Discovery V8 Coolant Help

Hi all,

New to Land Rovers and also first time for me on a forum so here goes!!!

I have a V8 Discovery on a 'J', It has always ran fine however the other day it had a little miss whilst on the road which cleared itself immediately so I didn't give it much thought. Then later in the day going up a little climb it did it again.

Checked......
Temp gauge normal (about halfway)
Dizzy and plug leads (fine)
Header Tank (slightly low and lots of bubbles)
Oil (bottom marker on dipstick - no mayo on dipstick or filler cap)

Anyway, started it back up and continued day, never missed a beat!! Got home and checked water again(still slightly low and bubbly), started engine and took cap off (coolant dissapeared before my eyes!!).

Haven't been back to it yet (to see if coolant has returned!!) My worst thoughts were HGF but it runs fine, althought i've always thought it was a little underpowered but as it's my first one i've nothing to compare it too.

Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks Rob

I'm afraid it does sound like head gasket. I would suggest a compression test would be a good place to start. Another thing to check, when you've been out in it and it is up to temperature, is the top hose solid? or does it look like it is under a lot of pressure? If you release the pressure cap (very slowly and carefully!!) does lots of water get pumped out?

Thanks for that, i'll have a look at the top hose although from memory it was under pressure (but not excessive) also when i took the cap off there wasn't a noticable amount of coolant rushing into the tank.

I was intending to top the oil and coolant up this afternoon and see how it went, try to get it booked in somewhere for a compression test. (what should the compression be? or do you look for one less than the others?)I'm still grasping at the chance that it is something else!!

What sort of money would I be looking at to do the head gasket (s) Is it good practice to do both or just the offending side?

Thanks

I imagine that you would be looking at the £450+ mark, or you could do it your self for around £120. I brought my first one with the HG gone didn't know what to look for but you live and learn. My second went to due to a blocked radiator and over-heated, there not that hard to do if your mechanical minded. Where about are you? Maybe someone from here will want to earn some readies.

rob.duke said:

Thanks for that, i'll have a look at the top hose although from memory it was under pressure (but not excessive) also when i took the cap off there wasn't a noticable amount of coolant rushing into the tank.

I was intending to top the oil and coolant up this afternoon and see how it went, try to get it booked in somewhere for a compression test. (what should the compression be? or do you look for one less than the others?)I'm still grasping at the chance that it is something else!!

What sort of money would I be looking at to do the head gasket (s) Is it good practice to do both or just the offending side?

Thanks

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The head gaskets have gone on my 98 discovery I enquired at a local place an they are charging £80.00 to repair the heads and £20.00 for new gaskets, the rest of the work I intend to do my-self, but its a summer job, really don't fancy stripping down engines in the cold.

rob.duke said:

try to get it booked in somewhere for a compression test.

Click to expand...

Why not just get a compression tester and do it yourself for free?

rob.duke said:

what should the compression be? or do you look for one less than the others?

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can't remeber off the top of my head - you could always look it up in haynes/rave or workshop manual. You are looking for pressure differences between cylinders. make sure you get wet and dry figures for all 8 pots.

rob.duke said:

Is it good practice to do both

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Waddya recon? To do one side is just a bit silly and really is not worth what little money you think you will save. Do them both. It wouldn't hurt to decoke the tops of teh pistons, pop the valves and givem a quick brush up and grind them in and generally clean up the heads.

While everything is in bits, thoroughly clean out the plenum and ram housing, check/set throttle disc make sure all hoses and vac lines are in good order. Clean stepper motor.

When it gets chucked back together set and check the ignition timing (assuming you have a dizzy) then check it again! Then check/set base idle.

Thanks for all the advice folks, like I said it's the first time on a forum and I've been really impressed with the response and peoples willingness to help and share info.

I won't have a chance to do anything with disco till next week now (first thing compression test!), but I topped the coolant and oil levels up to correct levels last night and i'll see how it goes next week!!

Thanks again guys!!