Yep, that's right. Sorry if I never closed this thread out with a nice conclusion! I hate it when people do that...

I had the '04 towed about an hour to the nearest Land Rover dealer, where they performed the block test. The test showed a crack behind the sleeve of the number..... man, I don't remember now. It was the cylinder closest to the firewall on the driver's side. Would that be number 7?

Anyway, the crack was allowing air to get into the cooling system when the block warmed up, which closed the t-stat and caused the over-heating. Thus, the first head-gasket change I had done was useless, because the crack was likely already there.

So, I then had it towed all the way back to my house, which is where it sat while I decided what to do.

Eventually, I decided to buy a new block and rebuild kit from Atlantic British, and pay to have my engine rebuilt around it.

I've got two Discos, a 2000 and a 2004, and I've always noticed that my 2004 (which I believe has a longer stroke than the 2000) sounds more like a diesel- it sounded rattly!

I was hoping a new engine would "cure" this and make it a vehicle that I'd be proud to let a mechanic hear... but alas, it STILL sounds loose and rattly... I'm assuming it's either a peripheral like a belt-driven pump, or the engine just SOUNDS like that.

It sucks, because any mechanic - especially when it's warm and really knocks- would NEVER GUESS I just had a $6,000 engine block installed, or that I take religiously good care of my engine.

TONS of power though, and it hasn't dropped an ounce of coolant in it's 15,000 mile life so far. It used a quart of oil at first (I had to haul a heavy trailer to Colorado from Michigan when I had 1,200 miles on the motor- Hilariously stupid coincidence in timing).

Was it worth it? Do I regret spending $5,500 on a new block and $2,200 to have it installed? No, I don't- I've bounced back financially, and by now I probably would have spent the money on something dumber.

I am in passionate love with my Discos, but I *AM* working hard to get in a position where I'll liquidate my two Discos: My wife wants a 1970s branco project, and I want a 2008 Mercedes G55 AMG (black OR white). I need to make a LOT more money to even be able to clean the tires of a G55, but I will get there... I absolutely must own one of these vehicles.

Some more tips:

1) If you're getting a new block, spend the money and have the valves re-done. I had my heads milled, but I really wish I would have had the valves re-done.

2) Make sure the douche-bags who do your block don't screw up the marriage between the exhaust manifold and the new block. My immaculate 2004 D2 has the deep ear-rattling bassy HUMMMMM of a 1985 Chevy Custom Deluxe after it's had the exhaust cut off below the cab. Okay, it's not that bad, but it's enough to embarrass me when entertaining wealthy colleagues.

3) Even though I read on here that dex-cool is bad for these engines, my trusted rover-only mechanic back in Colorado (Pikes Peak Rovers) said it was a better idea than running green stuff. So, even at just 15,000 miles on the new block, it's already had two kinds of coolant mixed in... So, i'd say choose one and stick with it.

That's all ole' Disco2Fever has to say about getting a new block.