2000 land rover disco.i just got the truck about 3 months ago and so far it has been off road more than on, and everything was working very well untill..... i got into a situation were i had to take it across a very full (3 feet) and very fast wash, enough said. after the trip i drove the truck home (20 miles) with no problem. were the problem comes about 2 days later when i notice water on the passanger side floor. i thought it was the heater core so i cut the lines and put a U shaped hose inplace. i now know that was not the best idea i have had, but whats done is done. After bypassing the heater core i took the truck down to the store (round trip 3 miles) and now it's knocking like crazy and i got orange oil! (over heating comes with the ladder). i changed the oil and replaced the coolent on the off chance that i sucked in water and thats why i had coolent in there but after the test drive (2 miles) my coolent take was empty, my oil was about 2qt. high, and it was over heating and knocking. i am now at a stopping point. Tommorrow i am going to replace the heater core hoses because i think the wet floor was from the A/C lines not the heater. if someone could give me a little insight on what to do about the coolent in the oil i would appriciate it. i would rather fix it myself (cars like it better when you fix them) but i might have to take her in. please help!

 

You may have blown a head gasket or the oil line that is in the radiator and it is leaking antifreeze in to the block.

Pull the spark plugs to see if its a head gasket.

Do not drive it or you will be buying a new motor, lets hope you
found it soon enough.

 

thanks for the tip i will look into that right now. could that have been from an over heat or perhaps just normal wear?

 

"Over heating and knocking" I think he's already going to be buying a new motor!

 

one spark plug had a hint of coolent on the threds and smelled kinda sweet........head gasket huh?

 

That sounds right.

 

i just got all the spark plugs out. and cranked the engine just enough to determine that there is NO water in the cyclinders. that rules out the head gasket. i really think this is related to bypassing the heater core. could i have blown a gasket or seal in the intake? that bit of coolent i found must have dripped onto the threads of the plug.

 

landzu what is that oil line you were talking about? I talked to a couple engine savy folks about this problem i have and unfortunatly none of us have enough experence with any land rovers to determine why i am getting the coolent in the oil.

 

You could try a hydrocarbons test ifyou have access to iton the coolant to confirm the headgasket is good? For me in the past I've been able to smell a "gas" smell in the coolant when the head gasket is bad. Or you could do a leakdown test?

I think the oil cooler lines go into the oil pump around where the oil filter screws on, and then in & out to the radiator. Maybe one of those lines has ruptured inside the either the oil pump housing or more likely in the radiator? Is there oil in the coolant in the radiator? If it is a leaky line and not the HG you may have caught it in time before any permanent damage? But the fact it already overheated is not good, these engines don't survive overheating very well, and typically will develop internal coolant leaks once they've overheated, unless shut off as soon as it gets hot. Even then though it's often too late. Good luck!

 

The oil cooler lines go through the radiator on the right side from top to bottom.
The radiator would have oil in it also.
You will only get a head gasket to leak under pressure.