97 Disco 177k. I have oil drips on the engine block and figure its the headgasket. If it sits for a few days there is a noticeable small pool of oil. There is no smoke, overheating, serious leaks or other mechanical issues. The engine has power and seems to have fine compression. I'm getting 18 mpg city and 22 hwy. I believe the headgasket has run its course. I believe the factory original is still in the engine.

For the time that I have owned it I have done a complete DISCOMIKE 60k on it (thanks for all your help Mike), replaced the t-stat, h20 pump, V-fan, hoses, replaced wheel bearings, etc. The point is that I have done alot of work on it and I am comfortable working on the engine. I was under the impression that replacing the headgasket is a daunting task but I think I'm going to take a shot at it. I have the factory manual and plan to buy an Atlantic British gasket kit. Any suggestions before I start? Thanks in advance for the replies!

 

You dont need new headgaskets.
Take the truck to a DIY car wash and degrease the engine and then look for the oil leak on a clean engine.
When headgaskets go bad they leak coolant, not oil.
Degrease the bottom of the engine too. Just make sure that you do not use the high pressure wash.

 

agreed,,,,

head gaskets spew coolant not oil. you have a small oil leak somewhere. degrease the engine and add a small bottle of blacklight additive to the oil. some shops have it. then run the rig and hold a small black light under the rig and you can follow the leak to the source.

 

oil flows back to the block from the head as well.

 

Yes it does, but 99% of oil leaks on Rovers are from so many ther places that I would eliminate them first.
Most of the oil leaks are free/cheap fixes.

 

i wish the oil leak on the input to my t-case was easy. well i guess nexttime it will be

 

Check to make sure your valve cover bolts are properly torqued. They have an annoying habit of loosening from the engine vibration and causing oil leaks.

If you're getting 18 and 22 mpg there's definitely something wrong. The best my 97 has ever done was 17.3 on the highway with a tail wind.

 

I agree with Spike,
Degrease only the really oil soaked areas then power scrub the entine engine, top and bottom, hell do the tranny and t/case just for ****s and giggles, tighten the 2 v/c bolts and then watch the engine for the next few days to see what is leaking.
Head gaskets can leak both oil and coolant, but the are plenty of seals to check also.