We bought our 2004 Disco 2 about two years ago. We absolutely love the truck. My wife doesn't want any other vehicle.

Last fall one of the hoses popped off of the thermostat and dumped all of the coolant. I didnt notice it in time and it red lined. We took it in and had the thermostat replaces and new hose clamps put on.

The truck lasted until jan when we began to see white smoke come out of the tailpipe. We took it in and sure enough the head gasket had blown. We paid to have it fixed and while the mechanic had the engine apart he recommended that we have the cam and lifters replaced since there was some obvious wear on them. We had all the work done that he suggested and we got the truck back.

About two weeks after he fixed it the truck began running low on coolant. I took it in and my mechanic did a bunch of tests and concluded that the work on the HG was good.

He said that he thinks that one of the cylinder sleeves (piston liners) had slipped and that there was a tiny gap that let exhaust into the coolant system but was too small to let coolant into the piston chamber. The coolant system would then over pressurize and burp out the coolant. At some point the coolant would get so low that it would cause the engine to overheat.

I just spent thousands on the HG and other fixes and it would all be for nothing if there was this problem too. If he is right how should I go about cutting my losses and getting out of this? If he is wrong what might be the problem?

I read this post which seems similar to my problems but doesnt involve major repairs, Is this a possibility?: https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...l-46615/page4/


Thanks,
John

2004 Disco II
112,000 miles

 

1. There is a $50 chemical tester that you (or mechanic) can use (from parts store) that tests for exhaust gas in coolant - changes color. Steam from a suspected leak would cause boiling in the coolant reserve container, hoses to be very hard.

2. Coolant has to go somewhere. The cap holds until 20 PSI, then vents, my D1 vents on top of the coolant container, so it would be obvious.

Coolant can be forced out under pressure when driving, and either leak to ground or evaporate in the engine. You can borrow/rent a coolant tester from parts store, pump to 20 PSI and wait for leaks to show themselves.

Coolant can go into oil - makes it milky looking.

Coolant can leak out of a hose at a clamp (like under the coolant reserve container), a bad radiator, or water pump leaking.

A water pump that has an impeller gone causes gross over heat. Park over clean cardboard and look for leaks.

Hope floor board is not getting soaked with leak from the heater core. See attached drwaing of the plumbing.

re: a tiny gap that let exhaust into the coolant system but was too small to let coolant into the piston chamber - that would be quite interesting, since the liner "is" the piston chamber.

 

The sleeves are dry. No coolant behind them. If coolant is coming from them, the block is cracked behind them. It happens (too often so it seems) but not nearly as often as something else like head gaskets or just a leak somewhere. How about your throttle body heater?

 

Here is what I know from what my mechanic has told me. I am not a mechanic so I dont always get the terminology correct. He came highly recommended as a landrover mechanic and I have trusted his conclusions until now.

He said that he pressure tested the system for a whole day and there wasnt a problem. He also said that there is no coolant in the combustion chambers. The oil is good so it doesnt look like the coolant is going there.

We clamped a paper towel over the pressure release hose (number 20 in the pdf) and when the car started overheating it was soaked with coolant. So it appears that the coolant is getting forced out. I am crossing my fingers and hoping that it is not what he thinks it is.

@jafir would the throttle body heater problem show up in a pressure test?

 

Throttle body heater would show up, but it would simply leak coolant. It provides enough heat to be sure the throttle does not ice up in under 36 degree weather. See Throttle Body Heater Plate Kit (Part # MGM000010K) - Land Rover kits from Atlantic British for a peek at one off the truck.

Coolant cap might be out of spec.

What you are describing is a cracked block or head, where the coolant passages have a small opening that allows the coolant to become superheated, making steam, boiling in the coolant reserve container, etc. While there may not be coolant in combustion chambers (spark plugs look clean), there could be exhaust gas in coolant, and there is a $50 test for that. He may have done the exhaust gas in coolant test.

Sometimes the crack is behind a sleeve (engine block). Sometimes it is in a head (replace from junkyard).

In addition to considerable repair costs, you might consider using a product to reduce internal cooling system temp (Water wetter or Purple Ice (http://www.royalpurple.com/products/...lant-additive/)) - these products can cut high temps some. You may also be at the point you would try some K-Seal (http://www.kseal.com/), which is a engine leak stop product. Normally used for overheat problem and have to get home. Won't fix a head gasket - for long. Works, as many similar products, by introducing a chemical into the cooling system that reacts with heat and forms a "water glass" plug for the leak. Some similar products include nano particles, aluminum flakes, copper flakes, ground walnut shells. The basic chemical is sodium silicate. The KSeal has the smallest quantity of material, so there is not much to settle in the radiator an make things worse.

It is assumed that you have already eliminated a clogged radiator as the culprit. If you used the in-line thermostat conversion, you could use a very low thermostat, like a 160F, but you would have minimal heat, mpg may suffer, etc.

But it sounds like you are pretty close to the end of the rope.

 

Yeah it looks like I am at the end of the rope. I just spent a lot of money replacing the head so I cannt do any more with it or I will have way more in it than its worth. I will see if he will do the test to confirm.

Any ideas on selling a vehicle with this problem other than this site and craigslist?

 

you have 2004 that need a 5k motor replaced, price it accordingly, you might find someone intrested in a project.

 

John, PM me your number and lets talk before you get led in the wrong direction by this mechanic.

 

John,
Did you have both head gaskets replaced?
Or did they just do one??
My worry is that they just did one.

Did they inspect the heads? Cracked head?

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If they did the head gaskets well and the block is not cracked. then how else
to have pressure in the cooling system?

The water pump will make pressure.

If they screwed up the hoses on the thermostat and put them in backwards...

There are THREE connection points to the thermostat.

Or something is plugged.
Or the thermostat is bad.
best to replace it.


---
Also- check that the fan belt - serpentine belt is installed correctly.

maybe your water pump is running backwards due to the belt installed incorrectly.

Check these simple things first.

 

Same thing happened with mines. The coolant over pressurizes & boils over forcing hot coolant out of the reservoir tank. Also, when you do a chemical block test usually when the engine cools off, they findthe test to be negative. The truck loses coolant while being driven & you don't find a leak internally our externally. The truck eventually overheats until the red light appears. What I've discovered was that when the engine runs and gets to normal operating temperature, microscopic cracks enlarges on the block itself allowing gases to pass through behind the liners hence the losing of coolant while being vaporized a steam through your exhaust pipe also building pressure to push out even more coolant out of the reservoir tank. My fix was a new engine