ok so I have a 97 LRDisco and I was driving and Usually we keep the heater on to prevent over heating and we were on the freeway and noticed that the heater was no longer blowing hot air. so i went to pull over and noticed the power steering was gone and as soon as we got down to under 30mph smoke started pouring from under the hood. we pull over and saw antifreeze was pretty much pouring from near the belts. and i found out its leaking from a metal pipe that the hose from the antifreeze reservoir connects to buy the belts. my girl said it was the water pump but i wanted to get a second opinion and know how to fix it. the piece thats leaking kind of more so looks like a metal box. Please someone help me out.

 

and i am just dirt broke so i cant take it anywhere cuz as soon as i tell any mechanic that its a land rover they just see dollar signs....

 

1. Keeping heat on means this has been a problem. If truck was always full of coolant, did you hear noise under dash like water rushing through pipes? That would be air or exhaust gas bubbles in the coolant.

2. Most likely you have been at the edge of overheating for a long time, and your main radiator is partially blocked Could be mud and leaves on the fins (check in between AC condenser (front radiator) and main radiator - pull out that rubber strip and look down in there. You are going to have to get radiator flushed and rodded out, IMHO. I took mine out tried the home remedy of white vinegar, tried commerial flush, tried muriatic acid; all helped a little, but $70 at indy rad shop and I was like new again. Hot acid flush, rod out of the calcium build up. Went back with a 180F stat. Rolling around today in the 90"s - 180 - 183 at 55 mph, 189 - 192 in stop and go traffic, got to 212 at idle with AC on parked for 30 minutes.

You want to pull rad and take to indy rad shop, find one that works on farm tractor, bus radiators, an construction equipment. They make their boat payments on the big stuff.

Here's a layout of the cooling system. See the water pump. Has a $3 gasket behind it. If no gasket, blue RTV can work. If you have 100K plus water pump could also be toast. Can get one at a u-pull-da-partz salvage yard of a D1 or a D2, same pump. About $6. You said $ could be an issue... I'm telling you the cheapest way out. While you are at the salvage yard, slide down to the GMC/Chevy truck area, find about a 1998 - 2002, they have a fan clutch that is same size (6 inch) , same thread, and same rotation as ours. Usually $15 - $20, with fan. I cut down fan on mine from a Blazer, it moves a lot more air.

 

If going with a Chevy/GMC clutch and fan, want one with a metal hub. Don't give in to the urge to pour in a bottle of stop leak, it won't help something this big for very long. Obviously, if it is not the water pump, it could be the front cover of the engine behind it, $35 gsket for that, but a handy $115 kit with gasket, WP gasket, front seal, and new oil pump - if you are going that deep. Hope it is just the WP.

BTW fixing the leak is only part of the issue of removing the root cause. We have not even talked about the kind of damage this can do to head gaskets, etc. Never run this engine with temp gauge above 9:00.

 

You might as well give it the Discovery Last Rites Ceremony with whatever meat and brew you can afford and find yourself something else to drive for awhile. I believe that will be the cheapest route for you to take.

You could be looking at a very hefty repair bill. Time to park the beast!

 

I am more optomistic. The quick loss of coolant is quite messy, but should recover well. The long term driving around with heat on because it would overheat is more of a problem. So if you have about $200 to throw at it, can probably get it running IF no head gasket damage. HGs add $200 - $500 DIY, depending on parts source and if you skip machine shop (not suggested).

$70 - radiator flush and rod out
$10 - thermostat
$20 - used fan and clutch
$10 - used water pump
$8 - tube of RTV
$20 - coolant

A blown engine Disco is $400 - $500 to sell to the salvage yard. A "runner" brings $1500 - $1900 even if it needs HG.