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niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 10:40 am: | 
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What sort of things should eb checked when looking at a Disco to purchase? I took a quick look at a 95 yesterday and it looked good overall. The mileage is a bit high at 175,000km (108,000 miles) but the truck looks completely rust free. The two front seat bases (leather but manual adjust) are worn (out) so will need to be covered or replaced. One thing I noticed was oil on the bottom edge of the ebrake drum. Also, the bottom window seals (?) on the doors were sort of wavy looking. Kind of hard to describe. The exhaust has been replaced with cheap muffler shop stuff. The engine sounds alright and none of the dash lights came on while it was running. It was jammed in a garage and I was not able to drive it (obviously I would before agreeing to buy it) but I shifted into reverse and drive and there was no clunking or lurching. The oil on the dipstick was dirty so I don't know when the last oil change was done.
Anyway, I've started to ramble. Are there known problems I should be checking for?
Thanks,
Niall Forbes
66 IIa 88SW - The Red Zit <--FOR SALE
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/forbes/forsale.htm |
Erik Olson (Jon)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 01:10 pm: |
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The normal stuff, worn (cracked) belts and hoses, cracked Rotoflex (at rear diff.), rust in the passenger footwell (pull the carpet forward from under the front passenger seat). Check bushings, front diff. and damper for visible signs of neglect, abuse and damage from unprotected off-road volleys.
The dashboard peels up on this and subsequent years, and the sunroofs jam / leak. The ingress of water from the sunroofs can lead to rust in the door pillars as well.
The drivetrain is rock solid (in my 1995s case anyway) and the diff. lock may be difficult to activate if the vehicle hasn't been run off-road.
I'm sure others might have more input, and the archives (active again?) are a wealth of good information on this issue specifically.
Cheers,
Erik |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Saturday, March 02, 2002 - 01:33 pm: |
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Thanks Erik,
This truck has no sunroofs so that is not a worry. I didn't know there was an archives but have found it now. Thanks for the tip. Where does the dash peel? I've heard of this problem before but never seen it. I'm guessing in a corner by the windshield?
Niall Forbes
66 IIa 88SW - The Red Zit <--FOR SALE
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/forbes/forsale.htm |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Sunday, March 03, 2002 - 10:18 pm: |
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Oh yeah, the other thing was that at start-up, the idle seemed to wander a bit before settling down. Is this normal? Any ideas what might cause it?
Thanks
Niall Forbes
66 IIa 88SW - The Red Zit <--FOR SALE
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/forbes/forsale.htm |
Jon Williams (Jonw)
| | Posted on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 12:48 pm: |
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I think you're probably okay with the oil on the parking brake drum. There has been a droplet hanging from the brake backing plate on my '95 for years. Can't seem to figure out where it's coming from (probably rear t-case seal) but I pulled the drum once and there wasn't any oil getting on the pads, doesn't look like there ever had, and my t-case doesn't lose any oil, so I don't worry about it.
You'd notice the dash peel. It may be slight on the one you're looking at, but it can be quite severe and really bad-looking. LR made a kit to fix it (which I suckered-up for when my dash started peeling a few years ago) but it was about $250 then; who knows what it is now.
It's not impossible for the inner window seals to get ripply when old and dry, but that's nothing serious. Heck, my inner window gaiters don't even touch the windows.
The searching idle could be caused by the truck not having been started or run in a while. With regular use (or a good long test-drive) the ECU should re-learn all it's operating parameters and the engine should run smoothly and idle fairly smoothly, too. Should settle around 600-750rpm (735 is spec). Oh, and the tachometers on those trucks tend to lose accuracy as they age. Mine's off by about 150rpm on a good day, as are others I've talked to 
The truck you looked at is *probably* okay, but would be something you wouldn't really want to buy and start commuting in, more like buy it and turn it into a really sweet trail truck. People have already listed stuff to look for, like the rotoflex and visible signs of neglect. if it hasn't been run in a while it may need a good engine tune-up and drivetrain fluids change before it really runs good, providing the body isn't rusted slam away. That's my main gripe about undercoating: sure, it provides a barrier of protetion from body metal directly contacting road salt and stuff, but as the vehicle ages, cracks get in the undercoating and stuff gets in those cracks and trapped between that and the body, then it rusts worse than if there was no protection at all. But that's some stuff to look at and consider.
By the way, my truck now has 102,000 miles on it (anybody wanna buy it? ) |
Anonymous
| | Posted on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 12:58 pm: |
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be sure to run a "carfax" on the vin.... |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 01:44 pm: |
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Thanks Jon,
The oil hanging from the brake drume is a common thing on series rovers but I wasn't so sure about on Discos. The window seal that is rippled is on the outside, not the inside. There was no sign of water leakage and it looks like a trim piece rather than a functioning seal, so that is probably OK. I agree with you on undercoatings so was glad to see this truck doesn't have any. I prefer Rust Check which inhibits rust but is not a seal, it's some sort of light but sticky oil. I think the above problems are going to be on any truck I look at since my budget is so low. I just want to avoid major issues, especially rust.
Thanks for your advice.
Anon-I've used carfax before and just ended up feeling ripped off. All it said was that it had been registered on whatever dates and that no mileage rollback or accident damage was detected. Didn't give any actual info and it was hard to trust the assurances that it did give. I thought it would provide mileages at inspections etc.
Niall Forbes
66 IIa 88SW - The Red Zit <--FOR SALE
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/forbes/forsale.htm |
niall forbes (Forbesn)
| | Posted on Monday, March 04, 2002 - 04:58 pm: |
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Oh yeah, another question. The Disco I've been looking at originally came from Decarie Motors (the local LR dealer) in Montreal. Can I call them with the VIN and find out about it's service history while it was still in Montreal?
Niall Forbes
66 IIa 88SW - The Red Zit <--FOR SALE
http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/forbes/forsale.htm |
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