks into our first daughter (two boys already 10 and 8) and wants this truck to be her "Go-Home" vehicle, and we're driving her daily.

Sorry for the run-on story - just trying to lay it all out there for my first post.

The reason for my post (did i make you laugh yet?) - my left (drivers side) upper tail light housing is cracked and pooling water, but not exposed and deeming it garbage. I drilled three 1/16th" holes on the inside black plastic; two at the lower corners of the bulb house for draining and one the the center of the top bulb house for air to manage the issue in the mean time. One post claimed the draining allowed water to the tow harness which then caught fire - YIKES!! - my concern for this particular Disco, is draining water from the interior of the body will only hasten more rust wherever it decides to drip to..

Upper tail light housings for 2002-2004 Discos not only seem to be non-existent in ANY after market format but also OEM's are discontinued and sold out from any and all parts dealers (Land-Rover or not). I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

A) is this true?
B) can someone please help me understand how this re-route works before I dump $300 into new upper tail-light housings?
3) I will take pictures and post - THANK YOU all for reading and replying - cant wait to see how y'all eviscerate me for my noob-ness on Rovers.. The Infiniti forums (when I used to own a two door '08 G37) would drip from their jewels at any chance to gut a fool for sounding incapable or incompetant - please be gentle
d) again thanks in advance

Hate typing , call me about how I got new O.E.M. tail light housings Tom ( 262 ) 423-1407 12 North of Milwaukee

 

[JoshD]

I went through some of the same stuff when I bought one last week. It had aftermarket bumpers installed but did not have the lights in the rear bumper. Me, not knowing anything Land Rover thought these were just bumper lights that Bubba uses on his farm truck. Nope, they are the actual blinkers. Luckily I found a junkyard with one lonely 2000 LR Disco 2. I had to cut the light harnesses out along with the blinker bumper housings and splice into the new to me Rover to have working blinkers. Now I'm battling the 3 amigos.

Post pics of the new Rover!!

 

[jordanwexler]

You could always try to re seal what you have. Pull it out (super easy 4 screws) and run sealant/epoxy/whatever along the mating surface between the black housing and the lens. That’s usually where they leak. Then seal up the holes you drilled. Make sure it’s perfectly dry inside first - bring it inside the house and let it dry over a vent or something.

And about the truck itself - I don’t want to sound harsh as you are new to the Rover world, but I really hope you got that thing for basically free. As has been said, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap British car, and it will be a nightmare.
The sleeve has already dropped on the engine, so you are on borrowed time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s blown by the end of the year. The only fix is a new engine to the tune of over $5k or an LS swap for around $8k.
The frame rust is common and will spell death for your truck. You might get another winter out of it if it’s as bad as you say it is. It is very possible to do a frame swap or partial frame replacement, but it is a massive and expensive undertaking.
These things also have major cooling system problems, head gasket problems, oil pump problems, etc, all of which can and will strand you. Don’t ask me how I know.
Also, these things are quite unsafe. I would never take my children (if I had them) around on a daily basis in one. Weekend camping trips or something like that, sure. But I wouldn’t trust my kids lives to these dangerous and unsafe old trucks in day to day modern traffic, especially in more populated areas.

I know I sound harsh, I really do. I’m not trying to turn you away from the D2. I love mine, but it’s been a hell of a journey. Take this as more of a warning from a guy that bought a super cheap crappy D2 and has already been through a ton of trouble and years of experiences with it. Get your wife a safe reliable car (even if it’s like a cheap Corolla or something) so the kids and her are safe and won’t break down, then build the truck in the meantime so she’ll have a good example. Or, what I would do, find one at least without rust and take care of overdue maintenance and repairs so she has a good car to drive.

They can be great, but it will take way more work and time than it will be worth for a rotted out example, and I would not let anyone you love drive it daily unless she doesn’t care about breaking down. They can be fun dailies, but only once they are sorted. Of course, I’m going off of what you said, but if it’s as bad as you make it sound, these are just going to be the realities.

To put things into perspective, I have a cheap, poorly maintained (prior to my ownership) example (but rust free and with no dropped sleeve), and over the course of the last two years I have put at least $6k into just keeping it running (1 set of head gaskets, 2 oil pumps, timing chain, gaskets galore, entire cooling system, transmission work, driveshaft stuff, brakes, etc), and that’s doing work myself and trying to keep it cheap as much as I could. And it’s still far from perfect. It’s stranded me three times, has constantly tested my patience, and still needs at least another $1k in work to make it operate and look like it should.

So, my suggestion - sell the one you got (or keep it for parts of you have the space/extra cash) and find a nicer one with a good engine and minimal rust. Then, use it as an opportunity to build it so that it’s reliable and can be used by your wife as a daily if she wants, without much fear of getting stranded or having issues. You could even use it as an opportunity to have a project that both you you have input on (for example headliner pattern/color, redoing it together and/or with the older kids, etc).

Again, not trying to discourage you at all. It’s great to have another Rover guy around and I commend your risk and desire to make your wife happy, but it’s nice to know what you could be getting into, and I’d hate to see you dump tons of money into a truck that sounds ready for the scrapyard.

wow - that was a lot to swallow (gulp). besides all that about the engine and frame - the crack on my tail light is on the exterior plastic; yes, the seal on the inside is failing too and I see how running a bead of silicone would seal the edges but that would only serve to further trap the water...

 

[jordanwexler]

I went through some of the same stuff when I bought one last week. It had aftermarket bumpers installed but did not have the lights in the rear bumper. Me, not knowing anything Land Rover thought these were just bumper lights that Bubba uses on his farm truck. Nope, they are the actual blinkers. Luckily I found a junkyard with one lonely 2000 LR Disco 2. I had to cut the light harnesses out along with the blinker bumper housings and splice into the new to me Rover to have working blinkers. Now I'm battling the 3 amigos.

Post pics of the new Rover!!

today for sure - pics coming..

 

[jordanwexler]

Hate typing , call me about how I got new O.E.M. tail light housings Tom ( 262 ) 423-1407 12 North of Milwaukee

busy day today - will try to call after noon

 

[V50_M66]

wow - that was a lot to swallow (gulp). besides all that about the engine and frame - the crack on my tail light is on the exterior plastic; yes, the seal on the inside is failing too and I see how running a bead of silicone would seal the edges but that would only serve to further trap the water...

Bring the taillight inside and let it dry out over a vent to make sure it’s completely dry. Then silicone everything. If there’s no water left inside you’ll be good since you’ll be sealing off all of the ways for the water to get in. Almost free solution that worked great on mine

 

[jordanwexler]

Bring the taillight inside and let it dry out over a vent to make sure it’s completely dry. Then silicone everything. If there’s no water left inside you’ll be good since you’ll be sealing off all of the ways for the water to get in. Almost free solution that worked great on mine

everything i understand what you mean now

 

[jordanwexler]

pics...

 

[jordanwexler]

more pics

 

[jordanwexler]

everything i understand what you mean now

look at pic #2... the crack is right thru the face of it... this is why im thinking disco1 housings.

 

[jordanwexler]

Bring the taillight inside and let it dry out over a vent to make sure it’s completely dry. Then silicone everything. If there’s no water left inside you’ll be good since you’ll be sealing off all of the ways for the water to get in. Almost free solution that worked great on mine

in the second pic you can see how the crack is right thru the middle of the face of the lens - are you suggesting to gloop silicone right across it with complete disregard and abandonment for appearances? im not so sure the wife would go for that...

 

[sierrafery]

I have briefly read on a couple other posts, 98-01 tail light housings are direct swap with minor wire re-routing from the bumper..

Hi, there are options to change from early modells to facelift not the other way around and it's not so minor cos the connectors are different, maybe you better use one of the suitable tapes, google out "tail light lens repair tape"

 

[V50_M66]

in the second pic you can see how the crack is right thru the middle of the face of the lens - are you suggesting to gloop silicone right across it with complete disregard and abandonment for appearances? im not so sure the wife would go for that...

Ah ok I get what you’re saying - I was thinking it was leaking at the seal between the lens and the housing, which it could also be doing. That’s where mine leaked. In your case I’d go with Fery’s suggestion

 

[V50_M66]

Pics look good! Honestly doesn’t look quite as bad as you made it out to be, with the exception of that rear frame section by the fuel tank. Wow. I’m gonna stick with my recommendation to find a less rusty example unless you want to tackle a frame section replacement. While the exterior and interior aren’t bad, the frame rust combined with engine issues means this thing is going to be way more expensive and time consuming by the time you are done with it than just getting a cleaner example

 

[jordanwexler]

Pics look good! Honestly doesn’t look quite as bad as you made it out to be, with the exception of that rear frame section by the fuel tank. Wow. I’m gonna stick with my recommendation to find a less rusty example unless you want to tackle a frame section replacement. While the exterior and interior aren’t bad, the frame rust combined with engine issues means this thing is going to be way more expensive and time consuming by the time you are done with it than just getting a cleaner example

im thinking we'll driver her till she dies and MAYBE do a frame fix behind the rear axle - im starting to notice a smell from the front left corner i cannot identify as coolant or brake fluid - i sincerely hope the caliper is not leaking

 

[jordanwexler]

Hi, there are options to change from early modells to facelift not the other way around and it's not so minor cos the connectors are different, maybe you better use one of the suitable tapes, google out "tail light lens repair tape"

i thought of that but again the wife would not approve - im starting to wonder if i can use a syringe to inject super glue into the crack

 

[jordanwexler]

we paid barely over $4k after all the auction fees - $2850 before