Maintenance issues for a very high mileage disco?

There's nothing out of the ordinary in that list...

V8 will go much further yet, but to quieten it down you could replace the cam and the associated hydraulic tappets etc. Timing chain tensioner could be checked and sorted at the same time. I did all this on mine and my local specialist charged about £400, but others have paid a lot more. The oil leak - well, it's from the engine somewhere!

Transmission clunk - they all do that, more and more as they get older. Autos don't tend to break so much as manuals (virtually all the manuals that age break mainshafts by the mileage you have). The clunk could be play in any of the joints, in the transmission or in the A-frame ball joint at the back. It's likely to be a bit of all of them.

Transmission whine - some is normal, but if it's drowning out the mother-in-law then something is up. Have both diffs got oil in? Don't know much about auto trans, but someone else will have suggestions.

Roof corrosion is pretty normal - round the leading edge where the stone chips sit, round the sunroof and the alpine lights. If you start getting wet you could replace the roof or do various 'fixes' with silicon etc.

*** Worth getting that checked, before something breaks. As you say, possibly just a tappet but could be a piston ring or could be piston slap - does it improve as it warms up? *** Could be the diffs singing, they can go on forever like it. Check they've got oil though, you can do that easily yourself. As you look under the car there's one at the front and one at the back - they are the round things haning down on the axles. Right on the front is a square plug - this is the filler/level plug. A socket wrench will fit without a socket on it. Un do the plug and see if any oil comes out, if it does it's OK.

Best thing though, would be to change the oil, I do mine yearly. Take it for a good run to warm the oil then locate the drain plug on the bottom of the diff, the socket handle will fit again. Drain the oil, put the plug back, just tight don't over do it, then fill through the filler/level plug with EP90 until it dribbles out. Refit the plug.

*** Mostly they all do a bit of a clunk, might be the A frame ball joint at the back or wear in the 'box. If it were mine I'd get the ball checked and if that's OK forget about it. It'll probably run forever like it but it is possible to get a 'box failure. In this case though, if it ain't broke..... *** "They all do that Sir, it's not a fault - it's a characteristc....." Sometimes you can take the trim off and move the electric motor on it's mountings to push the rod a little further. That worked on one of my doors. I also understand that there may be a spring that fails and there's a kit to repair it. Tricky though I suspect. *** Tricky that one. Is your battery OK and giving 12+ volts? If so, you could try spraying everything inside the door trim with WD40 - the motor, the linkages etc. Worth checking all the electrical connectors too, take 'em apart, spray the inside and push 'em back together. Pull & push 'em a few times to ensure good contact. *** Very common for Landrovers. Some say it's Landrover's chassis corrosion protection system ( CCPS ). The only solution is to clean the underside and identify the source initially. Mostly people don't worry about it. Do you have to top up any of the oils often? Engine oil or power steering fluid? That'll be your clue as to the fault. ***Get it done. It's not worth lunching an engine for the sake of a cam belt. Does the petrol have a belt or a chain? Probably a chain, I don't know much about them, Austin or Badger may be able to help? ***Doesn't need changing. It's not a service item. If you are into preventative maintenance at that level then you should change the hoses as well, but I wouldn't bother unless they fail or you are in a location where reliability is of survival value! ***If it bothers you use T-Cut and polish or Mer which is supposed to do both at the same time. However, it's a low priority job as Landies have an aluminium alloy body which doesn't really "rust" like steel. *** If you haven't done it, normal service items should all be done. If you need a list of those please ask again. Has it had any servicing at all?

Reagrds TonyB Please not I am not a qualified mechanic and you would be best advised to have any work you do checked by a professional.

Sorry for the long post.

Thanks for the information!

Yes, it has had servicing done when her parents owned it, I just don't know what or when. I should ask for some records, maybe they/she has some.

I would much appreciate the list of normal service items. What fluid should I use in the diffs? 75w-90 gear oil? Thanks again

Item number one is a book on how to work on the vehicle, which includes such information. I'd suggest you ask people what's the best one for your model year, or look for one of the many PDF copies of the workshop manuals that are floating around on the internet.

Hi Anthony,

Door lock problem seems like the well known one of the spring inside the lock mechanism breaking. The spring keeps the inside lock button fully up. If it fails, the button appears to pop up, but not enough to unlcok the door.

Fixes:

1. Get a new lock mechanism (this is what an LR dealer will do)
2. Take lock apart, and replace spring with spring from child locks
3. As 2, but get a new spring from John Craddock spares.

Hope this helps.

Cheers! Graham Carter.

Excellent....thanks. Sounds like the problem in three of the four doors.