Stay away from that sealant. If you want to do anything, keep your coolant fresh as well as your oil. The gaskets will fail still, but you will have everything you can to keep the engine up.

 

My gasket is leaking and I am not very good with maintenance. What should I expect to pay for this service?

 

If DexCool is a problem, why is it recommended in the 60K service from DiscoMike? Is it only a problem in D1's? I have an 04 DII that I am getting ready to change the coolant in, just wondering what to use. Thanks!

 

Dexcool does not do well in engines where it can mix with air and sludge up. If your system is leak free and you flush your coolant at reasonable intervals you should be fine with any coolant.

 

Just to set the records straight, the best thing you can do is always change your Dextron every 2 years, maybe ad a bottle of Purple Ice or Water Wetter and then leave it alone.
There are a couple of additives that might be used only with certain head gasket leaks and only as a last resort, but none used ahead of time will prevent one of our engines from blowing the original head gaskets, much less dropping a sleeve.

 

Its really a crapshoot, my truck's head gaskets failed at 104k, and I'm in process of replacing them now. A friend of mine's truck is at 108k, and he has zero leaks on the original head gaskets. When they do go, its not a tough job, just very time consuming, but don't be scared because with the RAVE, the forums, and a crafsman 150pc Mechanics tool set, a swivel socket, a 12pt 8mm socket, you can do it in a few days.

 

I hate to state the obvious, but I believe that the car in the picture is a Toyota Supra. In any case it's not a LR. Take the advice that the Senior Member's have already posted and avoid this mistake. All of the issues that I have experienced with my Discovery can be tied back to decisions made to institute a quick fix. The lesson that I learned is that if you plan to keep the vehicle, then cough up the dough for the proper repair. The only way to really save money on these trucks is to do the work yourself.

I ended up paying to do the head gaskets recently and it sucked forking over the cash, but I know it's done right. If you use this stuff, at best it would just be prolonging the issue and almost certainly cause more grief down the road.

- Discovery II SD 125K miles

 

My Discovery is almost up to 180,000 miles, and still runs great. It does have a small head gasket leak to the outside of the engine. About a quart every 2 weeks. I check the level and add to it about every other day. It always runs at normal temperature. I see disco mike says,There are a couple of additives that might be used only with certain head gasket leaks and only as a last resort. Do you think this leak would benefit from one of those additives? I don't know if its worth paying to have a HG job done on an engine with this many miles.

2000 Discovery
Thank you,
Willie

 

I would not use a stop leak of any kind in any of my cars. Best thing to do is to fix it right with the right parts, paying close attention to procedure and torque values. That engine with proper care should last many more miles without any cylinder or bottom end work. Best to do it sooner rather than later as you never know when that leak will turn into a gusher and drain the coolant in minutes, followed by an overheat.

Certain types of cooling system stop leak additives will form concrete-like deposits in places where you don't want them, and they cannot be removed from deep inside the block casting passages. Most engine overhaulers will reject cores that contain evidence of stop-leak usage as well, for the same reason.

Best,
Dave

 

Water Wetter...do i add it to the expansion tank or? I don't wanna pour it in then have it spew out.

(i feel like i'm asking a dumb question along the lines of the one i read where disco mike's response to a ATF engine cleaning thread was something like, "why would you pour 6 quarts of ATF into the engine that goes straight to the oil pan, then drain it directly out?")