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Fri 24 Jan 2003 13:44

Discovery II & water - disco2andy

I have a 10 month old Land Rover Discovery td5, having driven through water only 6 inches deep the engine has been hydrauliced ( the manual says up to 19.7 inches is ok ). Land Rover refuse to pay for repairs, do I 1) Engage a good soliciter, 2) Cough up the £5500 for repairs or 3) parade up and down the road outside the dealers with a sandwich board stating what I think of this particular off roader.

Option threee whilst ineffective would at leeast provide some satisfaction.

Andy

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 13:49

Discovery II & water - Dynamic Dave

Silly question, but how fast did you drive through the 6" of water?

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 13:51

Discovery II & water - disco2andy

First gear so reasonably slowley, following a Ford Fiesta that made it OK, & whilst awaiting recovery loads of other cars made it through ok

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 14:09

Discovery II & water - DavidHM

Option 1. If the manual says you're okay up to 19.7", and you have witnesses, like the tow truck driver, you're erm... home and dry :-) In any case, the first consultation should be free, and they will give you an assessment of your likely chances then.

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 14:10

Discovery II & water - DavidHM

Also, have you spoken to your insurance company about this? They will probably either pay or provide you with free legal advice.

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 18:21

Discovery II & water - bazza

Interesting that. A couple of months ago I passed a stricken Freelander parked up by a flood just a few inches deep, which I and everyone else had no trouble at all with. You have my sympathies with that kind of repair bill - I would go for the jugular with some bad publicity if you get no joy. A letter to the local paper usually works. Corporations hate bad PR. Good luck!
Baz

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 18:16

Discovery II & water - Dynamic Dave

It sounds like the air intake is a lot lower than it should be. Not knowing a thing about the Disco or what is under the bonnet, is the air intake a flexible bellows type arrangement from the air filter box and maybe has come unclipped from its mountings and just dangling down in the engine bay, thus hoovering up flooded water?

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 18:48

Discovery II & water - lauriew

My son is an insurance claims assessor for a well known company.
They pay out for a new engine in cases like this.
He has had a few recently.

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Fri 24 Jan 2003 19:44

Discovery II & water - T Lucas

Land Rover,go anywhere vehicle,as long as the puddles are not too deep.

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Tue 28 Jan 2003 12:50

Discovery II & water - disco2andy

Any contact details available for someone senior in Landrover - Customer (dont)care department are a joke.

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Tue 28 Jan 2003 15:54

Discovery II & water - blank

Mike Wright, Land Rover UK's managing director said 'This is great news for Land Rover customers at the start of a key sales period. Land Rover achieved a 15% sales growth in 2001 and all our models are the leaders in their market segments. The announcement of a three year, unlimited mileage warranty further consolidates Land Rover's position as the UK's leading 4x4 manufacturer.'

Might be useful! You could write to him ane explain your problem
Good luck!
Andy

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Wed 29 Jan 2003 22:46

Discovery II & water - SGB

I have a 10 month old Land Rover Discovery td5, having

driven through water only 6 inches deep the engine has been

hydrauliced.

Disco2andy
All I can say is either; that you are not telling the whole truth, or you do not know what six inches is, or you were going too fast.

I have driven Discovery Series II\'s through about 900 mm of water, thats about three feet. Even had water well over the front of the bonnet in a river in Scotland. Driving properly that is, with correct techniques.

No wonder the dealer will not entertain your claim.

[snip] SGB is obviously in a mean mood. I edited the mean bits out. Be polite. Mark.

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 00:48

Discovery II & water - smokie

SGB - have you heard the phrase - nobody loves a smartalec?

Granted, there may be more to this than meets the eye. Just cos you think you know what you are doing, don't go making assumptions that someone else doesn't.

Someone is looking for some help, not to be shot down in flames.

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 08:54

Discovery II & water - disco2andy

SGB - thank you for your uninformed comments:
1. recovery driver agrees water was only six inches deep
2. The ford fiesta in front of me made it through ok & literaly hundreds of other cars made it through afterwards.
3. the car had been misfiring whenever driving through puddles of any size in the previous couple of weeks and was in fact booked in for the dealer to look at.
4. I would suggest that if you have driven a Disco II through water higher than the top of the bonnet (no mention of a snorkel) that you are both incredibly lucky and incredibly foolish.
5. What makes you think that I dont actually need a 4x4, I would point out that it is not just used to go to sainsburys, but also to pull a horse box, & quite often a plant trailer with excavator.

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 09:24

Discovery II & water - M.M

Andy,

Like many others here you must be interested why this has happened....particularly with £5K plus at stake.

I understand the advised makers wading depth for the DiscoII is 500mm at a very slow 5mph in still water. If you were in 150mm of water at a slow speed just how did the water get into the engine?

I can't picture the DiscoII intake run but to scoop up water it must have been hanging part of the intake duct almost to the ground.

Have you looked at the vehicle with a tape measure to see what is going on?

MM

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 15:51

Discovery II & water - Dwight Van Driver

MM

I have been following this post very worried and kept quiet as I have a S1 Disco.

Just been out and found that the distance from ground level to the bottom of the tyred wheel rim is 6 inches. It is 13 1/2 inches to the wheel centre and 15 inches to the bottom of the sill which is the floor pan area. S2's I understand are very similar.

Unless as you say its picked up something to scoop up water then I cannot see how it has happened. Even at 6 inches of water and 60 mph it may have sprayed the underside but wouldn't have picked up a bow wave would it?

DVD

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 16:17

Discovery II & water - M.M

DVD,

Hmm well the ones I look after are all 1996 or older and I've never had reason to investigate the actual point at which air enters the system but I'd have guessed behind the nearside headlamp.

I'm just puzzled and wondered if there was a hose between the air intake point and the filter box that could drop down.

After all folks drive in some daft places with their Discoverys without snorkel or incident.

Of course the Series LR diesels have the intake above the level of the rocker cover! 1.1M from the ground I think.

MM

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Thu 30 Jan 2003 16:49

Discovery II & water - disco2andy

MM
- I agree with you "I'm just puzzled and wondered if there was a hose between the air intake point and the filter box that could drop down."

But I dont have access to the vehicle or a workshop manual to check it out. If it was something like that the finger would be pointing at the last person to change the filter - who just happens to be the same person that has just examined the vehicle & could not find anything wrong with the intake system.

He did mention that the first thing they checked was that the liner to the inner wing was still in place is this a known problem?

If I had realised the problems I was going to have I would have had the car examinedby a different/independent Garage.

Andy

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Wed 24 Mar 2021 04:48

Discovery II & water - edlithgow

OK, a lot of water has no doubt flowed under and into the crankcases since then, but, since I'm here...

I understand the Classic Range Rover, on which the Discovery is based, could have/had a vacuum operated transfer box shifter. All part of the autodestructive charm, no doubt.

IF the control hose came off, this'd potentially suck water directly into the engine, and is known to have wrecked Range Rover engines.

I dunno how low such a loose hose could go, but quite a lot lower than the air intake.

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Wed 24 Mar 2021 06:51

Discovery II & water - Xileno

I doubt we will ever know the outcome, the OP hasn't posted again since March 2004.

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Wed 24 Mar 2021 08:22

Discovery II & water - Metropolis.

No vacuum operated transfer box on these Ed, just a manually operated LT230.

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Thu 25 Mar 2021 00:33

Discovery II & water - edlithgow

No vacuum operated transfer box on these Ed, just a manually operated LT230.

Ah, OK. Theory meets inconvenient truth, so I suppose the original failure remains mysterious.

I am a bit surprised though.

Its almost as if they replaced a complicated "what could possibly go wrong" designer disaster waiting to happen with something simpler and more reliable.

Wasn't that a breach of policy?

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