Non Genuine parts....are they really all this bad???

Aug 23, 2007 2 Replies

Ive always wanted a disco, and finally bought one about 6 months ago, a 98 V8 on dual fuel.



I thought I'd "freshen" her up a bit and bought the following new parts off ebay (from different sellers)


  1. Ignition leads


  1. Dizzy cap

  2. Rotor button


  1. Thermostat

  2. Coolant recovery tank.


Firstly the leads supplied were 8mm instead of 7mm so they wouldnt fit in the plastic carriers, they have rendered the stock radio useless on AM, changed them to genuine 7mm bosch and problems solved.



The dizzy cap (blue in colour) showed stress cracks within a week and the leads kept popping out of the sockets.



The thermostat caused no end of problems with the LPG convertor icing up and heater not getting hot, pulled it out and put it in a bucket with a thermometer, it was opening at only 40 deg C



The coolant recovery tank simply doesnt seem to seal...there is always a hissing from the cap and evidence of coolant coming out of the cap (around the threads) after a drive....it was a clear plastic unit, am I correct in thinking all genuine ones will be black?????



The rotor button was the worst....ran ok for a few days then the car started breaking down under load, I remember reading in a landrover forum someone else having a similar problem that no mechanic could trace and it turned out a non genuine rotor button...I put the old one back in and problem solved (Im guessing poor qlty plastic material was breaking down allowing tracking to occur)



Is this common???? I bought them from a couple of Aussie on-line vendors, both specialise in rover parts.



All fixed now other than the recovery bottle (havnt had time to get a genuine unit)....Done about 5000 K's in it the last 8 weeks, half on dirt roads, the other on rural sealed roads....I can't belive how much better (and economical) it is to drive compared to the nissan patrol I replaced it with.



Cheers Bruce


The ONLY leads I fit to V8's are genuine landrover. I don't even touch Magnecor's.

Cheap crap.

Must admit, never seen that before, they normally don't open at all if faulty.

Later Disco II and P38 are clear, all Disco I I've ever seen have been black......

Common problem, I'm afraid. The ONLY cap and rotor I will fit are genuine Lucas as they are the only ones that seem to be fit for purpose. The last cap I bought from my local main dealer had "Italy" moulded in the inside of it, even though it came in a genuine parts box. I handed it back and bought elsewhere, much to the dealer's disgust.

Get it on LPG (properly!) and it'll be even cheaper! Badger.

messagenews:R5fzi.24859$ snipped-for-privacy@news-server.bigpond.net.au...

Real Lucas (actually TRW) ones are obsolete, most likely sold to Marelli - hence the "Italy" bit.

For the rotor arm, try to get ones with an "F" on the end of the part number - they are as good as Genuine but better priced.

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