The Land Rover Discovery 3 and 4 shares the same platform with the first generation Rover Sport,
so they share the electronics,
some of the engines, the suspension layout,
most of the used materials and also most of
the common issues.
However there are also some differences between
these two technically similar cars.
The Discovery is a bigger, more practical
car.
It has a split tailgate, a more practical
interior with bigger headroom
+ it can be also equipped with additional 3rd row seats in the trunk.
And of course, there is absolutely no doubt
that it is a very capable vehicle off the road
so finding a similar car which would tick all these boxes is not very easy.
The reliability you say?
Of course, of course I know, but first let’s
start with the interior which is spacious
and practical.
There are numerous storage areas, 4 cup holders in the front,
and because of the traditional narrow boxy shape of the body there is a huge amount of headroom.
+ Even the space in the optional third row
seats is not bad at all,
mainly because of that generous headroom.
As expected, the visibility from the interior
is great and the seating position is too damn high,
so if you need these characteristics
in a car then you will be definitely satisfied.
On the other side I don’t think that you
would be satisfied with the cracked plastic
dashboard, the strangely deformed steering
wheel airbag cover and the sagging headliner
which are pretty common and pretty bad looking
signs of the age,
and of the not properly choosed materials in the Discovery 3 models.
But if you are not a big fan of plastic or
cracked dashboards,
then you can choose the Discovery 4 models made from 2009 since they have a completely updated interior,
without cracked dashboards, with better build quality,
less plastic and with more high quality materials.
This Land Rover is not famous for big rust
issues, however cars used on winter salty roads
will have some surface rust on the undercarriage.
This is not the end of the world and don’t
worry it will not like fall apart in the near future.
But of course you can remove this rust and
there are many different ways
how to protect the frame - you can find some links about this on my website.
On the other side, what is more important
to check on these cars, used in winter,
are the brake pipes which can rust through.
And this on the other hand can be dangerous.
Moving onto the more common issues, yes there are a couple of them,
but those various rumors about the constant catastrophic electronic gremlins
are not like completely true, although
if you have low battery voltage, if you have
water leaks in the interior or if the alternator
is on it's last legs, then of course the electronics
can provide an impressive free shit show
So: It’s really important to have the battery in a good condition.
and be prepared that the
alternator can fail more often
The random electronic warning massages can
be also resolved with a software update
or with keeping the interior bone dry.
Then I would highly recommend to check for
fault codes with an OBD scanner before buying
and of course test all the electronic features as well.
Be mentally prepared that the central locking, the door locks, the window regulators,
or the parking sensors can fail more often.
There is also that infamous electronic parking
brake which can seize up.
This is mostly caused by the badly adjusted
parking brake shoes or because of the
seized mechanism of the shoes which will result in seized parking brake actuator
and seized car.
So before buying test the electronic parking
brake and listen for strange louder screeching
or grinding sounds from it which can be the
sign of the incorrectly adjusted parking brake
or partly seized mechanism which will sooner
or later seize completely.
After this there is the tailgate releasing
cable which can break or it can become loose
and you won’t be able to open the tailgate
regularly like a human.
This means that you will have to climb into
the trunk like an animal,
remove the tailgate trim like an animal,
and release the cable manually like an animal.
Besides this, the actuator itself or the microswitch
in the upper tailgate can fail as well.
Problems with the incorrect reading of the
fuel gauge can occur too
and if you are buying a car which is equipped with the 3 part sunroof
which actually consists of 2 parts,
then it’s good to check the rear sunroof panel for cracks
which can be the result of the off road adventures or the signature of the owners themselves.
And of course let’s not forget the front
sunroof, so check it, if it opens and closes
without any issues.
And while we are looking at the front sunroof
it’s time to mention the common water leaks
into the interior since there are a couple
of them:
First, a very common water leak is caused
by the sunroof drains
of the already mentioned front sunroof.
There are 4 of them in total, but mainly the
front drains can be either clogged
or there is an issue with the ending of these drain hoses, exactly like in the Range Rover Sport.
The rubber ending of these drain hoses can
disintegrate and let the water into the interior.
To access the right front drain hose ending
you have to remove the plastic air intake
and some random shit which is behind this
intake.
After this you get access to the drain ending,
so this is pretty easy.
However on the left side only the newer Discovery
4 has the identical plastic trim, which means
that there is no air intake on the Discovery
3 models on this side.
But of course the drain ending is still on
the same place, it’s just completely hidden
behind the fender.
But time is money so you can find more details
how to fix these drains and some useful links
on my website.
The next water leak can be caused by the
windshield plastic cowl.
This upper part can be warped up, interestingly,
right above the cabin air inlet.
In this case it will obviously let the water
to leak into the cabin air inlet,
and into the interior.
Replacing this plastic panel is not hard and
you can do it even yourself
+ some of the owners have also put some sealant under the edge of this cowl.
Lastly there are the plastic exterior A-pillar
covers which are attached to the body by these plastic clips.
And these great clips can, again as you guessed,
let the water inside thru the holes
which are in the A pillars.
This Land Rover Discovery is built on the
same platform as the Range Rover Sport
so it has that integrated body frame solution, which means that it has a separate frame,
which can be separated from the body.
And it actually has to be separated if you
want to replace certain parts.
But moving onto the suspension itself, these cars can be equipped with the standard coilover setup,
or with the self-leveling height adjustable air suspension.
As usual there is nothing interesting about
the standard shock absorbers, so let’s discuss
the air suspension which has it's own share
of issues which are usually accompanied
with a suspension warning light or a suspension fault massage.
First thing first, the air compressor failures
are pretty usual.
Then there are the air struts which will
sooner or later leak as they are getting older.
In this case you can buy a new genuine or
an aftermarket strut,
or there are also coilover conversion kits available.
And the last issue is related to the height
sensors which can fail
and sometimes the wiring to the height sensor can be damaged as well.
Lastly, test the air suspension before buying by raising and lowering it,
at least a couple of times, and keep in mind that the car itself has to stay perfectly in level on an even ground.
Next you should pay attention to all those
whining, growling and humming noises
from the front and rear of the car which can indicate
worn internal parts of the front or rear differentials.
This can be an issue mainly on the early cars
from the first 2 or 3 years of production,
but it’s of course good to listen for these
noises in the newer cars as well.
After this it’s definitely good to check
the transfer box as well,
put the gearbox into neutral and push the LO button to engage the low range mode.
It has to engage and disengage without any
issues.
As usual pay attention to all those clunking,
rattling or knocking noises from the suspension
on bad quality roads.
If you hear a knocking sound while going over
road imperfections or when applying the brakes
sharply from low speeds – then most probably
the front lower control arm bushings are gone.
They often wear out even after 60 000 mi, but if you want to replace them then be prepared
that the rear bolt on these control arms can
be like properly rusted and seized up,
which means that in this case you will have to cut into the control arm and cut out the bolt as well.
Of course the ball joints can be worn as well
but that’s nothing new.
Other than this, the sway bar links can be
worn making a light metallic rattle on bad roads,
the tie rods can wear out as well-in this case you will feel a wiggle, shake or a bigger play in the steering,
and believe it or not there are more and more cases
of worn rear suspension parts as well which you can mostly detect by the uneven wear of the rear tyres.
Lastly, keep in mind that this is not a Fiat
Panda so be prepared to change the brakes
and tyres more often and keep that extra money
for the suspension components.
There are not many issues with the petrol
engines, but when it comes to reliability
then the engines in the older Discovery 3
models are definitely better.
So at the end it doesn’t matter if you choose
the 4.4 l V8 or the smaller 4.0l V6.
Both of these engines are reliable so just
check them for leaks and keep in mind,
that they have to run smoothly all the time.
The newer Discovery 4 models are equipped with either the smaller 3.0l supercharged V6
or with the powerful 5.0 l V8.
Both of these engines are equipped with direct
injection so generally speaking
the faulty injectors or carbon build up should be shining bright in the common problems list of these engines.
But actually, in this case the carbon build
up on the intake valves is usually not major
even in cars with 100 000 mi and interestingly there are not many issues with the injectors either.
However, there is a very real possible problem
with the timing chain mechanism in the early
5.0l V8 engines made to 2012.
Specifically the timing chain guides can fail
sometimes even after 50 000 mi.
In this case the timing chain tensioner will
make a hole into this weak timing chain guide,
which will cause that the chain is going to
have reduced tension.
This will result in a rattle or a louder clicking noise on cold start
and sometimes constantly at idle from the front of the engine.
Later you will get some fault codes as well
or the car will go into limp mode,
and in the worst case the chain can skip which can transform your engine into a big, heavy
pile of shit, I mean scrap metal.
It seems like in Land Rover they realized
the problem so they redesigned the tensioners
and the guides during production which means that cars made from 2013 do have the updated guides.
Leaking water pumps can occur as well, but
more often on the newer Discovery 4 models,
so keep this in mind and check occasionally that damn coolant level,
or replace the pump preventively, whatever you want.
The situation with the diesel engines is I
would say not that positive.
First of all there is the 2.7 l V6 in the
Discovery 3 models.
This is a very interesting engine because
it can withstand 300 000 km without major problems,
but on the other hand it has 2 serious
weak points which can kill the engine.
The first issue can be with the seized crankshaft.
Some say that the crankshaft itself is the
problem, some say that the crankshaft bearings
are causing this, some say that the low oil
pressure or the long oil change intervals
or it can be also caused by the improper assembly,
they say.
But long story short, this will destroy your
engine.
The only good thing is that this is not like
very common,
and it usually happens only at around 300 000 km or after this mileage point.
This kind of a knocking/tapping sound from the engine can be the early symptom of  this issue.
But the crankshaft can
destroy itself suddenly as well
without any kind of very early knocking + in some cases you can get a hole in the cylinder block as well.
But interestingly the crankshaft failure
is not the only thing which can kill the 2.7 l V6 engines.
Because in cars made from 2007 to 2008 the oil pump casing is not strong enough,
which means that the timing belt tensioner which is bolted onto the casing,
can simply break off with the part of the casing, causing the belt to jump off and destroying the engine basically.
But there is no need to worry since Land Rover
made a couple of revisions of this casing,
so if you are replacing the timing belt then
it’s good to replace the oil pump housing
with the newest revision as well.
But I’m not finished yet, because it’s
also good to check the rubber intercooler hose
on the left for cracks, and it’s actually
good to replace it preventively.
Yes, I’m finished with this engine, but
saying that the newer 3.0 l V6 in the Discovery 4
is much more reliable than the older 2.7 l is like saying that you can build a nuclear power plant out of Lego.
Now I’m not saying that it’s unreliable,
but interestingly even this newer engine
can have issues with the already mentioned crankshaft failure.
Although in this case it affects only the
engines made to 2012,
so it seems like Land Rover finally found the solution.
But of course if you buy a car with this engine which was made from 2013
and you will use it for long distances then you most probably won’t have bigger issues
unless it’s a high mileage car.
But keep in mind that these newer engines
are more complicated than the older 2.7 l
and they have 2 turbochargers instead of one.
Most of the engines are equipped with timing chain which is usually ok even in high  mileage cars
except in the 5.0 l V8 engines of course,
so check for the unusual rattling sounds
at start up or at idle.
The 2.7 l and the 3.0 l V6 diesel engines
have timing belt,
and it’s good to replace it a little earlier than the original interval.
By the way, except the usual timing belt these engines also have a separate belt
for the high pressure fuel pump only - which is in the back side of the engine,
so it’s good to replace also this belt if you have a high mileage car.
This Land Rover can be equipped with the 6 speed manual or with the older 6 speed
and the newer 8 speed automatic gearboxes.
The manual gearbox is mated only to the 2.7 l V6 and In this case the business is as usual
so check the clutch properly before buying.
Then there is the older 6 speed automatic gearbox which doesn’t have major problems.
However it can have worn torque converter
usually after 100 000 mi !
so check for vibrations or shuddering at acceleration, excessive slipping, hesitation or fluctuating revs.
The newer 8 speed transmission is more durable than the 6 speed so just check it properly before buying.
+ Of course change the oil in both of the
automatic transmissions regularly.
Lastly it’s also worth checking the power
steering fluid level
because the steering rack and all the power steering hoses can leak in both of the Discovery models.
To summarize things up: the most reliable
engine is the 4.4 l V8 or the 4.0l V6,
in the Discovery 3, then buy only a car with a proper maintenance history, definitely find a good
independent mechanic-because if you can’t
fix the things yourself then you are gonna need it,
change all the fluids in time and
keep at least 5 000 € for the possible repairs.
As usual if you have personal experience with
this car or more information about it,
then you can write it into comments, thx for watching!
