Looked at an '01 with 43K on it. Immaculate inside and out, but current owner tells me the one head gasket went a few weeks ago so the truck just had both done. Is this common? You could eat off this engine. Any thoughts on downside to buying a vehicle thats had this repair at just 43K? Any chance I'm good to go....?

Thanks, and I look forward to spending a lot of time on this forum now that I am joining the ramks, so to speak.

Steve

 

.02 Walk away fast. Head gaskets rarely fail. Engines commonly fail.

 

Rovers have been known for head gasket problems, usually at a higher mileage then what that truck had. I have been driving with both of mine leaking a small amount of coolant from the front corners of the heads for a year know. I have been lucky, I have had no inner mixing of fluids and no burning of coolant or oil thru the cylinders.
Be glad that truck has had them taken care of, probably won't happen again if you take care of it.
Mike

 

Mike is correct in that head gasket problems are common, seeping and leaking. Complete failures are not. Water in the oil or visa versa are 99% of the time bad block issues.

Steve, if you could explain ' went ' a little more perhaps we could provide some more incite.

 

my head gasket has gone but not over heating . when i start it in the morning it steam,s for a while then clears is the removal and repair a diy job or would i be better to put to my local garage for them to do i have done a head gasket on a petrol car before my self but not so sure about this and do i need any specialist tools look forward to any heip and advice thanks for now

 

Steve,
What did you do about the Disco with the bad head gasket? Was the work done by a Rover shop, if so you should have a year warranty of their work.
Mike

 

ssonic,

To answer your question, the replacment of the head gaskets is a DIY job IF you have previous experience in working on engines (and I don't mean just tune-ups and oil changes). There really are no special tools required, but there are a couple of things to be aware of. One of them is to throw out the head bolts, and use new ones. These are "stretch" bolts, meaning you do not simply torque them to a certain value, but after a initial tightening sequence is followed, you "index" the bolts to achieve the proper clamping force. We offer a head gasket kit complete with the head bolt set. Its always good practice to use a piece of cardboard with 16 holes in it marked in such a way that you drop the pushrods in them so as to re-install them in the same location they came from. And make sure you use a straight-edge on the cylinder head mating surface and use feeler gages to make sure you have no warping of the heads--or all your work will have been for nothing. You do want to replace the self-sealing valve cover screws when you are getting to the end of the job. You may have to replace the exhaust manifold-to-Y-Pipe studs depending on what climate you are in. Bottom line is, take your time and try to keep things clean!. Degrease the engine before pulling the heads to minimize the possibility of crud finding its way into the engine when you open it up.

If you want a price quote for everything you will need, please visit my website. And by the way--- the service part of our organization typically bills out a head gasket job on a Disco II at about $1800.

Regards,

Mike McLaughlin
www.eurotekapg.com