Ideas on Water proof your Electrics

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this question. It was a toss up between this forum and the General Chat one. I just thought that my question may get more exposure here?

I have a 96 Disco which is mainly used as an off-raod plaything. Creature comforts and day to day useability aren't exactly high on my list of prioritys for this vehicle.

A couple of months back I sunk for the first time whilst at a local Pay & Play site, and I mean properly sunk, leaving my interior looking like a car park at Glastonbery.

Since then I have had a lot of welding work done and I am looking at doing something to not only make the interior easier to clean out, but also protect the electrics.

I was thinking of locating the ECU inside of a battery box like this; Standard Battery Boxes | Battery Boxes | Demon Tweeks Motorsport, Motorcycle, Modifying, Parts and Accessories then sealing it up with sealent, in an effort to keep it dry, just incase I do a Titanic impression again.:o

I was thinking of painting the floor with some kind of rubberised safety paint, then putting rubber load bay liner / footwell mats over the top. Could any of you guys reccomend a paint or paint supplier to use? I will also be adding a couple of drain points front and rear, simply by drilling a hole, welding a nut over the hole, then inserting a bolt into it. Is there any easier ways that I could incorporate drain holes into the floor?

But the one think that I am unsure about is how to protect the wiring looms that run along the floor and behind the transmission cover? If any of you chaps could give me some pointers, then it would be appreciated.

And before anyone points out the obvious of not going in deep water to begin with, I have thought of that, but just cant see the fun in not doing so. :D

In advance, many thanks.

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LR Discovery Common Problems

The Land Rover Discovery is a good vehicle, has impressive off road capabilities and can allow the whole family to all enjoy the trip. There is ample room for the Driver, passenger, the kids and two dogs with enough room to spare to pack a picnic.

It does however have some common niggles; which isn't any different to other vehicles I suppose. On the Discovery they are known to be:

Gear crunch. Usually into either reverse, first or second. Most commonaly this is stated in ebay adds as "starting to niggle into 2nd" shortly followed by "it doesn't bother me, so I've left it". What this probably means is this; 'My synchromesh has started to (or has) worn and as I can't or don't want to pay for the gearbox to be dropped, striped and synch replaced - I just keep crunching the gear hoping that I don't do any more damage'. Having siad that, years ago - nothing had synchro, so we all had to learn to 'drive'. I suppose, today, we simply dip the clutch and expect everything to fly in.

Steering Wobble or shimmy. Your driving along at say 50mph or so, hit a bump in the road (which is unavoidable) and you end up having to juggle with the steering wheel to keep the car straight as she attempts to wobble all over the place. There are a few reasons for this, one of which could be play in the stabalisation bar. Land Rover Club.net has a page that talks more about this HERE.

Rust. The boot floor, rear X members, chassis mounts, rear wheel iner door wells (just inside the 90 bend), the front foot wells and iner wings. Although not as bad as the Range Rover, you still need to get to grips with it, before you end up having a lot of welding work for an MOT.

Boot inspection is either by getting your head under the back end or better still - lifting the rear carpet and cover to inspect the floor. Replacement sills are available at about £60 and should cost around £200 to weld in (unless you can do this yourself). The X member can be beefed up and the front floors can be patched (if caught in time) easily, unless you need a patch in the very front corner of the foot well, then you have access problems with the driver peddles. But its still feasible. The front iner wings are simply after market kits.

The BEST solution is to simply WASH your car after being off road, and try and not let mud 'store' in creases, and areas which can hold water - it will only rot the car in time.

Engine Noise. This can be the tappets or other engine ware issues. But commonly - its either the Vacuum pump (£85 replacement unit), a lift pump (£35) or a blown injector washer. One of the easiest ways to test this is to place one end of a long screw driver on the part being tested, and place your ear on the handle end and listen, You will clearly hear the clicking sound of the part which is faulty. All parts shouldn't take more than an hour to fix.

Smoke. The tdi engines tend to produce smoke if not looked after or sometimes can be traced to a faulty EGR valve sticking open. This later can either be replaced or removed and blanked off (covered soon).

Front seat collapse. The Driver seats usually go first as expected due to the level of use, anlong with the seat wall on the outer side loosing its 'stifness'. There are enough spares around to replace the seat with a new one, but expect this to fail unless you know the miles its done. Otherwise, a repair will be needed.

Electrics. Electric windows usually stick. This fault seams to be split between switches or actuator. The dash clock normally goes 'loopy' or looses bits of its self. The radio can stop working, and if fitted - the CD changer can cause battery drain.

Sunroof leak. Either electric or manual. Two manual setups are seen. Manual lift or crank. All are prone to seal failure resulting in being rained on inside.

Dash curl. The dash on the 300 will at some time start curling up. This is common and can be fixed with a kit for about £50. Its an absolute PIG to fit though.

Now - with all these faults - you might ask WHY OH WHY would anyone own such a vehicle. Simple. Its Brilliant, confitable and pending the niggling faults - pritty reliable. One thing I have found , is that LR's tend to keep going even with faults where other vehicles stop at the first thing going wrong. If you find a LR with everything working and no oil leaks... then It's never been used, probbly still in the dealer or a picture in the catalogue. For the oil leak - there is a saying. If your LR is not leaking - there is no oil in it. lol!

Offroad LR Ice River Drive Vid

How to (LR Discovery EGR Removal)

I'm not going to write a complete post on this as there is already a very good guide available by Simon Ward-Hastelow, 20th Jan 2007 via Difflock HERE (Direct link to guide).

I would however add the following points.

If your going to be taking off the pipes, replacing them with new ones, I would suggest you might want to also flush your intercooler out and fit a Hyclone, and replace your turbo pipes whilst your under the bonnet. Keep your eye out for posts on intercooler flushing (rss and atom feeds available). Both the Hyclone and Turbo pipes can be bought via Ebay or other retail outlets.

Flushing your intercooler will clean it out and allow your engine or turbo to breath. If you don't, then your simply going to be pumping oily gunk down your new pipes (I know you will at some point anyway, but the whole point is to limit this as long as possible).

Replacing the turbo pipes ensures that you will not be suffering from turbo hose weeping and gives you an ideal opportunity to insert a Hyclone into the pipe.

Although, it may seam overkill - I'd also consider replacing the viscus fan with an electric type which will assist in increasing fuel mpg and allow you to control when water crossing. I appreciate that for some, removing the egr is all you want to do which is fine.

The EGR tends to fail by sticking open. Some symptoms of this is smoking or sluggish performance. On removal, reports indicate that you get improved performance and mpg without effecting the MOT. Combine this with 'De-Cating' (covered in the future) and you end up getting closer to the preferred performance of the tdi.

Don't forget, if you havn't already - why not subscribe so you don't miss out on new posts.

How to (LR Discovery Extra 25bhp)

Did you know that the fuel pump on the Land Rover Discovery can be adjusted to give you an extra 25 BHP? Well it can. The advantages of this will be noted by automatic owners as myself, as it can reduce the 'pull away' at junctions.

This is at your own risk! - I'd do some more research before doing anything.

So, how's it done?

1. Reduce the waste gate rod by about 6 mm to raise the turbo pressure to 16 psi. This is quite easy on the 200tdi engine (but you'll find it a bit of a pig on the 300) *Note* Try not to loose the circlip and loosen the locking nut first.


2. Make a length of 1/2 inc bar with a slot in the end to push the rod back into place (essential on a 300).


3. Use a gauge to measure the pressure by placing a 'T' piece in pipe leading to the injection pump. You will find that a fuel pressure gauge is often the cheapest to buy.


4. Remove the four screws from the power valve on top of the pump. The top of the plate will spring up, notice how far it rises on top of the spring, (say 7mm) and remove the cover.


5. You will see a black diaphragm. Mark its position relative to the casing with tipex or similar, then remove the diaphragm by lifting the edges and pulling up.


6. Remove the spring underneath. *Note* Do not move the throttle when the diaphragm is out.


7. At the bottom of the cavity you will see a toothed wheel. You need to screw this down, to reduce the lift in the top plate to about 3mm ( 7 - 4 =3 ).


8. After the above adjustment, re-fit everything to check the lift. In some cases, it may be required to remove the ali wheel and grind some off the bottom to get it to go down enough. If you examine the shaft on the diaphragm. You should see an off centre cut out, at the bottom. Re-fit the diaphragm with the deepest part of the cut out towards the rear of the vehicle. This will give you max fuel. *Note* Don't forget the spring, and to check you still have some lift in the top plate as you screw it down.

If you experience some smoke, then you have two choices. a) Increase the turbo pressure or b) Reduce the fuel a little by rotating the diaphragm either clockwise or anticlockwise respectively. No adjustment should be needed for MOT testing as C02 is relatively low to start with (assuming of course you have looked after your engine).

It is advised not to adjust the screw under the brass cap or the main fuel adjuster at the rear. This may partially increase the fuel, but is not needed here.

In summary 3 things are changed:

• Turbo Pressure;
• Diaphragm Rotation; and
• Spring Pressure.

This is not for the faint hearted though, unless you know what your doing, and your engine is in good condition, you may damage your Cylinder Head Gasket or Radiator or Header tank. Remember that Header Tanks splitting causes over heating, which in turn causes Head Gasket failure.

LR Discovery History

The Land Rover Discovery was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1989, and marked a major departure from previous Land Rover vehicles by targeting the passenger and family 4x4 market. Which for those of you who have ever been in a series i, ii or iii will understand very quickly.lol

Although this market barely existed when the Discovery was designed, the timing was perfect for the British market which quickly took to the new vehicle.

Unlike Land Rover's previous products, the Discovery was capable of competing against the family car, boasting a comfortable ride and an interior designed by Sir Terrence Conran. It could also compete in terms of power and performance with the now-famous Rover 3.5l V8. For a diesel option, the 200TDi direct-injection turbo diesel engine was introduced. This boasted impressive economy (in its day, which by todays standards is fair at approximately 30mpg), and best-in-class performance, although it was slightly noisier than diesels in competing vehicles. But still less than a defender.

Even though it was aimed at an essentially family market, the Discovery still boasted the best-in-class off road ability that the Land Rover has come to symbolise. As well as powerful engine options, a transfer case and locking centre differential were fitted. The 100" wheelbase chassis was fitted with coil spring suspension. Its the coil springs that allowed for this offroad capability development.

Probably the oddest feature of the first Discoveries was that they only came in a 3-door version! Very strange for what was marketed as a durable large family vehicle. The Range Rover was also initially built with only 3 doors. In that case, it was because of concerns about the rigidity of the body whilst driving off-road. This might have been the reason for the Discovery's 3-door design, but within a year the very popular 5-door version was introduced.

The success of the Discovery was ensured by the combination of an essentially new market, the 5-door model, and continued up-market shifting of the Range Rover. Further variations and updates were fitted during the early 1990s, including a 2 litre 4 cylinder petrol engine, known for being a bit underpowered but ok as long as you don't need to get to anywhere very quickly. A 4-speed automatic gearbox, and air-bags where introduced throughout the 90's up to the Discovery 2 in 98' (normally known as the td5).