I am considering buying a 2004 Disco. I absolutely love the car, cosmetically it's in very good shape. It only has 97,000 miles. HOWEVER, the car is making some sounds.

When I start the car and while idling, its making a squeaking sound. See sound clip 1. I also noticed white smoke coming out of the car. (The muffler was removed from the end tailpipe. Not sure if this contributes to the car producing white smoke.)

I drove the car for 25 minutes and a different ticking sound was audible. No lights came on and car drove fine. Please listen to clip 2 (After driving 25 mins.) This sound is more concerning.

I connected the ultraguage. The temp ran from 190-205. But mostly 195. It reached 205 at the very end.

Finally, my girlfriend was nauseous from a smell that seemed to be permeating into the car somehow. (We closed the AC/heat vents) So it was coming from somewhere else. Maybe it was coming from the short tailpipe that has no muffler and doesn't extend fully past the bumper to properly exhaust.

How bad is this? THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR THOUGHTS.

 

The chirping noise in the startup video is just accessory belt and idler pulleys needing serviced but white smoke is an indicator of a possible head gasket issue; don't buy until you get a inspection by a land rover mechanic.

 

The startup noise squeak is easy. One of your accessory pulleys. Very common.

White smoke is not caused by a muffler missing / tailpipe issue you mentioned.

The ticking in the other video is probably *not* an exhaust manifold to downpipe leak - because that would go away after the car warmed up. This leaves slipped liner, or other internal engine noise, or head gasket.

Does the car have any big exhaust leaks elsewhere? Just curious why they removed that resonator (for sound / some people do this / I like it but haven’t done it on my current D2). But -if there’s a big exhaust leak, that could cause the cabin smell issue. Does the car have cat converters?

If you’re buying this -- you’re right to wonder what’s going on and I would expect to do work to it. If you don’t want to have to do major work or it’s being sold as mechanically sound, that’s not jiving with the information you’ve provided here.

The reality is - Disco 2’s don’t just blow head gaskets by themselves even though they have that reputation (I’m not counting oil leaks from the head gasket in that scenario). The head gaskets usually fail because there has been an over temperature event - an overheating incident. So -- I’d be more concerned that there was a recent overheat scenario that has caused things to fail ... And possible other issues as a result.

Is this a “good deal” or “high market” price. That might determine whether it’s a good idea to buy it.

 

If it’s a slipped liner or head gasket, what’s a rough cost for this?

the car has catalytic converter. See pic attached. Where could a gas leak be coming from and is this a

costly repair?

 

It does sound like it could be a slipped sleeve although it could also just be an exhaust leak. The exhaust leak would be relatively cheap to fix but the slip sleeve is a bit more expensive. Where are you located? Have you already bought this truck?

 

I haven’t bought the car yet. I’m a getting PPI done this week on the car. I’m from DC.

anything specific I should request the inspector to look for during the PPI?

extinct- I just bought your online thermostat.

 

I think any D2 purchase is a poorly planned purchase if you don't have backup funds for a head gasket. Common failure issue, easy diy repair if you have a machine shop local to drop the heads off to. Unless you have deeper pockets than mine (not exactly a high bar) a d2 isn't a vehicle anyone should own who doesn't know how or doesn't want to learn how to wrench on their own vehicle.

Very rewarding to go through one and get her daily driver capable.

Cheapest way to keep them going is buying the cheap ones for spares.

The heads on these are not much more difficult than that of a Briggs 20 HP if you go with arp head studs.


Slipped liners....a bit more difficult. If you know how to use a drill, and tap it's just time consuming.

 

So it could be head gaskets or slipped liner? Rough figure how much does each cost?

When do you have to worry about getting a new engine? Is that when someone drives the car with these symptoms and the engine goes out?

 

Coolant in the exhaust is tricky. Usually a simple pressure test of the coolant system reveals a cracked blocked head/head gasket or block. Unfortunately in the d2 engines they are notorious for block casting issues that won't show up until they get hot. A cracked block behind the sleeves won't be revealed in a pressure test but will cause the coolant system to over pressurize. Extremely hard coolant hoses, cracking plastic parts and coolant coming past overflow cap are a few symptoms you get as the issue gets worse. Pull plugs and look for a clean one....or cleaner one.

The more common head gasket issue is a coolant leak at the back of the heads where coolant flows down externally at the rear of the block.



Blown head gaskets from the middle cylinder to the exhaust manifold are less common but not heard of.

Slipped cylinders are common, sometimes indicating cracked block. If the block isn't cracked pinning the sleeve is always a good option.

I'm not sure I'd ever personally invest in a top hat block but those are about as "bullet proof" of a Rover lump as you can get

 

PickeRick-

What is a top hat block?