Hi all,

I have an 04 D2 with 150K. Just did the head gaskets after she had a bout of incontinence as I entered the freeway. I pulled over to find very little steam and a dangling hose from the upper T. Actually, the T had failed between the flanges where the clamp goes. Replaced the upper hose assy and the next day the hose to the water pump popped a pinhole. These were all new hoses, about a week old. Tests for gases in the coolant seemed to confirm it was time for HGs.

Too old and injured to DIY, I had AAA take her to a trusted shop where the work was done. Heads machined, new radiator, thermostat, and all the hoses... just in case. She's back on her tires now and running great, but I'm on the edge of my seat listening for any new instruments in the orchestra of noises from the engine bay.

I'm past the point of being allowed to complain about this truck. She is my daily drive and we put 70K of un-pampered miles on her in the last two years including a lot of remote country solo driving.

The big question: have most of you who have done HGs gotten on with life after the fix or did it turn out to be the crossover point where reliability crashes and you need an LR3 for backup?

 

as long as they did a good job on the head gasket job you should have no problems. this is actually a very common job for these trucks

 

re: listening for any new instruments in the orchestra of noises from the engine bay.

Perhaps you might also consider an oil pressure gauge, so you can watch before it becomes loud enough to hear...

And see this post for everything but the kitchen sink gauge https://landroverforums.com/forum/di...angauge-44599/

 

There is life after head gaskets, you will drive with one eye on the temp guage for the next 6 months though.

 

x2 Couldn't have said it better myself.

I was pretty paranoid for the 1st 5000 miles, but I've now put over 15k miles on it since the HG job and I'm feeling a lot better. The oil pressure gauge is a good idea though...

 

Thx for the replies.

I've got "Rave-on-a-Stick" in the glovebox now and my Ultragauge is on order.

These Discos are a hard act to follow. We live up a mountain on a road so muddy we have been turned away from the car wash several times for being too dirty. It's gonna start snowing soon and I don't believe the current flock of poseur AWDs with 2 liter turbos would be up to the job. Also, I prefer a lever to a button when it comes to Hi/Lo and CDL engagement. A sign of getting old maybe? At least I don't have an 8-track or laser disk player.

 

But you could have Martha Reeves on IPod or CD - "Heat Wave" ....