Posting this to help any one who wants to think about changing
head gaskets in a discovery I or a discovery II.


I did a Discovery I a few years ago:

See here for pictures of replacing the head gaskets on a 1997 Discovery I

1997 Land Rover replace catalytic converter and head gaskets

Here are pictures of the 2001 Discovery II head gasket removal and
replace.

I did this in a parking lot. Had good weather.
the truck is still not all together. I am still bolting on parts..
And the infamous plumbing of the SAI.

Here are pictures of the Head gasket replacement on a Discovery 2.
I used Victor Reinz head gaskets from British Pacific parts.

I did not skim the heads. I did not even check for warpage.
So, I may get bitten.

I did not want to skim the heads as the valves and all that were working fine.

Plus, I did not want additional compression - which may create
pre detonation and cause head gasket problems in the future.

I feel that the head gaskets were replaced before and they may have been
torqued wrong.

This 2001 Discovery II - had symptoms: Cylinder 1 misfire.
A local shop replaced the plug wires. Still misfire.

When I first visited this 2001 Discovery II - there was steam out the back pipe on a 35 degree day.
Lots of steam.
I put in Barr's Leaks - just one bottle of the normal Barr's leaks.
That stopped the steam out the back pipe.
I never had a misfire code after that.
But, I had excess pressure in the coolant system.
Using antifreeze. And, antifreeze spewing out the holding bottle.

So, I decided to tear down the engine and replace the gaskets.

I did find - there was a line from the firing ring round seal to the water jacket on the cylinder 1 area of the head gasket.
I'll post a picture of this.

I am told - that is all it takes for getting pressure into the cooling system.

So, I found "the problem".

I pulled the other head and the gasket over there was looking fine.

I have pictures of all this posted.

Here are the pictures for replacing head gaskets on a Discovery II in a parking lot (car park).



Flickr: Landroverdude2's Photostream

Well, truck went back together.
In putting on the Plenum, I snagged the vacuum line for the power brake.
I need to pull the plenum back off.
Probably ruined the power brake vacuum line.

Discovery runs no better or worse than when I took it apart to change the head gaskets..

When I took it for a test run - I still had the water fall noise.
I found I had a loose hose clamp.

I bled the system once by raising the coolant tank and opening the bleeder at the "T".
drove it around.
Less water fall noise in heater core.
Bled it again.
Less noise even again.
Bled it again.
Even less noise.

And, now I notice.

When I take a 15 minute trip.
And, I then open the hood and remove the coolant bottle cap -
Coolant DOES NOT come spewing out or the level raise.
The level stays the same.

I am thinking the blown head gasket was getting combustion gasses into the coolant system and putting air into the system.

When the coolant cap was removed, then that air would push the coolant ABOVE it out the bottle and onto the ground.

With the head gasket fixed and the system bled properly, there is no air UNDERNEATH the coolant bottle to push
the coolant out when the cap is removed.

This is how I have tested the Discovery I.

The Discovery II is a different animal a bit.
Seems if you bleed it three or 4 times in a row - most of the air is gone.

Sure drives differently than a Discovery I. Feels more planted on the ground.

Hopefully these bread crumbs will help people deal with nasty coolant system issues.

Thank you all for contributing.
And, thanks Mike as always.

This board has given me all sorts of insights. And, I wanted to give back.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

jfall, thanks for the info and great picks. I'm doing a head gasket on my 2001 discovery se7 right now. I was told by the dealer I had a bad gasket after they found coolant on the front and back of the heads. I did ran the car hot for about 5 minutes after I had a radiator fail on me.
Did you do an engine flush after replacing the head gasket? I have lots of gunk inside the valve covers and on the lifters. so I'm wondering if is a good idea to use "engine flush" after the head gasket replacement.

 

Fern,
You'll want to change the oil after replacing the headgaskets.
It is hard to drain all of the coolant out of the system.
Some of it may get into the engine when you pull the heads off.
The coolant may spill into the valley and just go into the oil pan.
Coolant ruins the main bearings in the engine, so you need to change the oil
right away after heads are done.
If your engine is in bad shape - sludgy and all that.
You may want to replace your valve lifters whilst you are in there working.

This whole thing take a long time and it very tedious.
You also don't want to break off any exhaust studs.
Best to soak those in WD40 or such.
And, then try to get them off - by going forward, backward, forward, backward.

If an exhaust stud is hard to turn, never keep turning it.
You'll break it off.
Go backward, forward, backward and when it gets tight, go the other direction.

You are supposed to replace the exhaust bolts with new.
And, the head bolts with new.
Never reuse head bolts as they are stretch bolts.

I used Victor Reinz
head gaskets

www.victorreinz.com/

Truck has been together for a week now and no issues yet with head gasket stuff.

Sorting out other problems like O2 codes now.

 

Hi Jeff... nice job of this post! Which picture of the head gaskets has where you saw the leak? Thanks.

 

Troy_less, I wouldn't count on a response on a thread that is 10 years old from a member who hasn't been on the forum for three years. Not trying to be rude, just not sure if you noticed the age of the post.

 

Sqlbullit, Thanks... you're not being rude. I was just hoping. Have a Disco II that was presumed to have blown head gasket(s), but no sign of it once I got the heads off. I figured it was worth a try. Again, thanks.

 

@Troy_Less Start a thread about it and post pictures of the head gaskets of you can - I had a hairline crack in mine when it went.

 

Richard Gallant, thanks for the reply. I do have a thread for this problem I've been posting to thus far:

Blown Head Gasket? - Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum

I just ran across this thread and was hoping I might get some advice on it. Thanks again for your help.