If it ain't broke...

macklow

Well-known member
May 3, 2004
398
0
Las Vegas, NV
don't fix it? My '95 disco, 170K+ (miles) on the odometer, runs pretty well. It has a bit of valve noise, especially on cold mornings, hesitates a bit on cold mornings, has a leaky valley gasket, leaky transfer box.

I was planning on replacing the valley gasket, and replacing the fuel injectors, pulling the heads and so on. But I get 15-17 mpg (15 city 17+highway@70mph), lose about a pint of oil every 3000 miles... no real problems. Should I just let this "sleeping dog" lie and wait for a more strident call for help?

Pretty much everything on the truck is "factory fresh", meaning original. I've only done the power steering pump, thermostat, charcoal canister, o2 sensors, fool pump and the usual air/fuel/oil filters. suspension bushings are original, although the shocks/springs are now OME. ABS light is constantly on, and driving slowly over bumps gets the ABS pump to kick in whether or not I have a foot on the brake.

So should I go for the big $$/pain fixes (pulling heads, fixing leaking xfer box, fixing abs) or just leave things be? I've been driving with these problems for 15-20K miles (well, xfer box has been leaking for about 60K), and even the recent 100 degree heat in SoCal and Nevada hasn't caused any problems.

Oh, and should I be thinking about putting in new airbags... or just hope the originals still work?
 

Hoot

Well-known member
Apr 19, 2004
234
0
52
Bloomfield twp, MI
i can't comment on whether or not to do the engine work. but i gotta ask:
how can you be getting 15mpg city? are you running the stock size tires or do you have 32" tires on there? cause i am thinking your tire size is whats making it seem like you are getting such good gas mileage.
 

macklow

Well-known member
May 3, 2004
398
0
Las Vegas, NV
tire size

I am running the stock XPC 4x4s (235/70 16). My gas mileage used to be pretty bad (11-12mpg no matter where I drove, hwy or city), but I read some of the tips posted here on discoweb and now my city mpg is around 15...

Don't rev above 2K rpm (actually the advice was 15K rpm... but that's too low!)
I also avoid the use of the brakes... If I have to brake, it means I was driving too fast, and I wasted gas accelerating, and after the braking, have to waste even more gas to get back up to driving speed. I do try to stop for red lights and stopped cars in front of me, though.

I notice that this style of driving (slow acceleration, leaving lots of room between me and car in front of me) just drives the Excursion-driving type-A women nuts. Probably the guys, too, but I mostly notice the big SUVs piloted by women tailgating me and then overtaking, only to see me pass them by sedately as the red light they've worked so hard to reach turns green just before I reach the intersection.