Silly questions about Discos

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EMB - 26 Feb 2006 20:00 GMT

After much arm twisting SWMBO has decided that the idea of driving a
Disco has some appeal. Can anyone give me a brief rundown (or point me
to one online) of the major changes/dates during the Disco I lifespan?

I'd also appreciate some feedback about how well auto tdi Discos perform
and what sort of economy to expect.

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EMB

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Richard Brookman - 26 Feb 2006 21:13 GMT

...and EMB spake unto the tribes of Usenet, saying...

> I'd also appreciate some feedback about how well auto tdi Discos
> perform and what sort of economy to expect.

Not all that well, and not all that good, TBH. After owning one for 9
months and towing a caravan round France with one, I have concluded that the
Tdi engine may be marvellous in many applications, but it does not suit an
autobox. The autobox lets it rev very freely, even when you don't want it
to - on some slight uphill stretches on the autoroutes it never made it to
4th gear. I don't think the Tdi has enough spare power to overcome all the
losses in the auto transmission and still perform adequately. Overall fuel
consumption was 23mpg, towing gave a tad over 20. And I'm not heavy-footed.
A Jeremy Fearn intercooler and chip gave some improvement, but not enough
for me to feel happy about it.

An early Td5 would be a better bet - a much stronger engine and a
better-built vehicle altogether.

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Rich
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Derek - 26 Feb 2006 23:39 GMT

> After much arm twisting SWMBO has decided that the idea of driving a Disco
> has some appeal. Can anyone give me a brief rundown (or point me to one
> online) of the major changes/dates during the Disco I lifespan?

It should be in the reviews section at http://www.parkers.co.uk/choosing
sorry I cant link straight to the page but that bit is titsup at the moment
or this which looks more exhaustive ( no pun intended) and might give you an
idea of pricing http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~lloyd/4/LandRover/Discovery/
Derek
"I'm being stalked by Ebay"

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Vincenzoni Attilio, Esq. - 01 Mar 2006 20:20 GMT

Discovery 1 comes in two flavors, 200Tdi (1989-1994) and 300 Tdi
(1995-1999). The first has the input gear problem, the second has the
cambelt problem. the 300 Tdi is all but sporty, but it has plenty of torque.

As for realiability i can only speak well of LR, my 300 Tdi has put 330.000
on the clock with ordinary maintenance. Never failed while on route.

> I'd also appreciate some feedback about how well auto tdi Discos perform

Dunno, mine is manual.

> and what sort of economy to expect.

12-13 km/L when young, now abt 11 km/L average.

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Austin Shackles - 04 Mar 2006 11:47 GMT

>> After much arm twisting SWMBO has decided that the idea of driving a Disco
>> has some appeal. Can anyone give me a brief rundown (or point me to one
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>(1995-1999). The first has the input gear problem, the second has the
>cambelt problem. the 300 Tdi is all but sporty, but it has plenty of torque.

not actually quite true. You can still get input gear problems on early 300
TDi ones - the same trouble with lack of lubrication, and the same solution
- cross-drilled gear. I forget when they started fitting the cross-drilled
gear in the factory to LT230 T-boxes, but it was, IIRC, after the
introduction of the R380 box at the beginning of 300TDis.

FWIW, in terms of gear shift at the user end, I preferred the LT77 myself

:-)

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Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
Satisfying: Satisfy your inner child by eating ten tubes of Smarties
from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

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Pantelis Giamarellos - 05 Mar 2006 08:00 GMT

Austin Hi,

1995 is supposed to be the model year of the introduction of the cross
drilled input gear but several vehicles of this model year were fitted with
LT230 tboxes with out the drilled gear.

Another solution which is easier and more cost effective and can be
retrofitted to older Tboxes without replacement of the input gear is to fit
the oil feeder plate the Steve Parker fabricates and sells. I have tried it
on several vehicles of fellow members (about 30 up until now) and always got
very good results in extending the life of those LT230 tboxes and quitening
down the whine.

The 200Tdi engine is a bit more fuel efficient in terms of fuel consumption
and easier to tweak especially when compared with the electronicaly
controlled 300Tdi ones. 300Tdi engines tend to be a bit quiter and have
relatively cheaper spares on most occasions.

Take care
Pantelis

> >> After much arm twisting SWMBO has decided that the idea of driving a Disco
> >> has some appeal. Can anyone give me a brief rundown (or point me to one
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> Satisfying: Satisfy your inner child by eating ten tubes of Smarties
> from the Little Book of Complete B***ocks by Alistair Beaton.

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