I have been patient with my 97' Disco. I have had VSS problems, Steering box replaced.... Etc. I had my head gasket replaced less than 5k miles ago and been reading threads on the gurgling under dash and white smoke coming out of the exhaust. That is exactly what mine is doing. I also noticed driving under load on the freeway the engine went HOT. I didn't have the Ultra Gauge when this happened but do now. I have also tried to let the air out of the coolant system by unscrewing the little cap on the radiator and warming up the vehicle letting the bubbles out but I still have the gurgling and white smoke. The mechanic that did the head gasket repair had looked at it, "Pressure Tested" as he said the coolant system and did not find a leak, So he says. Should I go buy a radiator chemical tester and be 100% sure that my head gasket is bad or is the white smoke and gurgling enough to diagnose the problem??? Since I have hooked up the Ultra Gauge, I ran up to 210 degrees on the freeway but not much over. I actually replaced the thermostat about 10k miles ago and think I put in a 180 degree thermostat.

You guys rock with the Disco advice. Many thanks.

 

If you have enough white smoke to see it on the expressway after engine warmed up you are burning coolant and should also be seeing coolant level change over a day or two. I'm not running above 190 these winter days with a 180 stat. A cracked block can make similar problems. Mechanic most likely has one of those testers, or get one from parts store (buy or rent, they do 15 tests). Stat could be installed backwards (coil goes inside the block for next newbie that sees this thread). Radiator could be really blocked up, would feel colder on bottom rows vs top rows by more than 10F. It is a horizontal tube radiator, so bottom rows plug up first.

In cold weather, white smoke out the back is not always coolant. But steady loss of coolant gets it below the line in pix, where stat becomes exposed to steam, the heater stops working well, and coolant sensor may be not touching water.

 

Thanks, Savannah..... I have just spoken to my Rover shop owner in Norcross and going to take it to him tomorrow for a free chemical test. I have a laser temperature gauge I will take with me to work today and check the radiator temperatures from top to bottom when I have ran the car for a while. I was told they clog often and the temperature on the bottom of the radiator can be 15 degrees cooler if this happens.

I really have not noticed a significant coolant loss though. I do see a very minute drip from the lower radiator hose connecting to the radiator but it is very small of a drip. The vehicle idles fine, drives fine but gurgles and slight overheating. I pray it is not the engine block.

I have a friend that had a crack in his engine block on a 97' Disco and put some sort of metal shavings into his coolant???? he said it stopped the leak. Is that an option u think if block is cracked?

 

There are Stop Leak products available in bottles from auto parts stores. I would exhaust all other repair options first and only use the stop leak as a hail mary to avoid replacing the engine.

 

On way into work I got (2) fault codes:
P0300 misfire on multiple cylinder
P1316 Misfire Excessive Emissions Fault

Aaargh!
Any of these 2 fault codes have anything to do with a bad head gasket by chance??

 

And good call on the radiator.... I got to work and had to go in for a minute but then went out and took a temperature reading. Top of radiator 154 degrees, the bottom 124 degrees. Guess a radiator is on my wish list now

 

Took Disco into shop Saturday and found that my head gasket was actually good. There was no exhaust gas in the coolant> Thank God. We did find that the Viscus plate on the fan was worn out. Currently unplugged my A/C compressor and running the fans off the A/C to keep it kinda cool. Replacing Viscus plate in near future.

 

Good work around on the AC disconnect / electric fans on. The fan clutch is like $60 ish, from a 2000 Chevy Express van 4.3 liter without AC. You have to enlarge the bolt holes in your fan a tiny bit. The rad can be rodded out by an indy shop, check prices for carry-in. About $70 near me. New copper rad is more than an I Phone. There is an aluminum/plastic tank rad that is like $235.

 

After I get the fan clutch replaced and if it still heats up to over 200 degrees, I am going to try and find a shop to clean out the radiator. I wonder if anyone has suggestions in the North Atlanta area???

 

It is pretty easy to take out and carry in, if that makes a price difference. Call around, some large shops do good work, but may not be cheap. Like Marietta Radiator. I found my small 2 guy indy shop out on the edge of farm country, he does heavy machinery, buses, and tractors for boat payments. Rover rad is like a tea cup to a dishwasher for them.