I have had my 2000 Disco for about 5 months now. It has the 4.0 V8 engine. I have downloaded the rave workshop manual, Not sure if it's the same thing as the service manual? It has had air in the coolant system ever since I bought it and the engine temp gets around 220 degrees in the cold weather right now. I brought it into a trusted Mechanic yesterday and had the cooling system pressure tested. He said he found a small coolant leak at 15 PSI's coming from the timing cover and said I should have the gasket replaced as well as replacing the water pump and crankshaft seal and said it would cost $763.00 for the repairs. So I wanted to see how much money I would save doing this myself. I looked through the rave workshop manual and it has all kinds of special tools for the job. Is there another way besides using the tools it has in the rave workshop manual? what's the best way to go about finding the right information on how to do this myself? Right now my head is spinning trying to find information on how to replace the timing cover gasket, water pump,and crankshaft at the same time.

 

You can do the work yourself if you are comfortable working on cars and trucks. If you are going to be doing the timing cover gasket then you might want to consider putting in new oil pump gears and timing chain while you have it apart. You can add new parts and still save a couple hundred $$$$$.

Here are the parts you need and the prices.

1) Timing Chain kit- $120 (includes- Timing chain and gears, oil pan gasket, front oil seal, front cover gasket, water pump gasket)

2) Oil Pump gears- $100

3) Water Pump- $130

4) Warm Weather Thermostat- $48

So for around $400 you can do the work yourself, save $300-$400, and get twice the new parts you would get for what the shop wants to charge you. You should have plenty of money to buy any tools you don't already have to complete the job (the only special tool I can think you might need is a 36mm fan clutch wrench). Plus extra left over for beer and gas

If you want to do the bare minimum then you just need the water pump and gasket-$130, front cover gasket and oil seal-$20, and oil pan gasket-$30. Total=$180

If you still have the old style upper radiator hose with the bleed screw above the radiator then you might want to get the new style hose that has the bleed screw in the tee- $50.

I don't think you need a new crankshaft, just the seal. As for doing them all at the same time it is a piece of cake. All of those things are taken off when doing the front cover gasket. You will have to take the oil pan off and some other things. Between me and most of the guys here we can talk you through things if you decide to do the work yourself.

 

thanks for the information I'm going to start on this repair in the next few days.

1) Timing Chain kit- $120 (includes- Timing chain and gears, oil pan gasket, front oil seal, front cover gasket, water pump gasket)

2) Oil Pump gears- $100

3) Water Pump- $130

4) Warm Weather Thermostat- $48

So for around $400 you can do the work yourself, save $300-$400, and get twice the new parts you would get for what the shop wants to charge you. You should have plenty of money to buy any tools you don't already have to complete the job (the only special tool I can think you might need is a 36mm fan clutch wrench). Plus extra left over for beer and gas

If you want to do the bare minimum then you just need the water pump and gasket-$130, front cover gasket and oil seal-$20, and oil pan gasket-$30. Total=$180

If you still have the old style upper radiator hose with the bleed screw above the radiator then you might want to get the new style hose that has the bleed screw in the tee- $50.



I don't think you need a new crankshaft, just the seal. As for doing them all at the same time it is a piece of cake. All of those things are taken off when doing the front cover gasket. You will have to take the oil pan off and some other things. Between me and most of the guys here we can talk you through things if you decide to do the work yourself.[/QUOTE]

 

just a crankshaft seal would be necessary.
it is a good way to get to know your truck, it will take you the better part of a day.
but the money saved on labor could well be spent on replacing hoses, belts and idlers, clutch fan, ect.
if you going in their do it one time, one good day invested can save to a ton of time and future problems.

 

I'll try and put some quick click information together to help you out. It is a good idea to read through the instructions before starting the repair.

How the remove front cover.

1) Remove oil pan.pdf

2) Remove oil pick up strainer.pdf

3) Remove Viscous Fan.pdf

4) Remove drive belt (you should be able to handle that one. Page 1269 of the RAVE if you need to look)

5) Remove front cover seal.pdf (Instead of the special tool LRT-12-080, you can just put a piece of wood in where you removed the oil pan, between one of the crankshaft counterweights and the block. You should be able to loosen and tighten the crankshaft pulley that way. You will need to tighten the pulley bolt back to 200ft.lbs so be sure you get a heavy duty torque wrench.)

6) Remove oil filter: (you should be able to handle that one)

7) Drain cooling system: (page 428 of the RAVE. The rave tells you to pull the coolant plugs in the block but you can just take off the radiator cap and pull the bottom radiator hose. If you still have the old orange coolant then it might be a good idea to pull the block plugs so you can get all the old stuff out and switch over to the green. Either way you decide, be prepared to take a shower. Close your mouth, put on some glasses and have plenty of shop towels handy.)

8) Remove timing cover.pdf: Keep track of which bolts came from which holes. If I remember correctly there are a few bolts in the front cover that are longer than the others. I took a pencil and made a drawing of the front cover in a piece of cardboard and punched holes and put the bolts the the correct holes in the cardboard so I wouldn't mix them up.

*) The water pump is mounted to the front cover. If you get a new pump then just unbolt the old one and slap on the new gasket and pump and you are good to put everything back together. Page 434 of the RAVE has all the info for the water pump.


All of this can be found in the RAVE starting from page 196 (Gasket- Timing gear cover) and navigating the instructions. If you follow the RAVE you should be fine. Double check the final torque on every bolt. Simple things being overlooked can be your worst nightmare. If you have any questions please ask.

 

tanks again Jared all your information is going to really help me. I'm ordering the parts today.

 

if you haven't placed your order yet I would order new bolts for the water pump and timing cover, while not necessary they are cheap and save you time with a wire brush some of them have been sitting in water passages for 14 years now.

 

I'm a little to late on ordering new bolts since I already placed my order for the parts from Atlantic British. I know there are more parts I probably should have ordered but for now this is what I'm replacing unless I see something badly worn our damaged. ERR6490

Oil Seal Engine Front

ERR7280

Gasket - Front Cover

LVF100400

Gasket Oil Pan - 1999-On BOSCH Engines Only

STC4378OE

Water Pump - Original Equipment

PEL500110

Thermostat. Ebay- Land Rover Discovery 1999-2004 Upper Radiator Coolant Hose URO Brand NEW PCH0004 Ebay- Land Rover Discovery Series II Oil Pick-up Tube O-Ring Genuine ERR 4794

 

doing the same repair tomorrow. buddy of mine works for prestige land rover so i get a little tech help from time to time. the whole thing seems pretty straight forward.. kind of excited.. and scared at the same time...lol

 

One thing I would add is I would definitely use black rtv on that gasket. They are notorious for leaking and making people think they have blown head gaskets. Personally, I'd put a thin coat on each side of the gasket.