Doc and Red ... thanks for the input. I have a pm with Mike and hopefully we can get to the bottom of it or at least some direction. I just found a Disco 2, same year with tranny trouble (says it won't shift into reverse) for $1000 locally. I may buy that truck and frankentruck the two of them into one viable vehicle. That will also give me a huge pile of spares for the garage and an engine to rebuild as well.

As far as pressure testing at a rad shop, I have been loathe to do it because with this engine it may not be probative. If the block is pourous it will bleed pressure but with no indication. They will then be able to tell me there is something wrong with my cooling system but they won't tell me what (like a computer or a woman ... they will both tell you that you have done something wrong but won't tell you what). On the other hand it may give me the opportunity to finally see the one little drip that is coming out somewhere weird.

 

well if it really is that tricky to find use UV die, you can buy a bottle for like 15 bucks and a UV flashlight for around the same.

 

Advanced auto parts has a cooling system pressure tester you can "check out", which means you pay full price but they give you a full refund when you return it.

Most testers don't fit our trucks - the one at Advance did.

 

Hi Kman, a pal, Chris, who runs an autoshop for Ford race engines does this every year in France, he's nuts on cycling and looks for sponsors. Tell us about your venture.

On the D2 front, it sounds like you've picked a real dog unfortunately. I'll also mull over your dilemnas and see what (stupid) ideas I can contribute. It sounds a real b!tch.

 

Ok I am going to give this goat one last chance. I found a Disco2 ofr sale with a bad transmission. The car has no reverse and no overdrive so I figure the high band clutch pack are bad. Engine appears to be in good condition and all the things that are busted on mine work on this one (bonus it has a brand new wabco in it). I plan to transplant the engine into the woe mobile and I am wondering if there are any tricks tips or otherwise? I am keeping the bad tranny and I am curious if it is easier to pull them both together? As for transplanting in, is there a way to get the engine in without pulling the manifold? I really don't want to touch the new engine unless I have to. Other than to replace the oil pan and rocker cover gaskets. Any advice?? I will be doing this job with an engine hoist and putting the donor block on an engine stand to do the maintenance before I stick it in. PS what bolts do I need to bolt it to the stand, or will the old ones from the trans housing suffice?

 

Pulling donor block. Having trouble with the motor mounts but only those and 3 more bolts. What a fight!!!!!!

 

Good Luck Mate!

 

Ok. I finally did vet that block out. I traded the donor and 500 bucks to get it swapped into the woemobile. Still loses coolant but more slowly. And this time I can see the leaks lol. It is too bloody cold here to tinker with it but when the weather gets warmer I will fix the known leaks. I had the heater blower give out, but I managed to fix it with a bypass. That is described in a post under " heater blower" in the search bar.

 

So, I had the engine swap done. There was an obvious leak somewhere in the exhaust coolant interface, the hoses are not rock hard anymore when at pressure! Still had a coolant leak and waited for the warmer weather to deal with it. So I suddenly notice that the floor in the passenger footwell is damp and the rear passenger floor is soaked. Think "damn sunroof leak" and carry on (will fix the roof in warmer weather) Some point later I am folding the floor mat in the back over to let the floor dry a bit and notice the green ooze between my fingers. This is when I discover the discovery is famous for leaking coolant into the passenger compartment!!! So I have bypassed the heater matrix to confirm. I also yanked the headliner and went to town on the sunroofs. Ripped the motor out of the rear and refurbed it. not too hard, just cleaned, greased the bushings and knocked all the crap out of the stator magnet. Re synched it and it works like a charm. I pulled the EVAP valve and found it was choked with crud, so I rig some wires to the battery so I can power the solenoid, it clicks so I know the solenoid works. Try and blow through it and there is barely any air going out. I grab up some carb cleaner and blast the junk out, exercising the solenoid as i go. By the end it was like blowing through a straw!. Couple of hose clamps later and I wiped the codes. Fingers crossed! Now I am just trying to identify the source of the coolant leak (this time for certain) I know there is a leak somewhere as I saw drips of coolant on the bottom of the cross member at the back of the engine and some on the bottom of the front axle tube. I did just purge the system yesterday but I drove it about 5 km later that night so there should not have been any left over fro burping the upper hose. I am going to have to admit defeat and get a rad shop to work it over and see if they can find it.

 

Oh ... I forgot, I am also going to reattach the headliner cloth before I put it back in, and the front sunroof is still leaking, it is coming from between the motor and the frame and only when I go around a corner to the right (it is awesome, it is like my car is peeing on me and is always a bonus when I am going to work)