So the disco has a blown head gasket - puffing out of the #6 or #4 cylinder - no coolant in the oil, although it was drinking some water before the big blow. So the question I have for others who have seen this is - is this block toast - or can a head gasket replacement/head repair get this back going with some reliability for the future?

 

Caveat - I've been drinking gin.

If the HG blows on the outside (toward the exhaust manifold) it can sound like an exhaust leak, and have no oil in coolant or vice versa. So I'd say just a standard HG job and all it entails will likely fix your problems. The puffing is no reason to suspect a cracked block.

 

X2 - my HG burned a furrow out between the cylinders and was an exhaust leak sound. However, if you continue operation it can eat into the block and require more complex machine work to repair. See my Shade Tree post for pix of it. It got louder before repairs.

 

Sooner you fix it - less damage will happen.
worst case is head needs decked and the block may need decked.
Decking a block is expensive.
So, just replace the head gasket now and see how it turns out.

 

Thanks for sharing guys, that was the information I was looking for. We stopped driving it basically right away - although I think we will probably sell it as needing a head gasket as we found another one at a very good price with much lower miles.

 

This may sound like a stupid question but what does an exhaust leak sound like?

Thanks,

Pete

 

pffft, pfffft, pffffft,pffft, pffffft

like jogging toots

 

Like this

2004 Land Rover Discovery 2 SE Engine Running with Possible Blown Head Gasket - YouTube

 

Thanks. I'm obviously not having an exhaust issue then. Toots eh? lol..

 

I'm not sure what you're saying here, but a cracked exhaust manifold or a blown exhaust manifold gasket (if present) will also cause 'tooting'.