(BEAR WITH ME PLEASE AS DYSLEXIC)

Hi all just back in the fold with a dead Disco (head gone )
it's a 1997 300tdi disco S it's the EDC one

few leccy problems with it rear wiper/washer not working and rear window heater also no rear fog lamps working or headlamp washers also cruse control thats for starters
main problem is head just fitting a new head this one has a history
so 2001 new exchange landrover engine
2007 head gasket and a skim
2010 head gasket and a skim
the head gasket in 2010 was fitted by a muppet put back with loose head bolts and a new stat but us so he drove 50 miles to test it and back but it never boiled so i picked it up drove it home another 50 miles never boiled my A--e temp gauge sits just below centre at dead centre it's boiling so thats one problem to sort water pump ok P gasket ok it just pressurises from starting si i assume the head had it it looks ok muppet didn't clean block face up very good either


so she's getting a new modyifed head and gasket and bolts weird looking thing
water pump, thermostat, has been pan boiled about 6 times and opens and closes ok, drilled out jiggle pin so air bleeds out better, new P gasket, and viscous fan unit, new hoses, and temp sensers will do the cam belt as well while im in there
rad seems ok had a snake light in the bottom tube core looks ok need to get it running first to check rad out will also be fitting a proper temp gauge as well so any ideas please thanks

I can't help with your cylinder head, but with your electrical problems if you find a that u also have a proplem with the interior light and the lights-on and key in the ignition alarm the u have problems with your multi-function unit.
For 97MY disco you require part number AMR5360 that's from Vin VA 534104 and part number AMR1280 is from VIN MA 081992.

I had to replace mine a few months ago £130+ from Rimmer bros.

thanks for that yes also no interior working on the door switchs but does work if you turn it on with the switch can you tell me ware the the offending part is located ,is this the one that can be re soldered or not thanks

i would put new head on ,once they moved once unless your lucky it do it again however careful you are,if second time it had loose bolts it wouldnt have lasted a day or two let alone a year, it will go again once its critical temp is reached,ali looses its internal stresses when over heated,and will never be stable again ,you can be lucky and just change head gasket if head not been too warm first time but second or third ,plus you run the risk of valve seats dropping out as they are held in with 3-4 thou interferance fit this relaxes too

jamesmartin said:

i would put new head on ,once they moved once unless your lucky it do it again however careful you are,if second time it had loose bolts it wouldnt have lasted a day or two let alone a year, it will go again once its critical temp is reached,ali looses its internal stresses when over heated,and will never be stable again ,you can be lucky and just change head gasket if head not been too warm first time but second or third ,plus you run the risk of valve seats dropping out as they are held in with 3-4 thou interferance fit this relaxes too

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thats why it's getting a new head and all the other bits
the last muppet had no idea on how to torque the bolts
he fitted a new stat and didn't pan test it first the stat was u/s so stat stuck closed ran 45 miles for mot test so that scrapped the head, gasket looks ok also the gasket that came off after 4 years looks ok too thats still in the boot plus he took a 4 hole one off and replaced it with a 3 hole one so no idea plus that head had been skimmed twice already
as the car is new to me i will have to do all the bits it has full service history and loads of bills apart from last owner just need to do it once and not have to redo it

Aye,tis a bugger,that head gasket bolt sequence,with the torque then angles.Also the back bolts are hard to get at with an angle gauge on.If done right,the book says the headbolts will do for 4 fittings.I dump em after two.The book says put them in dry,works better for me with a smear of lubrication.Also,chase out the threads of the boltholes and blow them clean and dry.That way you might get them to the correct tightness.I have had problems with multi layer shim gaskets,others swear by them.LR are advising them as correct fit now but that seems to be assuming a new head is used.So Im told.

shocker said:

Aye,tis a bugger,that head gasket bolt sequence,with the torque then angles.Also the back bolts are hard to get at with an angle gauge on.If done right,the book says the headbolts will do for 4 fittings.I dump em after two.The book says put them in dry,works better for me with a smear of lubrication.Also,chase out the threads of the boltholes and blow them clean and dry.That way you might get them to the correct tightness.I have had problems with multi layer shim gaskets,others swear by them.LR are advising them as correct fit now but that seems to be assuming a new head is used.So Im told.

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i agree the gasket is odd but what do you do turner still fits the elrig ones i just wish i could get hold of some green hermitite spent too many years on old diesels you put a head down with green hermi never a problem the days of copper composites in the 70s i have redone loads of the BMC 2.2 Taxi engines if you didn't glue the head down it would last a year glued down 3/4 years till recon time so taxi double shifted in 4 years about 300000 plus miles so do i glue or not glue that is the question

i use the fact that after 40nm its 60 degrees and 60 degrees and 20 degrees fore 10 bolts around bores that one bolt head flat is 60 degrees ,easier than angle guage

octo0072000 said:

thanks for that yes also no interior working on the door switchs but does work if you turn it on with the switch can you tell me ware the the offending part is located ,is this the one that can be re soldered or not thanks

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It's located on the back of the main fuse board and pluged into it, so remove two screws and and unplug a lead with a four pin plug that lays acrost the front of the board and carefully turn over and the MFU just pulls away from the fuse board.
There not much you can solder as most of the componants are surface mounted.

discool said:

It's located on the back of the main fuse board and pluged into it, so remove two screws and and unplug a lead with a four pin plug that lays acrost the front of the board and carefully turn over and the MFU just pulls away from the fuse board.
There not much you can solder as most of the componants are surface mounted.

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thanks for that

octo0072000 said:

i agree the gasket is odd but what do you do turner still fits the elrig ones i just wish i could get hold of some green hermitite spent too many years on old diesels you put a head down with green hermi never a problem the days of copper composites in the 70s i have redone loads of the BMC 2.2 Taxi engines if you didn't glue the head down it would last a year glued down 3/4 years till recon time so taxi double shifted in 4 years about 300000 plus miles so do i glue or not glue that is the question

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funny that,I had more or less the same conversation with my old dad six months ago ! He was a CPN on lorries for years and ran his own BMCs for many of them.....said the same thing.So,me,if I could FIND the magic green (or an alternative) I would definitely use it.We strpped a couple of 300 engines together and he said "this is just the old BMC,tarted up".......

there is still a shellac (green)based hermitite sealer it's brown no idea what it's called i may have found a engine rebuild place that sell it i will post it when i find it, but for now been out and bought a eldrig original gasket made in germany and thats going on with a spear of red hemitite around the fire ring seals and water gallarys so will see how it goes
getting the crank pully bolt loose was a problem i have never known one so tight even the starter trick didn't shift it have to get the 3/4 drive sockets out and long tee bar so tee bar at 12 oclock make sure everthing out of the way on n/side chassis rail so spinning the starter gives it a good spin also the head is off i have put dents in the chassis rail but it's off dont do this with the rad in though and keep well out of the way what a bas---d but it's off just got to get some 5mm bolts to pull cambelt pully off thats solid crank pully came off with two tyre levers easy just waiting for more bits now all good fun

I have just fitted an Elring head gasket with a gold hermatite equivilent painted over both surfaces.....I was just going to do as you said but when I gave the head a polish clean it was quite marked from the previous fit with a MLS gasket that failed immediately.This was a new replacement head,not LR,and I think the metal is too soft for the job.So I gave both sufaces a coat to allow for any small gaps.Im not holding my breath.In fact Im taking one of my LR made spare heads in to be tested and skimmed on monday.I might have managed to to get the job finished and broken down again by the time the spare head is ready for ANOTHER go !

well we will see my new head is again non landy infact idont think you can buy a new 300tdi head now so mine is on with red heritite just been out to get torque wrench when i came to use it broken in box last time i lend any tools out mate has have a ear bashing and is paying for new one said i though i told you it broke like hell he did so over the weekend hope to get most of it back together have a new rad as well i flushed it two days ago and emptyed it came to pick it up and another pint of water ran out so it's blocked inside i will cut it open to have a look later after she's up and running