had my discovery 2 towed to my mechanic last week. he says the motor is done and i need to think about what i want to do next. naturally before i pull the trigger on a new motor i really want to exhaust all other possibilities first.

here are the symptoms:

1. wife driving it one day and wouldn't start. i jumped the battery and got it back to the house.
2. rough idle.
3. lots of white smoke from tailpipe.
4. smelled like burning coolant.
5. milkshake consistency after checking the oil.
6. svc engine light flashing (its time for the 120k svc which may be why its on).

after searching this forum it sounds like it could ether be a cracked cylinder sleeve (which is what my mechanic said it is) OR blown head gasket. i am hoping its the later. can you pull the head and actually tell if a cylinder sleeve is cracked? any info you guys can provide would be totally helpful as i've been thinking about the prospect of a $4k fix which sucks. thanks.

 

having it overhauled is a lot cheaper than replacing the whole engine. but then again, a new engine is a new engine. and the only sure way to find whats wrong with it is to open it up, either way, youll gonna want to do it soon to avoid any more possible damage.

 

Not so fast.
The only way for sure is to tear the engine down. If you haven't dropped a sleeve and haven't washed the bearing, you may still be in good shape, needing only a good head gasket replacement and a few stray parts.

 

Not enough info for anyone to give you really serious advice. However, it "sounds" like your Disco was seriously overheated more than once, not good. You have coolant everywhere and 120K on the clock. Assuming your mechanic is experiencedwithLand Rovers, I would take his advice and go with the new engine. Yes, it will cost more money butit may just be abetter investment.A new head gasket could prove tobe false economy.Good Luck.

 

Hey looks like we have similar taste in cars! I think we also live in the same area!

 

I'd tear it down to see what's going on in there, you'll be able to see the condition of the gasket and cylinder wall...tearing it down will only cost you time.

 

I agree with NiteTrain, have your mechanic remove the heads, if the sleeves are good then new head gaskets and you are good to go, if not then you need a good used engine.
www.roverlandparts.com

 

thank you all for the good info. sounds like our mechanic will be able to pull the head and be able to tell if the cylinder sleeve is cracked?
he was going to do some pressure tests tomorrow morning, i will call him and ask him to remove the heads.
james with british 4x4 here in jacksonville is our go to guy. his shop only works on land rovers.

thanks again guys, i will keep you posted.

oh yeah, with regards to the engine overheating, honestly, i can't remember it ever getting overheated. and as i am thinking more about it, we replaced the head gaskets 3 years ago.

 

we have had bad weather associated with tropical storm fay here in jacksonville and has delayed my LR from getting into the shop. my mechanic started on the head job but only had a single gasket and will have to finish tuesday (closed on mondays). he did say the gasket on the passenger side was bad and that one of the "ports" looked funky. i don't know what a "port" is so forgive me but he hopes the head job will do the trick. more info when he finishes tuesday afternoon.

 

UPDATE: my mechanic finished the head job today and test drove it 20 miles. he said every looks to be running the way it should be with the exception of it still idling a bit rough. so, at this point it looks like it needed new head gaskets and not the motor to be replaced. my question to you all: do you think if something was going to fail it would have done it in the 20 mile test drive? thanks in advance.