I know this has been discussed and I have done lots of reading on the topic, but it seems my never ending engine troubles with this car seem to keep changing every time I fix something.

So my Disco 1 v8 was misfiring, threw misfire codes and check engine light. After replacing a few things I determined were bad, such as the O2 sensors and pcv hoses, I smoke testing for vacuum leaks and found out my valley pan gasket was leaking terribly. I also was missing a bolt on the intake manifold, the closest one on the left, one of the longer bolts. So I pulled the intake apart to change the gaskets and noticed that my oil cap had the milky symptom of a bad head gasket, which it hadnt had just a week prior. I did some careful inspecting and determined that one cylinder is completely void of carbon buildup, which I know on the head is a sign of a slipped liner. If I had a slipped liner, would it be the case that my intake port would also be steam cleaned? It also seemed to be filled with coolant, which I can assume some is from the mess I made draining and spilling it from the thermostat, but it wouldnt be that full just from this. Any input would be appreciated, and if I have to pull the heads to know for sure I will, but would rather not spend all the money on new head bolts and gaskets if it isnt needed, especially if I have to sell the car because of the liner.

To add some other tidbits that might be helpful, the truck had been burning a slight amount of coolant and leaking it all over (probably from the missing bolt on the intake manifold since it appeared to originate from there), it also was losing oil, which was leaking but not sure if it was also burning it. Everything else checked out as far as the spark system and fuel system.





this cylinder has absolutely no carbon buildup, and appears to be filled with coolant

All of the ports show what appears to me to be normal carbon buildup for this age and maintenance record.

 

It helps to know what cylinder your speaking of........ slipped liner isn't my first thought when seeing coolant, usually a head gasket or a front cover gasket at the water pump passages. If it's the middle two then it's more likely.

 

This^

And, if a liner slips, it will leave an impression on the bottom of the head gasket, where the round sleeve has been hammering into it.

 

This is the cylinder on driver side (north america) and furthest forward to the front of the car. I talked to my friend who is a mechanic, and after inspecting the valley pan gasket we believe the coolant is leaking from the coolant passage adjacent to this cylinder over into the cylinder because of a bad valley pan. Thanks for your help, I think I am going to just replace the valley pan and valve cover gaskets and put it back together.

 

Get a good valley pan gasket, the cheap ones flake off their coating.