Hello all,

I just purchased a DII 2004 HSE7 (99k) and it looks great, the interior and body are nearly mint condition, but it has two issues I am trying to sort out.
First, it has an exhaust leak on the passenger side. It sounds like only one cylinder, so I am thinking manifold gasket? Is this common on a 2004 and how hard is it to replace? I have a RAVE manual for my 2002 DII, is it the same for 2004?

Second, the coolant expansion tank was filled properly when I got the car 4 days ago and I noticed some drips from the over flow pipe down into the engine compartment. I had to fill the tank yesterday and noticed plenty of fluid below the overflow pipe! Drove it to work this morning and the tank was empty again.

I did a search on the forum and found that several other items that might be part of my issue. I do have the guggling sound from the passenger dash area. The water temp is steady per the gauge on the dash and heating inside is fine.

So, does it make sense by what I have read that I probably need to bleed the cooling system per the instructions that are abundant in the other posts and that might clear my expansion tank issues?

PS, took it by the shop today and had a look while the vehicle was on the rack, noticed small oil leak from the right front portion of the head, do these grow into big problems or will card board on the ground work for some time?

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: I just went out and topped off the expansion tank and then used the garden hose to wash down the old antifreeze in the engine compartment. By chance, the steam from the water on the exhaust exposed the exhaust leak to be at the union of the manifold and the exhaust pipe! This looks to be a lot easier?

Thanks in advance for any help or insight!

Mike

Current Stable:
2004 Discovery HSE7
2002 Discovery SE
1994 BMW 530i
1989 Chrysler TC by Maserati
1954 Morris Minor
1953 Sunbeam Talbot Alpine
1952 Sunbeam Talbot 90

 

you could try bleeding it correctly purhaps the place you got it from just topped it off, but were did the coolant go to begin with?

But you would be real lucky if that is your only problem, 'mi guessing it need head gaskets and that is why the PO dumped it.

if you have any type of recourse,(depending on the state & purchase date) you should bring it to an independent garage that has experience in LRs and have a complete inspection done on the truck, including preasure teasting and Co2 test the coolant system.

 

Unfortunately I have to agree with suspected head gasket problem - which I've come to learn is very common past 80K miles on that generation. We got "misterious missing coolant" around 85K - no puddles on the floor, etc. Finally got way up under the rear of the engine and found the back of the block and bell housing covered in dried coolant residue. Apparently it seeps out the back of the heads and evaporates while driving.

2 LR shops - one dealer and one indy - automatically diagnosed head gaskets. Another thinks it could just be the valley gasket (lower intake manifold.) Waiting for better weather to get a full smoke and pressure test. In the meantime we are lucky that the coolant leak has slowed. Now only losing about an inch a month. So we now carry coolant and keep our fingers crossed and eyes on the temp guage.

Hope you find that your leak is due to something else that is easier to fix. - losing it that quickly seems a bit unusual but I only have our situation as a reference point.

 

Buddy I am going to lay it straight out for you, it sounds like you better prepare for doing the head gaskets real soon. A very mall leak could hold out for a while but if you have a empty reservoir just from the drive to work it us not so small so ifs only going to get worse. Seller probably new about this a was very glad you dud not notice it before you exchanged money.

The oil leak is probably coming from the valley pan gasket that's a very common leak and you will fix it when doing the head job .

On the exhaust leak the bolts heat and cool si much the do get weak and break sometimes or back them selves out on occasion.

Sorry for the bad news dude but its not going to do you any good for me to sugar coat things and lead to to believe something simple is the fix.

Now you should know better about the temp gauge on the dash, its junk totally inaccurate. Your truck can be overheating and that needle still sits dead center, buy a ultra gauge so you can monitor the temps in digital fashion.

Now for the drive shaft, dud you inspect that to check for damaged or worn universal jou ts or centering ball? The drive shaft in the 04 is no different than the 02 both of them have the same set up and will fail on you so you need to get those replaced before they fail on you and cost you a truck.

Happy new year!

 

Look at my sticky posted at the top of this section regarding major service, you need to do it, in total.
As for the drive shaft, just make sure you have 1 grease fitting on each of the 3 front u-joints.
As for your other issues, if you want some guidance send me your number and I'll call you.
By the way, you never use tap water to flush out a coolant system, all you are doing is adding more calcium to the system, use distilled water.

 

The tap water he was just using to clean spilt antifreeze on the engine compartment not to flush the system.

 

Hmmmm, the picture is getting pretty ugly for this LR. I have until Sunday to return and get a full refund ($4,900), so if I do anything, I need to do it tomorrow.

My only focus now is the coolant issue. The coolant seems to be coming out of the over flow pipe into the engine bay. So, if I understand correctly the possibility is that the cylinder head gasket has breached from a cylinder to a cooling cavity and the cylinder pressure is escaping into the cooling system? This excess pressure could force the coolant out of the resevour via the over flow pipe? During the intake stroke for that same cylinder should it be sucking coolant into the cylinder and burning out through the exhaust? Can I also assume that when the engine is off, the coolant would flow in the opposite direction and I should have coolant in one of the cylinders?

The oil is clear of any contaminants, and I have no smoke (blue or white) from the exhaust. I did not check the drivers side spark plugs and will do that tonight.

If I have a head gasket issue, by checking each cylinder pressure should I count on finding one of the cylinders pressure significantly different?

I hope that using this forum as a sounding board for my own logic along with gaining your helpful insight and suggestions is not too obnoxious for fellow members!

Thanks,

Mike

 

RETURN IT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING.

Tell them if they repair it you will be glad to look at it again, but end the deal. Then take it to a LR mechanic to be completely checked out before you purchase it back.

$4900 is a great price for an 04, but if they tried to get it out the door with leaking head gaskets, they probably poured Barrs or some other type of liquid head gasket repair in it before it went out the door. The truck will never be the same once that stuff is in there.

JMHO

 

Take it back and in the future please follow our advice and take the truck for a test drive directly to a land rover dealership or a Indy shop for a pre purchase inspection it will be the best money you ever spend when buying a disco. There are to many variables and it to easy to get screwed by a shady seller.

Pouring that crap into the system is only asking for problems down the road inevitably the job will have to be done correctly.

 

You are asking reasonable questions Mike and we are here to help folks out! No worries,
Yes do a exhaust gas test if you wish.
Do a compression test on each cylinder.
do a overall pressure test i m sure somewhere you will find a leaking point.
Check your plugs.
And yeas to you question about the pressure build up forcing coolant out of the reservoir. By the way what color is the coolant?