Land Rover Discovery question

[woa2]

I know I have asked this question before, but I need confirmation.

 

I am considering buying a Land Rover Discovery V8 (with LPG) as my next car (in a year or 2), and I am thinking of using it to tow a trailer with my Ford WOA2 on it. The WOA2 weighs a few pounds under 1.5 tons (info from official manual). I do not have a trailer yet, so estimates only. Will this work? What do the experts think?

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

I know I have asked this question before, but I need confirmation.

 

I am considering buying a Land Rover Discovery V8 (with LPG) as my next car (in a year or 2), and I am thinking of using it to tow a trailer with my Ford WOA2 on it. The WOA2 weighs a few pounds under 1.5 tons (info from official manual). I do not have a trailer yet, so estimates only. Will this work? What do the experts think?

Depending on the weight of the trailer you could be close to the legal max.If it has been run on gas or you convert it you will probably regret it.we have covered the problems else where on the forum cant remember where.A gas conversion buys a lot of petrol.Gas is for cooking.:shake:

[Edd]

Assuming something like an Ifor williams trailer then you are looking at 1000kg for the trailer and about 1500kg for the car. Discovery has a towing limit of 3500kg so well within it's capacity and the law. Assuming that you have the old style licence.

 

Ed

[ajmac]

My Dad fitted a sequential gas injection system on his 1999 4.0 Range Rover in 2006, with a Gen 2 Rangie you can get a 90L tank in the spare wheel well, you wouldn't know it has been converted. He loves it.

A Disco I or II is a different beast, you need sequential injection if you have a Disco II or III (Expensive). Then the biggest problem is the lack of space for the new tank. IMHO you don't want an LPG tank cluttering up the boot, I think they can be fitted in place of the fuel tank on IIs and IIIs but again expensive.

 

Get a TD5/6 and be done with it.

[Tony B]

Check the floor in the back throughly!!!!! They rot like good 'uns! Some Land Rover traits never change. Early Discos are going about the £330 £400 mark.

[Degsy]

Check the floor in the back throughly!!!!! They rot like good 'uns! Some Land Rover traits never change. Early Discos are going about the £330 £400 mark.

 

 

As long as the rest of the vehicle is good I wouldn't worry about the rear floor, new parts are readily available. It's not an expensive job and by no means all Discos suffer from this problem.

[listerdiesel]

We bought a Disco 2 V8 specifically because of the towing abilities. It is a 5-speed manual box.

 

Our vehicle has Zavoli Multipoint LPG and runs the same as on petrol. We have a few Lambda sensor issues, and we would recommend anyone with these vehicles to get a diagnostics reader, they save you a fortune in garage bills for diagnostics. We bought two, one for the Discovery interface and one for the Zavoli LPG ECU.

 

We have two X 30 litre sill tanks plus the original petrol tank. We are adding a 110litre extra gas tank inside the back behind the seats, and will try and make that QD in some form in case we need to use all of the space. Tanks give 80% of their nominal capacity.

 

MPG is 15-18 depending on how heavy your foot is, LPG is 49.9p a litre locally, so equivalent to 30mpg approx.

 

We have just put a short engine into it as it has a clapped 4.6 when we bought it. It is a 1999 facelift model.

 

Peter

Edited August 4, 2009 by listerdiesel

[v8 bubba]

forget the disco and go for a toyota landcruiser it will mop the floor with anything else

[Tony B]

Isuzu diseil 3.1 turbo that's the beast! The Montery (Vauxhall) also has the 3.1 Isuzu lump despite the names.

[Degsy]

Isuzu diseil 3.1 turbo that's the beast! The Montery (Vauxhall) also has the 3.1 Isuzu lump despite the names.

 

You cannot be serious, that engine has inherent problems that cannot be solved. Last I heard on it was that if you needed a replacement they were only available in bits which cost in the region of £13,000 plus the cost of building and fitting.

[Tony B]

You cannot be serious, that engine has inherent problems that cannot be solved. Last I heard on it was that if you needed a replacement they were only available in bits which cost in the region of £13,000 plus the cost of building and fitting.

 

News to me! I got about 250.000 that I know of on one, it came out of a write off, no known history. Repair costs have been one rebuilt injector. It is in old Range Rover, basically run the vehicle till it falls apart, then stick engine in another body.

[listerdiesel]

Isuzu diesel 3.1 turbo that's the beast! The Montery (Vauxhall) also has the 3.1 Isuzu lump despite the names.

 

The vauxhall was a rebadged Isuzu Trooper, nothing else, it came in from the Isuzu factory with the badges changed. GM owned a chunk of Isuzu and sold their trucks in other markets such as Australia under the Bedford name.

 

The 3.0 Litre diesel was the one that had problems with diesel getting into the sump, the 3.1 had camshaft problems. Both were a factory warranty recall if I remember correctly, so there shouldn't be any rogue motors out there these days. One of our suppliers in Luton had a SWB Monterey and he had the camshaft problems.

 

You're going back 10 years or more now to the Monterey.

 

Peter

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

Since 1974 have seen the gas come and go and each system leave a trail of devestation behind it.Todays systems are streaks ahead ,but not without there problems,oxygen sensors are expensive and can be a casualty of gas.some systems only use one of the original sensors ,this defaults the petrol ecu so that next time on petrol it runs on get you home:argh:i have lost count of the number of v8s we have had in o/heating

all fitted with gas.the pipes they use for the heating of the gas unit can be spured in to the heater pipes without much thought about circulation causing loss of water air locking and blown h/gaskets block cracking.The plastic tee pieces they use allways seem to leak.Viscious fan,radiator etc all have to be like new .I have seen the results of some good bangs,air cleaners blown to pices,air flow meters blown the bottoms off.interconecting pipes etc.The ignition system needs to be spot on or this is what happens.You really need different plugs better leads and the system should use different timing to the petrol,this should be automatic on switch over.Gas is for cooking,i wouldnt have it for free.Get a crate of Ceramic sealer in ready for when the water loss starts.Buy a diesel cheaper in the long run.:sweat:

[v8 bubba]

the izuzu 3.0 is the bad engine the 3.1 is solid

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

.The 3.0 Litre diesel was the one that had problems with diesel getting into the sump,

This seems to be a common occurance on Japanese diesel engines,that said BMW as well.I have noticed they like to lay pumps on there side that were originally suposed to be upright.the side thrust then prematurely wears the bush and the seal cant cope. More Myths busted.:coffee:

[Degsy]

You're dead right in all you say CW but for some reason people seem to prefer to listen to some bloke they met in a pub rather than the mechanics who know the faults and have to try and glue these disasters back together. And 'its how much, oh no I'm not paying that, it didn't need all that doing' etc etc. This of course after they have been warned in advance of the possible cost and have given the go ahead.:argh:

[Guest catweazle (Banned Member)]

You're dead right in all you say CW but for some reason people seem to prefer to listen to some bloke they met in a pub rather than the mechanics who know the faults and have to try and glue these disasters back together. And 'its how much, oh no I'm not paying that, it didn't need all that doing' etc etc. This of course after they have been warned in advance of the possible cost and have given the go ahead.:argh:

Fresh in today all the usual symptoms.Has it got gas? :whistle:Just tell it as i find it ,i expect some people have been lucky and not had trouble,But i feel its a bit like riding around in a time bomb.Incidently the people who sell and fit this stuff deny all knowledge of any problems.I have found several ECU related probs due to there hacking into wiring looms.At £2.500 a go it buys a lot of petrol ,i suspect the owners would of disposed of the vehicle before it broke even,the tax on gas will go up and up as the government slowly remove the allowance,this was stated right from the start.A real sickenor for London congestion parking is ,unless its factory fitted duel fuel you get no allowance.Gas is for cooking.:argh:

[SARGE AJ]

Got a nice Gas conversion on a V8 110 if you are intrested, come and take it off for £250.00 fully working and compleate.

 

Andy.

[Marmite!!]

unless its factory fitted duel fuel you get no allowance.

 

Not entirely correct.. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/CC-discount-alternative-fuel.pdf.pdf

 

 

[Lord Burley]

Another one here who is not a fan of L.P.G conversions. Had a multipoint sequential system fitted on my previous Ram. It never ran right and would constantly throw the emmisions light up. Coupled with the fact it used to rattle the cats(not Cw or Pw).I had the system checked by a number of specialists who all said it was fine?????.

 

A friend of mine had it fitted brand new on a Ford F150 Harley Davidson. After 26,000mls it had to have a full engine re-build due to damage caused by it constantly being run on gas

[H1HU]

I've run two 4litre Jeep Cherokees on LPG for over 10 years and 230,000 miles without any problems. If I hadn't had the conversions done I wouldn't have been able to drive the car of my choice. However I was told at the time that the inline 6 was by far the best engine to convert. It is also crucial that the engine to be converted short be a low miler. Not recommended of high mileage engines.

 

I have heard of horror stories concerning conversions to Discovery V8's, not so much the standard of conversion but the effects LPG has on the engines.

 

Sure the tax will rise on LPG but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy driving the vehicle I choose to drive, rather than the one I am dictated to drive due to the cost of fuel and because it is young and has low emmissions.

 

H1HU

[cpltomo]

I had a v8 3.5 ing lpg disco for a few years. Ran great. Only problem i had with the engine was the oil pump gave up and when the light came on i thought "oh bad sensor" and keep driving it made it home about 7 miles before it seized solid. But a second hand engine only cost me £250 and a day two fit.

The disco 1 (200/300 series) do rot on the boot floors and around the back doors by the wheel arch and inner wings at the front. All easy to fix. Sold thet one now got a 300 tdi disco but do miss the sound of the v8.

As for towing yet no problem. Pulled a 40ton artic with me old v8.

And yes mine do get used off road big time.