Background:

2004 Disco 2

Previous owner had head gasket issues and put in a rebuilt long block from Jasper at 115,492 miles.

I am in the process of replacing the head gaskets once again after only approximately 25,000 miles. Not sure why the head gaskets didn't last very long.

My question is this, upon removing the lower intake manifold I noticed that a greyish silicone was used between the head and the lower intake. Should I do the same on reassembly? The gasket I have is the black metal coated one that comes in the AB kit. I have used Hylomar Blue with great success on my Jaguars and wonder if this would be ok to use here as well.

Happy to see the inside of the motor looks clean. Let's see what the combustion chambers look like.

I am going with ARP studs instead of the OEM TTY bolts.

Advice on using or not using silicone?

 

Only use sealant on the curved places at the end of the valley pan gasket, not the flat intake area.

 

I use 'aluminum safe' silicone only at the ends of valley, and where the coolant enters/leaves heads(8 ports)...not needed at air intake ports.... also, some of the metal coated valley gaskets do not line up at all with the head ports ( I have seen them off by 1/4")....test fit before final assembly...