A mouse ate my Diesel Tank on My Discovery 3
A mouse ate my Diesel Tank on My Discovery 3
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Discussion

Hyper10

Original Poster:

432 posts

193 months

Tuesday 7th February 2012
quotequote all
On our 2 year old discovery we recently noticed that on filling completely , a small pool of diesel was left on the ground.
The dealership have told us that they want £800 to £1000 to replace the tank.They say that rodents have chewed the tank and that it has a hole in it.
We had called the AA and confusingly that chap told us it was damage to a fuel supply pipe under the car (not the tank).
We are amazed on a car that is sold as being 'as tough as nails' , that a rodent has chewed up the diesel tank?
What next- a muntjack nicking the alloy wheels?

Does anyone else have any experience of this?
It's a lot of money and the dealership are just saying pay up or take the car back.

Apparently on the new discovery 4 the tank has been changed but seemingly just because the fuel capacity changed.

Any helpful views would be appreciated. Thanks

miniman

29,453 posts

286 months

Tuesday 7th February 2012
quotequote all
I'd be asking the dealership to put it on a ramp for you and show you the hole. I call bks, it's more likely to be a rusted fuel pipe or breather pipe and when the tank is brimmed a little leaks out.

james S

1,620 posts

269 months

Tuesday 7th February 2012
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Certainly a trip to the local specilist would be next on my list. Even if it is the tank couldn't they patch it for a fraction of this cost?

P100

637 posts

230 months

Tuesday 7th February 2012
quotequote all
Hi Guys,
sadly this is more common than you may think!

I have seen a few of these ( I am a midlands based Indy), and the tank which is a plastic blow moulding, seems to attract the little buggers.

The tanks have been on back order for a while and come complete with the sender units as the design has since changed, hence the cost !

The tanks cannot be repaired easily and I would not condone a repair if I was not totally 100% happy that it would not leak, now or in 5 yrs time.

I do not know if there any remedies to this but I have coated the tanks I have changed with a non organic solution which is as inert as I can find.

Hope this helps

Roy

Hyper10

Original Poster:

432 posts

193 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
quotequote all
Thanks to all for the helpful posts

eliot

11,989 posts

278 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
quotequote all
P100 said:
Hi Guys,
sadly this is more common than you may think!

I have seen a few of these ( I am a midlands based Indy), and the tank which is a plastic blow moulding, seems to attract the little buggers.

The tanks have been on back order for a while and come complete with the sender units as the design has since changed, hence the cost !

The tanks cannot be repaired easily and I would not condone a repair if I was not totally 100% happy that it would not leak, now or in 5 yrs time.

I do not know if there any remedies to this but I have coated the tanks I have changed with a non organic solution which is as inert as I can find.

Hope this helps

Roy
So you are confirming that they actually chew into the plastic of the tank - not the hoses?
Maybe there is a opportunity for one of the ally tank fabricators to make a replacement...

budrover

300 posts

228 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
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Must be 3rd time i have read a post about a disco fuel tank has been nibbled away by rodents.

First time I thought -- thats unlucky

2nd time I thought ---- times must be tough in the countryside for the rodents.

3rd time ...starting to think ...must be something else causing it ...errosion or fretting or vibration.


Wookies Wheels

8 posts

174 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
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They rub through drop the tank and repair the bend

the mouse thing has been the blame for a while but diesel dont taste like cheese!

P100

637 posts

230 months

Wednesday 8th February 2012
quotequote all
Yes they seem to like the plastic that the tank is made from....have seen the marks from their teeth !

Have also seen the tops of the tanks where the sender unit fits, break off causing a fuel leak which is very difficult to seal. Never seen the pipes leaking (yet) !!

TimmD

278 posts

230 months

Thursday 9th February 2012
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This happend to me too! I was gutted and stunned when shown the tank at a local indy. It was most definatly rodents.

So as soon as I got it back I placed every type of mouse trap, rat trap and poison I could get in a defensive field around the disco and popped it up for sale.

My wife was gutted as she loved it but I was not going to replace it with another one incase it got eaten again.

I too have heard of a number of these instances.

But they are not as bad as a friend's one, they had the wiring loom eaten behind the sat nav unit! That was expensive....

Tim

badlands1

845 posts

177 months

Friday 10th February 2012
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OP, that sounds Micey to me.

Chipoko

1 posts

170 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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I have this very morning parted with £900 for a new diesel tank for my LR Disco 3 (07 plate). A week ago after filling the tank a large amount of fuel vented onto the forecourt. The garage phoned me to say it had been gnawed by rats or mice. No choice but to agree to the replacement. It is scary how easily this can happen. I fear having to go back again soon to purchase yet another tank. And this after I've had to replace the clutch (£1900) and replace the turbo (£2200) pus a range of other faults - all at less than 50,000 miles on the clock! Bummer - what an expensive and unreliable vehicle!

croyde

25,679 posts

254 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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Doesn't say alot for the go anywhere Disco. We had one in a safari park and the monkeys immediately and expertly removed the windscreen washer jets.

lost in espace

6,487 posts

231 months

Wednesday 15th February 2012
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And everyone tells me that my TD5 Defender is unreliable! A nightmare for you ruining your ownership experience.

It seems that a repair can be done with Tiger Seal, have a read here

http://www.disco3.co.uk/forum/topic43009.html

budrover

300 posts

228 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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croyde said:
Doesn't say alot for the go anywhere Disco. We had one in a safari park and the monkeys immediately and expertly removed the windscreen washer jets.
Those little monkeys will expertly remove anything they can bite !!!

At Knowsley Safari park they pull off registration plates ...put the front paws on the plate and then run along the road surfing !!

They once pulled the washer jet off my Mitsubishi L200 pickup .... little git had the nozzle in his gob ...and had about 2 foot of washer pipe coming out of the bonnet ...thought he was going to drag the washer bottle out !! ...when the pipe snapped he did a great back flip as he shot over the bonnet ...I was in tears laughing !!

Rotaree

1,238 posts

285 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
quotequote all
Wookies Wheels said:
They rub through drop the tank and repair the bend

the mouse thing has been the blame for a while but diesel dont taste like cheese!
What the fk is that supposd to mean?

I used to speak good English when I were a children too

gizlaroc

17,251 posts

248 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
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Rotaree said:
I used to speak good English when I were a children too
And when did you loose that ability?? wink

eliot

11,989 posts

278 months

Thursday 16th February 2012
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
Rotaree said:
I used to speak good English when I were a children too
And when did you loose that ability?? wink
Tidy.

Rotaree

1,238 posts

285 months

Friday 17th February 2012
quotequote all
gizlaroc said:
Rotaree said:
I used to speak good English when I were a children too
And when did you loose that ability?? wink

SpeedMattersNot

4,506 posts

220 months

Sunday 19th February 2012
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I've just started working for Land Rover and a customer bought a RRS in with a complaint of fuel leaking when full up. I confirmed a leak at the n/s/r of the vehicle on the tank protector. I removed the n/s/r interior to gain access to the fuel sender and it was covered in fuel.

I used a video-scope to investigate and found the breather pipe had a hole in it, right on the right-angle section of the pipe. I could have said it looked 'nibbled'...there is nothing for it to catch on, all the pipes were secure, very bizarre! It's quite a big job to drop the fuel tank and so the customer left it. I tried getting my hands in there to put some tape round the hole, but the gap is just much too small! frown