I live in the muddy, hilly country of southeastern Ohio. I'm hard on vehicles. I've been beating up a grand Cherokee for a few years with virtually no parts worth anything...every body panel is bent or scratched and even the dog thinks the interior needs overhauled. Wanting to keep the 4X4 dream alive (I use my vehicles as ATVs and portable tool wagons on the farm) this 2002 Discovery II caught my eye on Craigslist. It didn't run. We trailered it home. It needed a lot of interior parts because the previous owners supposedly left it in their driveway for three years with the windows open...I've been slowly buying everything it needs and installed a fuel pump yesterday and drove it for the first time. It was awesome to hear that motor fire up!

We drove a couple miles to brag about it to my parents and it was there I discovered it probably didn't have fluid in it. Oops. I thought we checked that...

We made it back home just as the gauge got in the red. I dumped dexcool in it and it didn't hold any fluid. It's coming out the front, lower driver side of the engine. I'll clean it up more and look for more clues today and take pics perhaps.

I have no idea if the previous owners knew about it or if they had water freezing in it over three Ohio winters.

I thought the freeze plugs were on the passenger side from a Google search but am not sure. I read on here a lot about heads leaking but they seem to mostly leak on the passenger side?

Would it be the water pump gasket?

Also, it shakes at 45 mph but I figure I better take the tough one first!

Any advice for a new guy? Links are fine if this is a common annoying question.

Thanks

PS The radio works well.

 

core plugs are on both sides of the block and the ends of the heads. you should borrow / rent a pressure tester to find your leak

 

If I pour in a half gallon it runs out in less than a minute. Would a pressure tester still work for a leak that bad?

 

That might be exaggerating a little. But it's bad. I've never seen a leak tester used so pardon if I seem dumb about the question.

 

if water is pouring out that quickly surely you can see where it coming from, or take a pic

 

Here's a quick video. Maybe it's too blurry.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d58WsSTI0zU

 

ok you have a couple possibilities:
very bad head gasket
timing cover gasket
water pump.

but you not going to know unless you get under there and look.

if your leak is the timing cover gasket I would plan on an oil pump, timing set and water pump while your there

 

Great! Thank you for your time diagnosing this. I see people talking about RAVE. I'll look for that document later. I am still pouring water in...the highest I see water trickling is just behind the steering pulley on the front wall of the engine--to the right of the case (water pump or timing). I don't know my parts yet obviously. I'll learn soon it sounds like.

 

Are you sure the previous owner didn't just stick water in it after overheating and the block cracked? The advantage of use air is you can move your hand around to feel where its coming from.

 

That is a possibility. I won't be able to get it in the garage for a day or so to start looking at things. In the event that the block is cracked is it game over? Do people weld those? I thought plugs were made to protect the block?