I have a 2003 discovery and am in need of good advice. Noise started with just a small tapping and gradually got worse. Its extremely loud now i stopped driving it. 2 mechanics told me that i needed the heads redone and it would be cheaper to get another motor. I guess fixing the heads dosent gaurantee to solve the problem. The noise souonds like compressed air being forced out of a nozzle with every stroke of the piston. Is this good advice? The truck has been awesome untill this point.

Im getting a #4 cyclinder misfire code along with egr leak form the SEC light. It still runs good except for the loud noise. I live in the washington DC area. Does anyone know a good landrover mechanic around here? I owe more than its worth so i have to get it fixed. I would like another opinion.

It has right around 120k miles. Im new to this forum hoping you guys can help me out. Please let me know what you think.

 

also. My mother had an older dico that the cats fell apart and sounded like a lifter or valve as well. she had multipule people tell her the motor was hosed. Whats the best way to eliminate the CATS from the equation?

 

Hi and welcome,

It sounds like a blown head. How did the mechanics come to this conclusion? Need to do a compression test on that cylinder to start. Could have an exhaust leak/cracked manifold etc. and the #4 cylinder misfire could be a seperate issue. Hard to say without being there and running some tests. I say verify cylinder compression first.

 

ok i will do. What cylinder is #4. passenger side front? if it was a blown head would it be cheaper to replace motor of get heads repaired?

 

I'll let someone with a DII field the rest of your Q's. They'll chime in eventually. Good luck!

 

Even worst case scenario if you need a cylinder head rebuilt that is a far cry from a whole new engine. I would steer clear of that garage, sounds like fear mongering.

It does sound like a blown head gasket and if so you can do the job if you have the time and inclination if you can hear the air you should be able to do a quick down and dirty and spray some soapy water around the head gasket seam while someone revs. You to need to confirm it is though it could also be the exhaust manifold gaskets or any of the other upper engine gaskets. You replace them all with a head gasket job. Get the cylinders pressure tested and pressure test the coolant system for god measure at your milage.

Here is a diagram of the cylinder #'s.

 

thanks i will do ..

 

First, you can't get rid of the cats so don't even go there.
As for the noise, get a second opinon but head gaskets sound right, it is not at all uncommon to blow exhaust from the side of the block.
As for cost, per you question on cost, it is obvious you are not at all mechanical. The head gasket job should run you around $1550 plus any head related work, a new engine $7000 and up. As mentioned, once the heads are off, have a machine shop inspect them and go from there.

 

No one has asked this yet so i am...

How long have you owned the Disco?

1. What grade fuel have you been running and for how long?
2. At what interval has your oil changes been done at?
3. What oil type, oil brand, and oil filter do you use?
4. (Off topic) When was the last time any fluids have been changed? (i.e. Coolant, Brake Fluid, Power steering, Axle Fluid, Transfer-Case Fluid, Transmission Fluid)
5. What brand of spark plugs and spark plug wires do you use and when was the last time they were replaced?
6. When was your vehicle last serviced, and what was done?

 

Good point!!