He's 16. He can't do a HG job. Are you kidding? That's 8-10 hours for an experienced mechanic. It takes time to learn and you must use new parts kit and bolts. His dad should pay for it. That's his Dads job.

He also needs to machine the block and maybe a valve job.

What is the year and mileage? Were you using the green or blue coolant type with 180 degree Thermostat and monitoring your temps with an ultra gauge before the head gasket failed ?

There are people on this forum who say heads never fail if you keep the coolant clean and temps low .....

 

he doesnt need to machine the block, nor do a valve job.

Maybe machine the heads if the check shows bad results.

 

This is incredibly ignorant.

A.) I've known 16 year olds who certainly can do their own head gasket jobs.

B.) Let's not just assume dad is in the picture, or that he holds the same values you do. Not everyone has that luxury. Far too many don't. And even if he is, it doesn't mean he has the means to do what you're saying.

C.) I've done plenty of head gasket jobs with ZERO machine work and none of them have failed me. If you're worried about it you lay a straight edge on the head, check it with a feeler gauge. Personally I only do that about 50% of the time (on my own vehicles, a customer's always gets checked.)

D.) Which coolant type is blue? These trucks came with orange (Dexcool) and most people swap to green. And that wouldn't make a difference anyway. Frankly, Dexcool is really good antifreeze. It just doesn't like being exposed to air which is why most folks swap to green in these leaky old rigs. Still cools just fine.




Anyway... A head gasket job can be done by someone moderately experienced on one of these rigs. If you can remove the intake to change the coil packs, you can do head gaskets. Just take your time. You'll need a 1/2” torque wrench with an 18mm socket for the head bolts. Make sure the socket is 6 sided. Just order a cheapie kit. The Victor Reins stuff is nice, but not necessary. You'll want a 12 point socket set, the exhaust manifold and valve covers will both require them. Allow yourself a week if you're inexperienced. Just take it slow and peck away at it. If you're having trouble there is a whole forum of willing helpers here. A lot of them are experienced and we'll informed.

Now, I will also say this as someone who was previously a mid-late teen daily driving their disco.... They are terrible daily driver's. If you can keep the Disco and also get the Camry, I would highly recommend it. I've taken multiple swings at dailying my disco and I've come to the conclusion that that isn't what they're for. I wouldn't have one back in a position it had to be relied upon unless it was LS swapped. I own 3 of them at this point and two are awaiting LS swaps if that tells you anything.

And on that note, these other guys are right. If you're looking at a shop doing the swap you're looking at 15k or more. If you're doing it yourself you're looking at 6-8k said and done, and probably months of work. You may have to buy several more costly tools on top of that.

 

@Alex_M I think a lot of folks here would disagree with you on the daily driver statement. In my case the fact that I rely on it makes me stay on top of preventative maintenance.

Good info on everything else. I also second the notion that the OP should attempt the HG job. A job of that nature will teach you as much as some four year colleges will these days...

 

I do use the green coolant but at 194,000 it had never been done so we were expecting it to happen soon. While I do the head gasket is there anything else I should do? Thank you everyone for all the help.

 

I also have the inline 180 thermostat ready to be put in.

 

A head gasket job isn't technically complicated, and there are a lot of good guides that will help you along the way. However, as with any mechanical task -- especially on an older vehicle -- the thing that will trip you up is any unexpected issues. On my first Rover I encountered an over-tightened head bolt that took me a week to remove, for example.
That shouldn't put you off trying to do the job yourself, but just bear in mind that it may turn into something larger than you were expecting, and it will definitely take longer than you think.
You'll need a safe place to be able to work on the truck, where it won't be disturbed when you're away from it. Since the battery will be disconnected, you probably won't be able to lock the truck while it's disassembled so make sure you remove any valuables.
Along with a metric socket set you'll need at least some screwdrivers (both flavours), flashlights, channel lock pliers, towels and rags, and the abovementioned torque wrench. Some of the bolts on the vehicle are a little unusual so you might need to buy individual sockets from an auto parts store. You'll need to replace the coolant, but it's possible to do the job without needing to change the oil.
If you have a cheap digital camera, that can help you keep track of the pieces that you disconnect and where all the connectors go. Some people will also label the wires and connectors as they remove them. Whatever works for your mindset.

 

My D2 and P38 are both daily drivers, but I do have back-ups.

 

I agree with others here and what I said earlier about taking a crack at it. At this point you have a dead disco, can’t really re-kill it. Teenagers certainly can do head gaskets, I rebuilt a 289 Ford at 16-17, Muncie 4 spd, multiple clutch/transmission jobs on a Mercury Capri and Datsun 240z’s to name a few projects. Most came out OK. Worse that happened is we had to redo it. Make sure you have the space to make a mess cleared with your family. get friends involved and locate the local Harbor Freight for weird tools on the cheap. Teenagers flew bombers 75 years ago in combat. You got this.

 

16mm impact socket for the head bolts with a breaker bar and misc short/long extensions, and if you are mechanically inclined a HG job isn't hard. I've done plenty of HG jobs by just replacing the HG's. I left the heads alone and I did not perform a valve job as the truck was running fine minus leaking HG's. Now if it had over-heated or the condition of the LR was unknown then by all means have the heads checked and do a valve job while it's all apart. DO NOT rush it, and cleaning all the gasket surfaces properly can make the difference in 100K HG's or 1K HG's.