Disco 1 vs Disco 3 (LR3)

[Carson G]

I bought the LR3 from my LR master tech friend and he had gone over it, new control arms, EAS compressor, coolant tank, wiring before I bought it.

Yeah, as I had access to parts to swap in/out, we tried both centre and front valve block, even swapped in Arnott airbags and I paid to have an air line replaced but she still kept dropping. The odometer sitting at about 230,000 miles when I sold it on.

Yup, maybe I got a lemon but I like the feel in my pocketbook with only a $250 outlay for vehicle maintenance in just under two years and being able to use regular gas.

That said, when we recover from this Covid and I get back to lighting concerts, I'll be putting some cash aside in case a nice D1 magically appears. Lord knows I've got enough parts in my basement from stripping two of them to keep it running for years

Did you pull fuse 26 during diagnosis? It keeps the vehicle from auto leveling. You said you only did front and center valves my money is on it being the rear valve. Both my front and rear were leaking on mine at 101k.

 

[gabrielef]

Did you pull fuse 26 during diagnosis? It keeps the vehicle from auto leveling. You said you only did front and center valves my money is on it being the rear valve. Both my front and rear were leaking on mine at 101k.

A front droop wouldn’t result from a faulty rear block though. The front and rear are tied together by the center block.


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[Carson G]

A front droop wouldn’t result from a faulty rear block though. The front and rear are tied together by the center block.


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If the rear block is leaking and the truck is still allowed to auto level the front will drop as well in order to keep the truck level. Pulling fuse 26 shuts down the EAS system and keeps the auto leveling from happening, this way you can determine which corner of the vehicle is dropping. If the front two drop relatively evenly it’s the front block same situation with the rear. Now if just one corner is dropping then it’s most likely a strut or an air line.

 

[Colin Hughes]

Didn't pull fuse 26, just left the drivers door open. After the P38, the LR3 was the nicest vehicle to drive on the highway I've owned. We did a full circle tour of Lake Superior and did a couple of good ten plus hours trips pulling our teardrop trailer.

 

[DiscoDavis]

I’ll counter @DiscoDavis, as daily D1 driver who sold a ‘14 FJ to get into a ‘99 D1.

A D1 is magnificently simple to keep on the road. I purchased mine for $800 and assumed it needed EVERYTHING I could poss replace on it. I put several weeks of time into changing all the fluids, rebuilt both axles including brakes, rebuilt both driveshafts, replaced every suspension bushing and all shocks, all the rod ends, new tires, aligned it, and replacing all the engine’s hoses, belts, gaskets, and ignition components, and O2 sensors.

Around 35 days from limping it home I drove it to Tobermory, Ontario(1600 miles round trip) it averaged 16mpg on the trip which is only .2 mpg worse than the 14 year newer FJ it replaced. To register in my county/state it has to have the check engine light off, so getting it running in good order was top priority so I could get tags on it. It has been a phenomenal daily driver. The interior looks hammered, but the factory radio, heat, AC, heated seats, and controls all function regardless of appearance. I’ve put 30k miles on it so far and am planning on many, many more.

It sounds like you got lucky.

On the D1 I had, it was worse.
1) broken interior, super beat, the hard to find base model 1993-1996 interior
2) needed new trans
3) needed new t box
4) needed new front axle
5) needed rear diff and shafts
6) needed all prop shafts rebuilt
7) needed new plugs and wires
8) needed new water pump (exploded)
9) needed new 02 sensors
10) needed new fuel pump
11) needed new front grill piece
12) needed all body and axle bushings done
13) needed all tie rod ends
14) needed power steering pump (the expensive RR one)
15) the engine also needed most of the top end seals done
16) needed alternator

off the top of my head. This was YEARS of work with either me sourcing or a mechanic finding to make the car work and it was daily driven. I got to the point where I literally had spare axles, spare t boxes, spare trans laying in storage waiting to go in this thing. The gas models are just not what the diesel ones are.

My 110? barely any problems, like keeping a lawnmower running. The build quality is not night and day but more apples to oranges.