Hi guys, I touched on this in another thread, but thought I'd start fresh with some of my findings last weekend. This 2004 Disco is new to me with only 44k miles on it. I notices smelling coolant if standing next to the engine bay and took it to my friend's house who is a tech at VW for some diagnosing. I changed all of my fluids so far (except for the brake fluid since I ran out of time) and we found some small coolant drips from around the rear driver's side head. I'll post a pic. The underside of the engine bay was a mess so I had to take a few cans of brake cleaner to it and even then it didn't get everything. I did find that he air oil separator was gunked up solid, so I replaced that last week and the valve cover gaskets seemed to stop leaking. Oil was also over the full line, but I changed the oil and remedied that as well. There was no evidence of coolant in the oil when it was drained. Unfortunately, the parts shop by his house didn't have the pressure tester in and the VW dealership he works for didn't have an adapter that would fit our tank. I know that my throttle body heater does leak a little but not enough for it to run down the back of the engine. I would like to get it pressure tested though.

Is it possible that I need head gaskets done with at only 44k? is there anything else that might coolant to end up running down the drivers rear of the engine? What's up with our gaskets? So, with a small external coolant leak like this, is it ok to drive on it for a bit (few weeks while I gather the parts)? Thanks for your help guys.

 

They can fail at that mileage. Since your breather was clogged it sounds like this truck may not have been that well maintained. If the truck had been leaking coolant and it was allowed to get low, the engine may have gotten hot helping the headgaskets fail. If the truck is running well now and you don't have any issues with the cooling system getting pressurized then you can drive it for a little while but make sure you keep it full of coolant.

 

Thanks for the reply. I've been watching the coolant and it normally stayed at just above the cold mark. I drove it about 300 miles before it lowered any noticeable amount. I filled it up a bit and am keeping an eye on it. I also noticed that if I turn left down a steeper parking lot decline I get the hill decent, traction control, and abs lights to illuminate. They go away after if I shut it off and restart it. It happened twice in the same scenario already.

 

You probably just have a coolant leak that is dripping onto the manifold or such.
Gaskets go at 60K plus usually.
But if your rover did a lot of short trips - maybe.

I think the head gaskets degrade faster the more engine starts from cold there are.

You may think of it as - engine starts plus thermal termperature swings on a trip of 30 degrees F from standing still to on the highway.

Any time temps vary - it expands and contracts the heads and the deck.
These may not contract and expand at the same rates and the Head gaskets take the brunt.

 

Yes Totally possible.....

 

yes, it is quite possible they may only have 44k on them but the are 10-years old also. before you go any farther you need the correct pressure tester, i can think of a dozen thing that could cause your problem, testing is the only way for sure.

 

Thanks guys. I'll get a local import shop here to test it next week. I appreciate the advice.