Land Rover Repair: brakes/exhaust, land rover discovery, heat reflector

Question
I have a 1997 land rover discovery se 4.0 engine. I am going to replace front/rear brake pads. Do I require sensor or not?  Also I have noticed a rattle when the engine warms up/sounds like a converter, when looking underneath I noticed a y pipe with what looks like 2 built in converters?  Do I need to replace the converters or a y pipe without the converters? Please help
Paul

Answer
Hi Paul,

Regarding your brakes, I ordered some pads (Raybestos) and they fit '95 to '97 Disco's.  No sensor clips (wires) were included.   Your '97 SE may be special and have the more expensive pads.  Crawl under the wheel and look for any wires leading down to the caliper.  No main wires = regular semi-metallic pads (and money savings!).

That rattle may be the catalytic converter or the heat reflector above the tranny.  Depends.  If the noise is up front under the engine then its your cats.  

Yes, I've heard about some owners having the Y pipe (sans cat) installed.  A off market Y pipe can run about $600 for your Disco...a Y pipe (without cats) is about $250.  That beats the $1100 that LR wants.

If you live in the States and have yearly inspections, you'll need the cats otherwise you'll never pass the tests.  Elsewhere, well its a matter of cost over conscience.  Those plates are very effective in reducing harmful emissions.  I wish there was a way to replace the plates without taking out the entire Y pipe.  What a waste and expense.

Best of luck,

JohnMc