So I finally got the heads off and down to the head gasket. But, I'm needing a little help finding where the gasket/s blew, as I'm a total newbie to this.

I see a blown out patch of gasket between cylinders 1 and 3. There's gasket material still on the block there. On the passenger side gasket, I see a lot of decayed gasket around the head bolt holes at cylinders 2 and 8. Do you think this is enough to be the culprit? I didn't personally do a compression test, but I had white smoke out the exhaust pipe, and a well reviewed indy shop in town said it had a blown HG.

Also, the gaskets have the Land Rover emblem on them. Are you able to purchase factory LR gaskets anymore? I'm just trying to date when they were last changed, since the previous owner was less than helpful with its history. The Disco has only 128k on it and was a Florida car, so the body is 100% rust free.

I don't "see" any indication of a slipped liner. They all appear flush with one another and with the top of the block. I'm planning on removing the front cover tomorrow and replacing the water pump, fan/clutch, and timing chain, as well as lifters and cam. Guess I was just worried about something really bad like a cracked block and wanted to see if you guys are seeing something I'm not.

 

If there was an open part between 1 and 3, that was definitely your culprit

 

Seems like everything looks normal to me. Anyway, dont worry about where it blew, youll replace them anyway. good luck

 

None of the piston tops are clean, so you weren't loosing coolant internally. That was a good thing.

That "well reviewed" indy shop in your area needs start with the basics, such as a compression test, before diagnosing such and in depth repair. Just my 2 cents.

 

From my eye, which has only graced about 3 gasket changes in Land Rovers, there's nothing obvious that I see.
Even if there's nothing wrong with it, your head gasket was due to pop in about 20k miles anyways. 150k is the magic number with land rover head gaskets.

 

X1 ........... yep, a compression test would have saved you some time stripping down the engine. If you suspect any issues inside the engine ALWAYS do a compression test first and if you have a boroscope then use it through the spark plug holes. Another alternative is you may have some valves letting by gas so whilst the heads are off do a valve regrind. Also check the heads and block for flatness using a guaranteed good straight edge and feeler gauges around 0.002" to 0.004". Have fun, good luck. I am rebuilding a Pajero 2.8 TD diesel engine at present but other chores keep getting in the way.

 

Pictures aren't the best, a lot of shadowing/poor lighting...but from what I can see...I agree with everyone else. Clean up the head and block, measure head and block like mentioned above...and bolt her back together.

Brian.