Land Rover Repair: power, land rover discovery, high octane fuel

Question
Thanks again for your answers before. I have a couple more question.My 96 Land Rover Discovery SE7 has been having a wierd noise when I do hard braking, there is vibration in the peddle and is a loud and annoying noise. I have also noticed that it seems to not be getting the power that everyone says they have. It is a real dog on the hills and has poor acceleration. I had a thought that it may be the transfer case but I am not sure. Thanks again

Answer
Hi Colm,

your welcome.  Glad I can help.

The brake problem you mention could be a badly worn brake pad, ceased caliper or an ABS problem.  Have a qualified brake specialist inspect your brakes to determine the fault.  The vibrating pedal is probably your ABS and may be normal but the the loud and annoying noise is far from normal.

Lack of power can be attributed to many components.  You could need timing adjustment, new plugs and wires, a spark amplifier module fault, your fuel injectors could be fouled, you could have a coil problem, your fuel and air filters could need changing, low compression in one of your cylinders, a vacuum leak, throttle adjustment is needed, complete oil, lube and ALL fluid change many be needed.  These are all normal for older and high mileage Disco's.  

If you had transfer case problems, would it not be a problem all the time?  Do you use high octane fuel (+91)?  I have seen a big difference using octane 94 in my Disco - just a suggestion.

Think about the components I've mentioned above.  Most of them you can change without any difficulty.  

Lastly, look for a Haynes repair manual for your Disco (#3016).  It has good instructions and costs much less than the LR Workshop manuals.

Best of luck,

JohnMc