OK, here goes... I ended up biting on that 96 disco. (See thread here: http://www.discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=59899 )
I'm still nervous about it personally, but wife loves it, wanted it, and says putting some money in it is fine by her, including selling our old one if neccessary. Um... ok, honey. I hope I don't regret it, and Blue doesn't rub it in too hard if it turns out to be a piece of crap, as he was saying it could be. (Thanks again for the earlier advice, BTW. Much appreciated, even if the problems I eventually found with the other truck and my wife's desires put me over the other direction.) After a few scares were sorted out, it really does seem to be good to go, at least on the surface. So far. But I'm paranoid with a new-to-me rover, and the scares did put me on edge... so I'm wanting to root out anything I can on it ASAP.
Good news on the lift... it's not body at all, it looks like 2 inches of Old Man Emu. All of the shocks and dampers are, at least. Don't know how to identify springs. (There is a 2" spacer in back, but full spring in front. Interesting.) Likely a bit old and tired, but it is there.
Scare #1: The slight shimmy around 50-55 turned into death wobble. But I had seen where the balance weights were missing from rims. Got 'em all balanced immediately... no more wobble or shimmy at all. Smooth as can be.
After that, noticed the steering was a little swimmy at high speed. Checked out steering & suspension... PANHARD (edited... duh, I keep calliing it a nonsense name for some reason) bolt was loose. So were the two bolts between the steering box and pitman arm. Cranked 'em down... that fixed it. No longer swimmy.
Scare #2: Overheat?! Temp guage would look good at start from cold. But would soon go up into red... shut it down and wait. Ever since, goes up into red almost immediately. BUT... no other overheating symptoms whatsoever, and infrared thermometer says it is good to go. Didn't just check around sensor/thermostat, checked all over. All good to go (190 or less). Looks like a bad sensor... was badly corroded. Cleaned up and tried new connector, but that didn't change anything. New sensor is on the way.
On that note... what is the sensor right in front of the temp sensor? Looking at it in RAVE it says "temp sensor" and appears to point at both?
Runs great and drives well. Passed hydrocarbon test w/no problem... no exhaust gasses in coolant.
Here are compression test results:
1=180 2=200
3=170 4=190
5=155 6=180
7=180 8=190
Overall difference at about 23%. Hmm.
One side trending higher than the other, at or above spec. Difference within that side only is 10%.
The other side is all in spec except one. Difference within that side is 14%. Not where you want it, but maybe not terrible?
If a little more was taken off one head than the other when it was resurfaced cause that kind of trend? Dirty on one side, but not the other? (Now that would be weird.) Is the consistent difference between the sides a bad thing?
Is something possibly going on with #5? There is a little lifter noise on first startup, quits as soon as oil pressure is up. Do the two together maybe point to a sticky valve, or the beginning stages of one? I know dry vs wet compression testing and a leakdown test would tell me more, but that hasn't been done yet.
Front main seal is definitely bad. Some PS leakage. Hard to tell w/the rear main... maybe, but might not be too bad. Never more than a film and a single bead show up when sitting still, if wiped immediately after shutting off. Little if any drip there. Does look a little worse after driving. Thinking getting rid of some of the mess coming from the front will tell more.
Front diff has a big dent in the cover, but appears to be working just fine. No noises. Fluid changed and didn't seem out of line. Called Will Tillery in anticipation of maybe needing a new diff and asked some questions... he said I was probably fine. (Thank you! Turns out no leakage. I'll probably take it apart at my dad's steel shop to check it out and have him fix the cover anyway though. Great Basin helped me out with some diff and driveline questions, too.)
So far all checks (except my steering fixes) have been done by a shop, not by me. (I'm studying up, and plan to start though.)
Am planning to have them do the front seal and power steering hoses. They've done good work for me before at good prices and have a good warranty.
So far all looks within our budget, with some to spare for the unexpected.
I dunno. I think it's OK, or close to it. Anybody notice anything off, or that I need to watch out for, or that I need to check, or take care of immediately?
Thanks!
I'm still nervous about it personally, but wife loves it, wanted it, and says putting some money in it is fine by her, including selling our old one if neccessary. Um... ok, honey. I hope I don't regret it, and Blue doesn't rub it in too hard if it turns out to be a piece of crap, as he was saying it could be. (Thanks again for the earlier advice, BTW. Much appreciated, even if the problems I eventually found with the other truck and my wife's desires put me over the other direction.) After a few scares were sorted out, it really does seem to be good to go, at least on the surface. So far. But I'm paranoid with a new-to-me rover, and the scares did put me on edge... so I'm wanting to root out anything I can on it ASAP.
Good news on the lift... it's not body at all, it looks like 2 inches of Old Man Emu. All of the shocks and dampers are, at least. Don't know how to identify springs. (There is a 2" spacer in back, but full spring in front. Interesting.) Likely a bit old and tired, but it is there.
Scare #1: The slight shimmy around 50-55 turned into death wobble. But I had seen where the balance weights were missing from rims. Got 'em all balanced immediately... no more wobble or shimmy at all. Smooth as can be.
After that, noticed the steering was a little swimmy at high speed. Checked out steering & suspension... PANHARD (edited... duh, I keep calliing it a nonsense name for some reason) bolt was loose. So were the two bolts between the steering box and pitman arm. Cranked 'em down... that fixed it. No longer swimmy.
Scare #2: Overheat?! Temp guage would look good at start from cold. But would soon go up into red... shut it down and wait. Ever since, goes up into red almost immediately. BUT... no other overheating symptoms whatsoever, and infrared thermometer says it is good to go. Didn't just check around sensor/thermostat, checked all over. All good to go (190 or less). Looks like a bad sensor... was badly corroded. Cleaned up and tried new connector, but that didn't change anything. New sensor is on the way.
On that note... what is the sensor right in front of the temp sensor? Looking at it in RAVE it says "temp sensor" and appears to point at both?
Runs great and drives well. Passed hydrocarbon test w/no problem... no exhaust gasses in coolant.
Here are compression test results:
1=180 2=200
3=170 4=190
5=155 6=180
7=180 8=190
Overall difference at about 23%. Hmm.
One side trending higher than the other, at or above spec. Difference within that side only is 10%.
The other side is all in spec except one. Difference within that side is 14%. Not where you want it, but maybe not terrible?
If a little more was taken off one head than the other when it was resurfaced cause that kind of trend? Dirty on one side, but not the other? (Now that would be weird.) Is the consistent difference between the sides a bad thing?
Is something possibly going on with #5? There is a little lifter noise on first startup, quits as soon as oil pressure is up. Do the two together maybe point to a sticky valve, or the beginning stages of one? I know dry vs wet compression testing and a leakdown test would tell me more, but that hasn't been done yet.
Front main seal is definitely bad. Some PS leakage. Hard to tell w/the rear main... maybe, but might not be too bad. Never more than a film and a single bead show up when sitting still, if wiped immediately after shutting off. Little if any drip there. Does look a little worse after driving. Thinking getting rid of some of the mess coming from the front will tell more.
Front diff has a big dent in the cover, but appears to be working just fine. No noises. Fluid changed and didn't seem out of line. Called Will Tillery in anticipation of maybe needing a new diff and asked some questions... he said I was probably fine. (Thank you! Turns out no leakage. I'll probably take it apart at my dad's steel shop to check it out and have him fix the cover anyway though. Great Basin helped me out with some diff and driveline questions, too.)
So far all checks (except my steering fixes) have been done by a shop, not by me. (I'm studying up, and plan to start though.)
Am planning to have them do the front seal and power steering hoses. They've done good work for me before at good prices and have a good warranty.
So far all looks within our budget, with some to spare for the unexpected.
I dunno. I think it's OK, or close to it. Anybody notice anything off, or that I need to watch out for, or that I need to check, or take care of immediately?
Thanks!
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