Member Since: 19 Dec 2010
Location: Henfield, West Sussex
Posts: 22
Time to say goodbye - I think
OK I think I've suffered a "bong" too far and its time to say goodbye to my 55plate TDV6 S
Before making any hasty decisions I wanted to get the forum's advice
Situation is this:
A few months ago I had the park brake fault and loss of gear indication indicating X-Y sensor loss of cal. Re-cal and think nothing more of it, fault doesn't recur
For a while after that car had "suspension raising slowly" if demanding offload height, and then eventually suspension fault as soon as key on. Turned out suspension compressor motor was totally burned out; looks like it had been on permanently for some time. Have rebuilt with a donor compressor off eBay, new dessicant granules, new seal kit etc. all looking good. Plug it back in, still suspension raising slowly. That's OK I think, probably need to strip and blow out the pneumatic valves. I also borrowed a mates fault code reader and discover that rear right level switch seems to read wildly different to all the others , so OK I think (again) maybe that needs changing; maybe that's why compressor on all the time. Psych myself up to do the pneumatic valves and replace the level sensor
In the meantime I've taken it for a drive and again the PB fault loss of X-Y, and what is the final nail, it appears the clutch is slipping. I know that repeated PB/X-Y faults can be indicative of clutch on the way out. Heart sinks...
Get quote for £1200 to do clutch. Heart sinks further. Is that a typical price (that's clutch & FW)?
Do I have the will to lie under the damned thing and do the clutch myself? Not really - a few years ago I might have been up for it, but with winter coming, worst possible time to be lying on my back swearing. Frankly my heart's not in it
So as I see it I have some options, for a car which must be worth £2000-2500 max?
1) find some kind soul to do a clutch for less than £1200, such that it becomes cost effective to sell it on as a runner and make some money (anyone technician local to SE england/sussex?)
2) strip it for parts - although this would be extremely difficult for me as I don't have storage/parking facilities to have people steadily reduce it to bare bones - even though that would probably maximise return
3) sell it as is for some brave soul to take on
4) sell to scrapper and wash my hands of it
5) any other bright ideas?
I had hoped it would hang on in there a bit longer. Will be sad to say goodbye but the last year or so has just been waiting for the next "bong"
Thanks in advance for any tips (ideally helpful)
29th Oct 2019 10:25 pm
Bicycle repairman
Member Since: 18 Sep 2019
Location: Cumbria
Posts: 188
Ask you self one question do you need such a car ? If so what would you replace it with for £1200
I'd probably go for option 1 all old cars need work you could by another motor and still have to spend two grand on it
29th Oct 2019 10:39 pm
Moo D3 Decade
Member Since: 13 Aug 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 14493
£1200 is the about right for a clutch.
Sadly you are amongst the growing crowd of new / newish D3 owners that have bought these cars cheap. Many don't realise what it needs and costs to keep them running. Whilst they are great to have when they work well, they can be a bottomless pit. You need an IID as a minimum and a really good independent to keep it going. Also, the more they are used the better they behave.D4 HSE EU6 (Known as Jeeves)
New Defender L663 110 SE (known as Noddy!) Sold
Sold Volvo XC90 R-Design (known as Basil)
Sold - D4 HSE (Known as Gerty)
No longer the Old Buses original owner
231,000 miles and counting
05 S manual owned from March 2005
D4 Face lifted
Still original injectors and turbo
V8 Front brakes
BAS Remap, Allisport Intercooler and deCat
EGRs blanked
T-Max split charge
Hanibal Expeedition rack
Prospeed ladder
Duratrac tyres
IID BT
BAS FBH control
30th Oct 2019 12:21 pm
rich11235
Member Since: 19 Dec 2010
Location: Henfield, West Sussex
Posts: 22
Thanks for confirming the clutch cost
You make a few presumptions which are not necessarily true - I've owned the car for 9 years so hardly a "new/newish D3 owner who have bought the car cheap", and during those 9 years I have been fully aware of what it needs and costs to keep running. I have done my fair share of DIY to keep the costs manageable, but the bottomless pit definitely seems an apt description. So at some point there must come a decision to stop pouring money into the pit and enter the "end of life care" phase - which is where I am at
30th Oct 2019 6:34 pm
Biffysun
Member Since: 09 Jul 2011
Location: Central
Posts: 1790
Ask you self one question do you need such a car ? If so what would you replace it with for £1200
Wot he said. £1200 could buy you a total lemon. Might not ... but who knows ?.
Dean
====================================
2011 D4 XS - OBD port protection, RLD spare wheel protector, All LED interiors lights, Timed Climate enabled, iiD tool paired.
2011 D4 Landmark - Stolen from same dealer before I paid for it
2011 D4 GS - Stolen whilst at dealer ... All LED interiors lights, DRLs, Spare Wheel protector.
1996 300Tdi - Eaten by tin worms
30th Oct 2019 7:11 pm
rich11235
Member Since: 19 Dec 2010
Location: Henfield, West Sussex
Posts: 22
Just to be clear I'm not intending to replace it with a £1200 car. I don't really need such a car as a Disco 3 any more - family car options are moving in a different direction. Hence the dilemma about whether to patch up and sell on or just sell as non-runner spares/repair, or just scrap it
30th Oct 2019 7:17 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73135
Re “money pit” description, it’s totally apt. These decisions are never based on “£1,200 and she’ll be fixed”, it’s more like “£1,200 now, what’s in store next week”. Before my D3 was stripped and then scrapped it was like a constant wave of bills, incl a gearbox rebuild 4,000 miles before the engine died. I made the mistake of thinking she’d go on for ever with the right amount of TLC, I believe the phrase in selling adds is “no expense spared”. Do I miss the old girl? Of course. Do I miss the complete LR ownership experience? Absolutely not.
31st Oct 2019 2:09 am
rich11235
Member Since: 19 Dec 2010
Location: Henfield, West Sussex
Posts: 22
That's pretty much where I am DSL, spot on. So how did you dispose of yours?
31st Oct 2019 8:06 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 73135
Mine died well over 2,000 miles from home in a place called Sortland in NW Norway on a road trip. I got flown back to the UK by AA and then drove my D4 up to recover what I could.
This is how she looked when I left her to be scrapped. Luckily in Norway it’s pretty straight forward, and free, to scrap a foreign car. I just had to pay to get it to the official recycling centre.
Click image to enlarge
Click image to enlarge
And what my D4 looked like with all my camping gear, plus what is stripped from Dark Bluie.
Click image to enlarge
Then sold off most of the parts.
31st Oct 2019 8:17 am
mark the spark
Member Since: 22 Jun 2011
Location: southampton
Posts: 2531
i paid £850 for the clutch at a local indy althought that was 4 years ago pricing.
at 14 years old its a dead duck and time for the scrapper unless your into the tinkering thing . its the time money effort thing so a personal choice
youve had 9 great disco years MY05 SE D3 Manual my first LR what a car
MY10 HSE D4 auto
MY14 XXV more buttons than the spaceshuttle
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
