Yup I got conned with one of these as well. It was bought when my twin-cam had bust its cambelt 180 miles from home. At that point I discovered that the "Full Recovery" that I thought my insurer had provided (still have the booklet!) was just a first year introductory offer and it had now been watered down to a tow of up to 20 miles. To recover the car would be £436 and the RAC man suggested that it might be worth thinking about scrapping it on the spot. My Rover 800 diesel that had been hit by an uninsured 40 ton artic was still not fixed so I was down to Shanks's Pony. The big attractions of the Disco were (1) mature owner (2) new timing belt and supposedly fully serviced but things are not always what they seem. The legal owner had bought the car for his 17YO son who had used and abused it (including off-roading) for eight years!

It lasted me for two and a half days. A universal joint failed at 50 miles, it was bone dry and red rust powder was puking out of it. How can that be serviced? I bought grease and a grease gun, greased the UJs and soldiered on. A new joint was purchased later but could not be fitted until I had obtained circlip pliers. After this the car ran more smoothly but doing the job at the roadside was a devil of a job. On my trek I visited the twink and removed its trailer in preparation for recovering it. Alas once the Devon hills were reached overheating set in and there was a drought - no water anywhere! Several bottles of lemonade were on board and by nursing it I did get back to Cornwall but only just and the head gasket has gone. Note that the temperature sensors on these are not made from Bakelite. Instead they use a plastic which melts and the actual sensing element then falls out and measures the temperature about an inch away from the head. This gives the impression that the engine is now cooling. Duh!

The consensus of opinion is that with the 300TDi a NEW radiator is a must. Mine only had its pipes left, all the fins had corroded away. The other consensus of opinion is that overheated heads invariably crack and that repaired heads are not worth messing with. A new bare head (with valve guides) was bought for about £250. Its genuine LR from South Africa. A new ALUMINIUM radiator with a 10% uprate was bought for less than £100 including carriage. With these parts I might be in with a chance of success. Hopefully an alcohol metal bellows thermostat can be fitted as these fail in the open position unlike the modern wax versions. Aluminium rads don't corrode like copper rads so a ten year life is easily possible. Copper radiators soon loose their fins unfortunately.

Incidentally by the time that the Disco failed I was in the position of paying tax and insurance on three dead cars but having to walk everywhere. This new "Continuous Insurance" is the pits and there is no discount for non-runners.

Blown head gaskets on LR 300TDi engines. There are one or two excellent Land Rover specialists in Cornwall and they all say the same thing about the 300TDi Discovery. "Lots of people replace head gaskets and cylinder heads but they never replace the radiator and it blows again". (In actual fact the new South African300TDi heads are only guaranteed if the radiator, thermostat, and water pump are all replaced)

IMHO if one comes across a 300TDi where the heater has been left at full blast its because the tightwad seller didn't want to buy it a new radiator.