04 Disco II "Mel"

[Mark D]

I have to agree with MS_Disco, that is the dumbest place for the coil pack!

I have to give a shout out to one of the nicest guys in the used Rover parts world. He knows Rovers inside and out.


Abran:
Email or text.

abran.carrs4x4@gmail.com
949.413.7396

Mine is a 2004 G4, top hat motor


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[MS_Disco]

I have to agree with MS_Disco, that is the dumbest place for the coil pack!

I have to give a shout out to one of the nicest guys in the used Rover parts world. He knows Rovers inside and out.


Abran:
Email or text.

abran.carrs4x4@gmail.com
949.413.7396

Mine is a 2004 G4, top hat motor


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"When" I do my motor swap, that coil pack is definitely getting moved!! Along with quite a few other things!! I've got a few friends that work at Cummins, I'm seriously debating converting to their new 2.8 crate motor(trans swap too), I could do away with almost everything that drives us Disco folks nutts!! Otherwise I'll be going with a top hat motor myself.

OB#3799

 

[somerset-andy]

Didn't Land Rover offer the TD5 in the States?

 

[Hafaday]

Didn't Land Rover offer the TD5 in the States?

No Sir. We wish they did.

 

[somerset-andy]

Now I understand your problems. It's not a bad engine at all. Not a fast motor but plenty of torque, well that's the case with my Defender.

 

[somerset-andy]

That Cummins 2.8L motor does look very interesting though, I can understand why you guys are considering them.

 

[MS_Disco]

No Sir. We wish they did.

That thought has crossed my mind, I've found a few on ebay, and there are some rebuilders stateside that handle them, costs wise all the swaps I've looked at are about the same, deciding factor will be how much effort I want to put in. When it happens, I'll document it here for sure.

OB#3799

 

[somerset-andy]

If the Disco's hold their value in the states it worth considering the engine swap. I had a new chassis for my Defender this year but I could only do that as Defender value is just increasing like crazy.

 

[MS_Disco]

If the Disco's hold their value in the states it worth considering the engine swap. I had a new chassis for my Defender this year but I could only do that as Defender value is just increasing like crazy.

Discos are dirt cheap here, that's why we have no problem "customizing" them, they cost less than jeeps in my area. Stateside Defenders, however, cost more than most people's houses!! Lol

OB#3799

 

[Mark D]

Now I understand your problems. It's not a bad engine at all. Not a fast motor but plenty of torque, well that's the case with my Defender.

It is a bad motor. As I understand the story Rover built the Discovery they designed it the have the TD5 motor it was unable to pass emission laws in the US. Sooo, rover bought the tooling from GM for their Buick motor. Worn out tooling plus a poor design produced countless motor failures under warranty and countless more as the years have gone by. If you overheat the motor the liners will slip. First sign is that tick you read about. The head gaskets fail at about 100,000 miles, which leads to an overheated motor which leads too....

The tophat motor fixes the liner slip but they are still not a very good motor. One of the Rover parts stores are installing the Chevy 350 using all the stock Discovery ancillaries. But spending $12,000 on the conversion seems a bit crazy for a truck that is worth $4,000.

I hear a lot of people badmouth the Discovery. Their experience is limited to having a friend that had a bunch of problems and finally gave up and sold it. The drivetrain on the Discovery is very well built and they do great off-road. I love mine!


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[somerset-andy]

Discos are dirt cheap here, that's why we have no problem "customizing" them, they cost less than jeeps in my area. Stateside Defenders, however, cost more than most people's houses!! Lol

OB#3799

It's the same here, well maybe not as expensive as a house, but I know what you mean. I was toying with the idea of selling my Defender and getting a Disco for more comfort. Instead we sold the wife's car and bought her a Freelander.

 

[somerset-andy]

It is a bad motor. As I understand the story Rover built the Discovery they designed it the have the TD5 motor it was unable to pass emission laws in the US. Sooo, rover bought the tooling from GM for their Buick motor. Worn out tooling plus a poor design produced countless motor failures under warranty and countless more as the years have gone by. If you overheat the motor the liners will slip. First sign is that tick you read about. The head gaskets fail at about 100,000 miles, which leads to an overheated motor which leads too....

The tophat motor fixes the liner slip but they are still not a very good motor. One of the Rover parts stores are installing the Chevy 350 using all the stock Discovery ancillaries. But spending $12,000 on the conversion seems a bit crazy for a truck that is worth $4,000.

I hear a lot of people badmouth the Discovery. Their experience is limited to having a friend that had a bunch of problems and finally gave up and sold it. The drivetrain on the Discovery is very well built and they do great off-road. I love mine!


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Land Rover used the short block Chevy based engine from about 1970, I always thought they used the same lump until the Disco 3 came out.

I take your point with the cost of a new motor $12k.........that's a lot.

 

[Mark D]

This is a great source for info:

http://robisonservice.blogspot.com/2013/10/should-you-rebuild-or-replace-your-land.html?m=1

Looks like it is Lucky8 doing the conversion. No kit is available yet, they are only doing it in-house.


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[MS_Disco]

It is a bad motor. As I understand the story Rover built the Discovery they designed it the have the TD5 motor it was unable to pass emission laws in the US. Sooo, rover bought the tooling from GM for their Buick motor. Worn out tooling plus a poor design produced countless motor failures under warranty and countless more as the years have gone by. If you overheat the motor the liners will slip. First sign is that tick you read about. The head gaskets fail at about 100,000 miles, which leads to an overheated motor which leads too....

The tophat motor fixes the liner slip but they are still not a very good motor. One of the Rover parts stores are installing the Chevy 350 using all the stock Discovery ancillaries. But spending $12,000 on the conversion seems a bit crazy for a truck that is worth $4,000.

I hear a lot of people badmouth the Discovery. Their experience is limited to having a friend that had a bunch of problems and finally gave up and sold it. The drivetrain on the Discovery is very well built and they do great off-road. I love mine!


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I did my homework long before I decided to go down the Rover path, I was a Ford mechanic for over 20 yes, so engine rebuild or swap don't bother me at all, just don't like the downtime, I'd rather be in the woods!!!

OB#3799

 

[Jeff Blake]

Definitely check those piston heads. if any look steam cleaned, and the head gasket appeared fully intact, then there is a very good chance you have a crack in the cylinder bore. While in theory the top hats can fix the crack, I personally wouldn't spend the money to put top hats into a cracked block. Best bet is either a Turner Engineering reman long block, or source a "red" painted block (fitted in P38's and some later year discovery's) and put Darton sleeves in those (if any only if you have a trusted machinist who has done this work before OR ship it out to Q&E in LA, though they use LA sleeves instead of Darton, but either are fine as long as they are o-ring sealed at the bottom)

I did the top hats, and it was a good move. Loooong process, but worth it. I was offline for at least half a year. It's nice not having to worry about that anymore. What are your temps at?

I'm about to start a transfer case rebuild so I can finally have CDL. Woohoo. Also going to throw in a HD differential cross pin and 1.41 hi-range gears

 

[Mark D]

Definitely check those piston heads. if any look steam cleaned, and the head gasket appeared fully intact, then there is a very good chance you have a crack in the cylinder bore. While in theory the top hats can fix the crack, I personally wouldn't spend the money to put top hats into a cracked block. Best bet is either a Turner Engineering reman long block, or source a "red" painted block (fitted in P38's and some later year discovery's) and put Darton sleeves in those (if any only if you have a trusted machinist who has done this work before OR ship it out to Q&E in LA, though they use LA sleeves instead of Darton, but either are fine as long as they are o-ring sealed at the bottom)

I did the top hats, and it was a good move. Loooong process, but worth it. I was offline for at least half a year. It's nice not having to worry about that anymore. What are your temps at?

I had Q&E do the sleeves. They are minutes from where I work.

I also did the Chevy thermostat conversion which stabilized my temps. I run 184 most of the time. It climbs to 204 when I am going up a grade. Huge improvement over the 220-230 temps I got before the rebuild. I did the rebuild and thermostat conversion at the same time. I am looking for someone who has a factory oil cooler since a lot of my travels are in the Southern California desert.


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[Jeff Blake]

Temps are always a battle for sure. Fresh after my rebuild, and replacing the whole cooling system, I was at 215-225. Very bummed. Turned out to be a stuck OEM 180 t-stat. Replaced that and I'm now 194-203. 203 at idle on a hot day or climbing grades. I'm pretty happy with that, but I keep hearing about people getting 188 or lower with stock setup and I just don't understand how. For some reason I've never been keen on the inline-stat mod. 20 degrees is a big temp swing, I think I'd rather be running +/- 10 degrees at a bit higher temp. I may try an HD fan and clutch first

 

[MS_Disco]

Temps are always a battle for sure. Fresh after my rebuild, and replacing the whole cooling system, I was at 215-225. Very bummed. Turned out to be a stuck OEM 180 t-stat. Replaced that and I'm now 194-203. 203 at idle on a hot day or climbing grades. I'm pretty happy with that, but I keep hearing about people getting 188 or lower with stock setup and I just don't understand how. For some reason I've never been keen on the inline-stat mod. 20 degrees is a big temp swing, I think I'd rather be running +/- 10 degrees at a bit higher temp. I may try an HD fan and clutch first

I've done the fan/clutch and the inline thermostat conversion, used to run 225+ on the highway, now I'm 184-190 in town and 194-205 highway, and that's with 95 outside temps and a/c running max. Plus I've played with drilling multiple holes in the 180 Chevy thermostat, I can dial the temp up or down 5 degrees as needed. I also carry an extra in case it ever sticks, can swap one out in 5 minutes with almost no water loss. Can you tell I love to tinker [emoji6]

OB#3799

 

[Jeff Blake]

Interesting that the run cooler in town. I'm the exact opposite. Once I get some speed, temps drop huge. Could indicate I need a better fan eh? Even on hills it's usually always below 200.
What fan/clutch are you running?

You might have sold me on the swap w/ no water loss. Ugh swapping the stock stat is such a pain in the ass!

 

[Mark D]

The thing I like best about the Chevy 180 is how it sits at 183 on the trail. I can let it idle all day and it never gets above 190. I drilled one 3/32" hole to let air out.


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