Some of you old timers will recall my late winter post on a '03 disco with about 75k miles that had a "cracked liner/dropped cylinder" fault code and was inspected by the good people at Robison in MA. that truck was fixed with a $8 can of magic goo that has lasted 6 months and 6k miles. i am now losing sleep but happy in the $9k I have saved at least so far.

Question : I have an '04 that has locking diffs, a feature that the'03 [ the cracked liner] does not have [yes I have 2 discos + 2 kids who each want to get one]

Before you all buy your retirement homes, is there any way to inexpensively add the locking diff feature to the '03? that feature is a great asset off road!!

kevin

 

Two thoughts. First there is no fault code for a dropped sleeve. Being an alloy engine, if you overheated the engine and dropped a sleeve, the engine is a total and no magic fluid can or will fix it.
As the the 03, yes, you can buy another t/case from an 04 plus the cable linkage and convert the 03, then sell the old t/case to off set your expenses.

 

Mike

Thanks for the reply. Some more data on the #6 misfire code which started this process. First, I reviewed the service records for this truck and discovered that at 47k miles I had a "#6 misfire code" AND they discovered a coolant leak in the throttle housing. That was fixed with a wire, plug and gasket. At 74k miles the fun began with the SAME CODE AND COOLANT LEAK AT THE THROTTLE HOUSING. This time the head gaskets were replaced - shortly therefter, (2k miles) the overpressurization began anew and lead to the "cracked liner" diagnosis, with progressively greater amounts of coolant loss. That lead to me using the CRC block sealant. That process has lead to over 6k miles with no significant coolant loss ( little over a quart), but the plug in #6 had an orange tint on the center electrode indicating to me that there was some level of coolant intrusion into that cylinder. The rest of the plugs are just fine. The truck runs great.

So did I really have a crack in the liner at 47k that finally gave up the ghost at 74k miles?/

And my '04 , with 70k miles is it next?

Thanks

Kevin

 

If you actually dropped or cracked a sleeve your engine couldn't have gone as far as it has. One of the big issues with a dropped sleeve is the flow of coolant into the cylinder, usually hydro locking the engine.
The coolant you are seeing on your plug may be head gasket related, hard to say without pulling the heads.
Take care.

 

If you actually dropped or cracked a sleeve your engine couldn't have gone as far as it has. One of the big issues with a dropped sleeve is the flow of coolant into the cylinder, usually hydro locking the engine.
The coolant you are seeing on your plug may be head gasket related, hard to say without pulling the heads.
Take care.

 

Mike:

Thanks for the reply. I should note that the heads were not decked or otherwise machined when the original work was done at 75k miles. When I suggested that the gasket could still be the issue, especially since no one checked the heads for flatness I was told that #6 doesn't see any coolant in head so it could only be the liner, which was odd since their original diagnosis was a bad head gasket! The only other coolant related issue has been 2 split tanks since I did the CRC treatment. i have been told that that is the result of a sticky pressure relief valve on the tank which causes a slight over pressure. Before the treatment that same valve let loose a torrent of coolant.
Thanks again
Kevin