Greetings,

Picking up my new ride tomorrow. Its a 97 Disco 161,000 miles. Head gasket appears to be blown. Vehicle overheats and the oil looks milky. Is this enough evidence? The rover north website has OEM and aftermarket gasket kits. Was wondering if the aftermarket will fit the bill. Thanks to everyone, I've been reading the posts...I've officially caught the bug...Hopefully it won't require a 12-step program, but just low-lock, busted knuckles and a cheshire grin...
Scott

 

How much does RN want for the head gasket kit?
Have you checked AtlanticBritish yet?

 

Be sure to buy new bolts... and budget for machine shop work. Once work is done, you may not be out of the woods, if something like a clogged radiator, stuck thermostat, or wimpy viscous fan clutch caused chronic overheating...

Oh, and enjoy the RAVE shop manual.

 

Another sign is gurgling behind dash.

Kits here too: Head Gasket Set for Land Rover Discovery 1 V8 - BPWBKT6, BPWBKT7, STC4082 - 1997

I used BPWBKT6.

 

Its $200 aftermarket and ~$500 OEM. In reference to new bolts, would that be the ~39mm length bolts, etc.? Due overheating, warping. Will check the other sites and compare. Do you trust the aftermarket gasket kits? I would hope they are up to par. Thanks

 

Thanks for the new site...SWEEET

 

Just google these for some good websites, I think we all use these or at least some:

Rover Land Parts
Rovers North
Rovah Farm
Atlantic British
BPUTAH
DAP-Inc
Rock Auto

 

Hi,
I did head gaskets on our 1997 Discovery a few years ago.
138,000 miles on it or so.
Now have 161,000 on it and still going OK with the new head gaskets.

Here is a write up and lots of pictures.

1997 Land Rover replace catalytic converter and head gaskets

I think the head gaskets on a discovery I are harder to do than a Discovery II.
As the heater hoses are harder to get off and you need to remove all the accessory bits and all that.

But, maybe that was just doing it the first time and I was skittish.

I did not have a machine shop skim the heads. I just cleaned them up and slapped them back on.
I had leakage of antifreeze into the engine at the intake manifold and
leakage at the head gasket in the rear where the coolant passages are.
The old gaskets looked tired. But, no real cracks in them.

 

re: In reference to new bolts, would

The regular bolts are "stretch to fit", and can only be used once. Another alternative is ARP bolts and studs.

Flatness spec from the RAVE overhaul manual is .002 inch for heads, your printer paper is .0038 inch or so. You can check for flatness with a feeler gauge and a straight edge.

Page attached. You will want your own doanload of the RAVE, so you don't have to wait for answers and can see step by step what will be required.

 

"stretch to fit"????? WTF are you talking about, these are bolts not bungee cords.

TTY (torque to yield) or "stretch bolts" are one time use only. They are torqued to a specified value and then tightened a number of degrees to put them at the optimum tension.

Why do people constantly insist on paying TOO MUCH for the head gasket set?

ROVAHFARM!!!!! $90 for the gasket set and $60 for the bolts! Just email Trevor and tell him what you need and the vehicle, he will get you the right parts.

The aftermarket head set works just as well as the OEM, which is F'd up because the OEM BLEW! Really, they are fine and last as long as anything out there. ALLMAKES does not own a gasket factory! They buy from a company that does own a gasket factory and sells the same parts under several names.

Why does everyone think aftermarket stuff is inferior to OEM? People assume walmart stuff is inferior, but does wm own a refinery? NOPE! Do they own a hot dog factory? NOPE! Aspirin factory? NOPE! They buy from a large vendor who packages the product to their specs, same as most places with their own brands. NAPA doesn't make their own brand oil, they buy from a distributor same as Autozone does.

The aftermarket gaskets look just like the OEM, Elring, and other BRANDS. They are most likely produced by Elring, but without their logo. Land Rover doesn't own a gasket factory, they buy from Elring and mark the price up plenty and put their logo on it.

Rant off.