Disco 1 300tdi Burning oil diagnostic

D1 R Reg 300tdi 119,000 miles.

Did a reasonably long journey of about 400miles, started the engine up the next day and had burning oil smoke .The engine started fine and it was reasonably cold conditions. After driving for about 5 mins the smoke stopped as thing warmed up.

After a couple of checks It turns out that the coolant was very, very low, I've topped this up and there doesn't seem to be a leak (I'm obvisously a forgettful t*at for not checking this). From what I can tell it doesn't seem to be using excess oil but I've only driven about 20 - 30 miles since this issue however each time the engine is started up from cold it's burning oil.

I'm far from an experienced mechanic but I'm very keen to learn (I guess you have to if you like landy's!!!)

From googling the issue I think I'm looking at:

valve stems and/or seals
Warped/overheated cylinder head
Possible head gasket failure

How do I diagnose the problem(s) and or which are the most likely causes of this issue. If there is anything I've missed or not thought of I'd be really keen to hear about it!

I've got a couple of weeks and a large unit to put the vehicle in over December so looking to do the work myself as I figure there is no way to learn without getting on with. I've also got a pretty friendly local mechanic whos works on this vehicle and my other ones so if I get really stuck he'll be able to come along and rescue me!

Any help would be really apprecaited.

What colour was the smoke?
Mark

blueish / white...to me, allbeit an untrained eye, it looks like blue oil smoke

Can anyone help? thanks!

To me, and I may be wrong, it sounds like valve guide oil seals, letting a little oil seep thru after being stood overnight. Mine does the same, always when its cold and clears up after a couple of mins. Think if it was the head or gasket, it would smoke all the time. I'm not too worried about it just now, shall just keep an eye on the oil level and leave it at that for now

Stem seals are cheap, and you can get a compressor tool for about £20 which allows you to work from the top.

Ive only tried it on a scrap head, but, if you can be certain of what piston is at tdc at what time, in thoery, you could do the job without getting to the bottom of the head.

As i say, ive only tried it on a scrap head, and its easy enough to remove the collets, but then the fear factor wasnt there for me...