Hate to break the bad news, but this kind of crustation is created by the mix of slow seapage of coolant, mixed somewhere with oil (not necessarily leaking together) which indicates probable leak ofthehead gasket. I had mine leaking very slowly for some 30K miles(the typical rearend of theright head) and the right side of the block, including the starter, was covered by this kind of thick crust.

 

Ok, well its good to know. I won't buy it then. Thanks alot for your help!

Newbie

 

Good decision, there are planty of good Discos out there to pick from.

 

Could also be water from the aircon drains mixing with 'normal' leakage.