Hello all,

I bought a 98 Discovery LSE off eBay and the seller said "Great Condition". It arrived today and when I started it water is leaking from around the drivers side head (it looks like where the alternator attaches to the head). I remember back in the day on old 283 engines, by Chevrolet, the bolts actually sealed the systems on some of the heads, could this be the case here? Has anyone else seen this? I cannot see a verifiable crack, but the water has to be coming from somewhere. I am open to any information you guys might throw at me.

thanks in advance,

Brian

Other info which might or might not matter:
No water in the oil
coolant reservoir is rusty looking inside
no engine noises
Truck starts immediately on key turn
dash lights do not work
tail lights do not work
interior lights do work

 

When you buy sight unseen off EBAY and do not go to great measures to either go see it yourself as part of the deal or have an independent inpspection, you are buying a "Pig in a Poke".

Probably a blown head gasket or maybe even a crack, or it could just be severely warped from overheating.

Don't expect it to be a cheap fix either. Sounds like you may have bitten the big one on this.

 

Thats an awful lot of lights not working, could be fuses?

As far as the coolant leak, you'll have to find exactly( I know, easier said than done) where it's coming from. I know the water pump has some bolts that break into water jackets, but I don't know of any other, and the alternator is too high up for that.

Maybe you'll get lucky and it's the vally pan gasket. Mine started leaking and I thought it was the head gaskets. Wouldn't hurt to see if all the lower intake bolts are tight.

The rusty look in the resivoir I'll bet is from the PO trying stop leak in the cooling system to hide the problem.

 

Thanks for all the replies guys. Since the truck runs so well, starts so easily, and there is no coolant in the oil I believe it is a valley pan gasket.

I found another post by ngarover that says :
All discos seem to suffer the same issues with Valley pan gaskets and Head

All can be done by yourself if your handy. I'm not, and I was still able to do the Valley Pan myself in about 4 hours. (30 bucks in parts and gasket sealer) versus the 700 quote from a mechanic. Head Gasket, yours leaks... mine leaks, they all leak and need to be replaced. Guys here have great step by step writeups on how to do it yourself. I believe your looking at around 225 or so in parts. and a weekend to get it done. But, I have not personally done one yet (soon to change). Gaskets, well, any gasket for that matter...

source: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...ng-into-37172/

Where do you all buy your gasket sets? I built old cars for years ans surely I can pull off doing all the work on this baby. I am so excited. I will post some pics within a day or two.

thanks in advance!
Brian

 

There are many LR specialty parts suppliers out there. I prefer to support them over Auto Parts warehouses who stock as many parts for as many vehicle manufacturers as possible for one simple reason. Rover Specialists are dedicated to this brand and will be more likely to have the odd and rare parts in addition to the common stuff. Support them as much as possible and we can keep them around.

I will only list the folks I have personally used BUT there are others out there who are great too.

Rovers North
Atlantic British
PTSchram
Roverguy.com (Will Tillery)
Rovah Farm

Like I said there are others but I have not dealt with them to give a personal recommendation. I guarantee you others will chime in with their suggestions and / or experiences.

 

Ok so maybe you will be lucky. I fully agree with COSMO. If those five specialist don't have it at a great price then it ain't or at least should not be found on a LR. I personally have bought the majority of my new parts from Rovers North followed by AB.

You cannot beat the knowledge and overall great service and availability of the correct replacements parts at a great price, I usually get their own line called ProLine. Never had a problem with them at all.

AB also runs specials that are great for buying several small items at one time to save on overall shipping.

I avoid all the big Auto Parts Houses that usually sell lesser quality imports from who knows where. Buy good parts and tools and you will be better in the long run. Also learn what to replace in pairs and not individually as they self-destuct as some newbies report having to do because they were low on funds. But when you pay for rush shipping twice and have to take it out of service twice, what did you save?

I lucked out with a large oil leak after buying a gasket set on sale, I was able to resolve it by tightening the valve cover bolts all around. You will need an 8mm 12 point preferrably a 1/4 drive due to tight spacing. I got by with a 3/8 drive but could not reach one of the 8 boltheads.

I also go to Will Tillery first for used parts, he has almost always come thru with a great price that includes shipping and no add on prices to jack up the total.
Good luck.

 

Water will not come from the valley pan gasket. That is only oil. Having just done my head gaskets for a small coolant leak at the front of the engine I would say you need to do head gaskets and will need to get the heads checked and most likely milled. Probably been overheated.

 

Also, is it a minor leak or is it a gusher?

 

Have you tried getting it pressurized? or using some kind of bright *** additive that will show up better.

 

One other question, did you try any follow-up against the seller? I think it varies from state to state but you may have some recourse if you look into it further. Or go pay him a visit with a persuader in hand............Tony Soprano style.

Kneecap him ala Tonya Harding.................