So I took her in for what I thought was a exhaust manifold gasket leak to a highly thought of shop that the owner himself looked at. They told me it was not the manifold but the HG.

My question is. I have no performance issues or check lights. just what sounds like a pfft on the pass side towards the bottom of the manifold area. I definatly feel air in the general area of the hg, but cant wrap my head around a hg w/o performance / coolant loss issues.

 

Its an external HG blow, middle cylinder. It happens sometimes. It will only get worse, but not damaging to the engine as long as you don't drive it a long way.

 

If unattended, it will eventually damage block and head. The hot exhaust gases will eat away the soft aluminum of block and head. Get it repaired as soon as possible.

 

Like the others stated in this thread, the middle two cylinders can blow out the metal ring in the gasket. It sounds just like an exhaust leak. It will damage the heads over time if you do not take care of it.
Here is what the head gasket would look like, as you can see there is a coolant passage on the front and rear. You would only have loss if the front or rear cyl were busted.
Oil passages are inboard, so uncommon for those to break.
You have some performance loss, but its very minimal. I drove this specific truck for a week with this issue and it was fine driving around town and the highway.

 

The thing that sucks for me is that I work a fairly busy schedule with work and then other commitments. I wouldn't mind doing the work but Wife wants a new privacy fence ($6500) and a bunch of other work on the house, so money is tied up to pay someone to do it. It may have to get sold "as is".

 

A Rover with a head gasket issue is worth $1000 or less on the market. Tell the wife you will lose 3 to 7 THOUSAND DOLLARS selling it in this condition. Ask her if she is willing to make you whole on it.

 

I would let it sit for a bit, doing work here and there.

Break it down, and have the heads taken care of at the machine shop. A new HG kit is going to be under $150.
Just get them installed, and then slowly piece the rest of the engine together.
I can do them in a few hours, but I also have heads sitting on the shelf so that I don't have to wait around for the machine shop.