Disco 1 Discovery 300tdi 5 Door Auto

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I think the boot floor will be replaced during next year, if its rusting which it is a bit, it will not heal up if I give "it time"
So hopefully the summer will give me time to have a good look at the body work.

David
 
A new day and a new opportunity, I have 2 very long journeys planned for the end of the month, best part of 1000 miles over a weekend in 10 days pulling a car trailer and then a couple of days later another 500 without trailer but with SWMBO. So I have been catching up on a few jobs recently. Since I replaced the thermostat 6 weeks ago or so, due it it being stuck open, I have been constantly using a drop of water. On checking today to add the "every 2 weeks 1/2 pint of coolant" I removed the cap to the hiss of pressure on a cold engine. Adding far more than 1/2 pint of water showed signs of oil in the water. I guess its head gasket time before my trips.
Feel free to comment or just have a quiet giggle.

David
 
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Hi Everyone


So the plan was to change the head gasket, the radiator which I knew was suffering corroded fins and the P gasket. The water pump looked reasonably new but would be easily removed to check during the water pump support housing removal to change the P gasket.

All went well during the head removal and the only disappointment being that some previous hero had sheared one of the P gasket bolts and left it. As usual I employed brute force and ignorance, in equal measures, to remove the stud remains to allow the housing to come off.

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A general view of the engine during strip down, notice the brown stain from a previous water pump leak and the black carp in the inlet manifold. The alternator had been removed.

The head gasket had failed Number 4 to the back and I am sure to the water jacket as well. The inlet / exhaust gasket had also split at inlet points. This was a surprise and must have been leaking a lot of air.

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To be continued………
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Is K seal good for prevention? we used to put a "turd" which looked like its name in Bedford 330 engines after rebuild. It came in a Bedford box with part number. It crumbled like an Oxo cube into the cooling system. I seem to remember Jags used similar stuff. I was once told it was a solid type of Barrs Leaks, but do not know if that is true.
Does a 300 tdi need a preventative? not heard of it being needed.

David
 
Hi Everyone

Sorry I left this at head replacement but suddenly everything was in a rush so I had to finish it quickly and go on the road trip. I did take lots of photos of the head refit but the lens of my phone must have got oil on it, this is the only one useable.



Whilst underneath I noticed this failing and replaced it with a new Bearmark one.



And finally the reason for the first road trip, a mate bought this on ebay and wanted it picking up. He is not in the picture because he could not find the place, he had to find us later. It was an Ebay purchase which to be fair is not half bad and will make a tidy little rally car again.



We did 810 miles collecting it with it on the trailer for over 500 of them. Whist we were darn sarf we had the weekend in London as you would so it was Blackburn Lancshire to Totnes Devon and then over to Beckenham Kent on Friday then back home on Sunday. No oil or water used and 25mpg overall so a result on the head gasket.


Thanks for looking

David
 
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Hi All
Seasons Greetings
The vibration which started after fitting a new front prop shaft was as I reported earlier initially quite bad. It did gradually improve but very definitely stopped improving after about 300 miles. I had changed the prop for speed, all the old one wanted was a new U/J. So in desperation I replaced the partially seized U/J today ( in a hurry again so no photos sorry) and RESULT I have my old Disco back vibration free. The new prop is, I am sure out of balance, it seemed to vibrate mildly about 15 mph then badly at 30 mildly again at 45 and again quite badly at 60. I also noted that even after 1000 miles one of the U/J's still had the tightness noted in the previous post when I fitted it. It was phased in the same way as the old one.
I will be sending it back in the new year, it was cheap so I cannot complain too much, you get what you pay for but equally it plainly was not fit for purpose.
I am off down to Haverfordwest on Saturday and am looking forward to a smooth journey even if I doubt it will be free flowing .......

See you all in the New Year.

David
 
Hi All

No reports for a while because we are still going strong, still no oil or water used and 3000 miles done in the 2 months since the head gasket replacement. The MOT was also passed with just an advisory on the boot floor. That will be the summers job. I have also decided to buy a Series so I am keeping my eye out for one. Oh and we have decided to move as well to gain more outside car space so this year should be quite busy.

Thanks for looking

David
 
Hi All
Seasons Greetings
The vibration which started after fitting a new front prop shaft was as I reported earlier initially quite bad. It did gradually improve but very definitely stopped improving after about 300 miles. I had changed the prop for speed, all the old one wanted was a new U/J. So in desperation I replaced the partially seized U/J today ( in a hurry again so no photos sorry) and RESULT I have my old Disco back vibration free. The new prop is, I am sure out of balance, it seemed to vibrate mildly about 15 mph then badly at 30 mildly again at 45 and again quite badly at 60. I also noted that even after 1000 miles one of the U/J's still had the tightness noted in the previous post when I fitted it. It was phased in the same way as the old one.
I will be sending it back in the new year, it was cheap so I cannot complain too much, you get what you pay for but equally it plainly was not fit for purpose.
I am off down to Haverfordwest on Saturday and am looking forward to a smooth journey even if I doubt it will be free flowing .......

See you all in the New Year.

David

I'm curious as to the supplier of the cheap prop mentioned above - SWMBO's D1 had a new cheap prop before christmas - and it wouldn't fit !! was too **** short !!!!... :mad: :eek: I keep meaning to post a thread about it, but haven't got that far yet (!)
 
Hi BFG
The prop was from Paddocks. It had a little white sticker on it with its part number but no name and was not in a box, blue or otherwise. As I said it vibrated badly and had a stiffish joint. It also had much bigger "ears" holding the U/J cups resulting in the prop bolts being very difficult (almost impossible!) to tighten due not being unable to get a spanner to fit without the wholesale removal of metal from a sacrificial spanner. It was a joy to refit the old one which fitted so much better.
I have not yet got around to sending it back, I fear a battle because I do not want another, I want either a credit note or a refund. Would you like me to measure it for you?

David
 
Hi Toonarf, very good thread about your discovery. Could I be cheeky and ask you about that add on dash you made. It looks the mutz nutz :) would you be willing to give me the measurements and what materials you used as this would benefit me big time with my recovery disco (basically I have gear on board to help 4x4s that get stuck big time, so what with my recovery lights etc this would be great also the oil pressure gauge is a must have.
So I await your reply, hope your disco still puts a smile on ya face as mine does
Many thanks
Dave
 
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