Thanks for all the feed back guys. Especially the last post, thats a great idea. I was really dreading spending a day or two in my unheated garage right now with it being as cold as it is.

I'm still waiting on the owner to make up his mind. I'll keep you guys posted and will probably have my ????s.

I agree - this is exactly the approach I'm taking. I just got this DII a couple weeks ago, and noticed the coolant was ~1" or so low in the expansion tank, a specialty LR mechanic said it was leaking (and the valve cover gaskets are DEFINITELY leaking) but I'll probably attack the head gasket and all cooling stuff in the spring, as well as electric fan conversion. It's the same deal with my aux fan, which is apparently siezed up and the reason why that 40A fuse is blowing (I think it only blew cause I hit defrost which activates AC & that aux fan..) either way, it's not supposed to go ABOVE freezing for another week here, so she should be ok =)

Just being cautious here, but please be careful when driving your truck with a known bad head gasket, regardless of outdoor temps. Once the gaskets start to fail, it's hard to predict how long it's safe to keep driving it before you start experiencing overheating problems .... and that's when you risk toasting your engine. Just sayin'......

I totally agree. My leak was small, but started to leak more and more. I decided to do my heads in my unheated garage. Granted, I am NC, but it was damn cold this past week. By damn cold I mean it only got to like 40 during the day. For $20 bucks you can get a heater that attaches to a propane tank and you'll be good to go.

Yep. They go quick.

I noticed that mine was starting to leak around mid-November. Come early Decemnber it was more noticeable and I even posted here about how long I could procrastinate.

Two weeks later, I was losing a quart of coolant every 15-20 miles.

By Xmas, the heads were off and in the machine shop.

I went ahead and head them cleaned, milled, and a complete valve job with new seals done for $200ish. I also replaced the thermostat, all fluids, and added a new belt. With gaskets, headbolts, and extras (including tools that I had to pick up) plus paying for a few hours of professional, after hours supervision the cost was around $800. That's still around half the price of having a reputable shop do it.

It's more than I wanted to spend on an '03 engine, but necessary until either someone develops a longterm oil pump fix of I get the money to swap engines.

Just carry a couple gallons of prediluted Prestone universal coolant in the back. Prestone universal mixes with dexcool (pretty much is a dexclone). Be very anal about checking your coolant level and keep an eye on the temp gauge, if it starts to move stop right away and fill your coolant.

Thanks again guys, but I worked out a deal with the owner and he is having it fixed at Rover Dealership. He wanted to get it done at another shop, but I don't know any reputable LR mechs in the area (Northern VA).

I hopefully won't have to do the head gasket for another 60K now!

As mentioned by EstorilM, my coolant level in the expansion tank is about an 1'' or so below the fill line at cold. I check my engine oil, tempertures, etc and for any leaks very periodically. How would I know IF Im needing to do a head gasket change. The D2 has 103K, and rides like a cadillac. But since taking ownership in September, and being on this forum over the last few months. I have realized these are a VERY high maintenance vehicle, next to my ex-wife...lol I did do a transmission fluid and filter change about 2 months ago and noticed a very small amount of residual oil. But I have yet to have a drop hit the concrete. I'm just curious if the head gaskets have been or do I need to go ahead gear up for the gasket change myself.

While there does seem to be a rash of head gasket discussions here lately I wouldn't let that create paranoia but you should be diligent about maintenance and to be ever observant of any symptoms. Given your mileage I guess you will be looking at the issue someday; it happened to me at 135,000 miles.

Much has been written about Dexcool versus Prestone as well as how to proceed when you first detect overheating, and I advise you to research these topics here to arm yourself with the knowledge when needed.

Coolant issue brings me to this thread
 

So I used this forum to change my water pump in the 40 degree temp previously mentioned on Sunday. Before this fix, I had two coolant leaks:

1. Under the front of the engine under the water pump, and;
2. One towards the back of the engine that was visible on the drivers side.

After changing the water pump both leaks appear to have gone away since I no longer see my coolant in a puddle in the parking spot. The Disco started to run hot today after driving 30 or so miles since the wp change, but there was no visible leak and coolant level was low.

First thought was that the coolant was leaking into the engine with the oil, but the oil looks fine. When refilling the coolant after changing the water pump, could it be possible that I didn't add enough coolant and it just needed more? That would be great if it were the case, but I'm betting that its not. So head gaskets?

2001 Discovery II 125,000 Miles