Hello all, I have just bought a 2001 Discovery 2 with the petrol 4.0 V8, 99k miles on the clock.



I've nicknamed her "The Camel", she's docile, she's a nice color... and she's THIRSTY!

She runs nice and smooth and quiet, but little service history so upon purchase I took her to my trusted LR mechanic (a well known Land Rover specialist) for a "general reset" service: in other words, "do everything" from engine oil and filter to auto trans oil and filter, oil change to the three differentials, axle oils...the lot.

I was given a bit of bad news, though, when I was informed the left bank of the V8 weeps (or sweats) coolant to the outside.
No mayo in the engine oil, no oil in the coolant, no hazy misty exhaust, but there is a pint to top up in the expansion tank every now and then...
I thought "leaky radiator / bad water pump/ old hoses" but no...
So this is what the investigaiton revealed




Picture made by the mechanic, this is seen from underneath, it is cylinder no.7
It's not spraying water, that is just the engine block stained with (wrong type) coolant as the water evaporates

From what I've been told, it is not a true HGF but of a weak spot in the HG which allows some coolant to weep to the outside under certain conditions.
Or maybe a defective alloy casting of the engine block?

I was given two options:
1. Miracle additive, literally a "stopleak" of sorts as one can find in most autoparts (but better, he says)
2. Rebuild both heads (you really can't disassemble and rebuild only one, it's a V8!) for abouth €2000

Now... seriously... just how bad is it, and how common a problem is this?
If I have to take the heads, off, I might just as well ship a short motor to the UK for a complete rebuild

Opinions? Previous experience? Options?

Thank you.

Heads off and a set of gaskets plus a new set of head bolts and a valley gasket why does he need to rebuild the heads?

Wants some extra cash off ya by the sounds

If the engine has no signs of internal leakage then the leaks will be confined to the water gallery part of the head gasket this is a common problem.

Personally I wouldn't use a stop leak in the cooling system of an RV8 your best bet it to have the heads off and a set of gaskets..

happy hunting.

I wouldn't use stop leak in any engine unless it was the only chance off getting to safety

The V8s have small water galleries and stop leak etc will clog them up; just causes trouble down the line.
As @Henry_b says new head and valley gaskets with new bolts as there doesn't appear the be signs of internal leakage e.g. emulsion in oil, smelly coolant, poor running, steamy exhaust.
You could check the heads with a flat and perhaps get them skimmed but I wouldn't want to do that unless it was really needed.
Good luck.

@Henry_b ...didnt mean to insert reply into your post dude...
Would you give the heads a skim?...

Shippers said:

@Henry_b ...didnt mean to insert reply into your post dude...
Would you give the heads a skim?...

Click to expand...

I would if the engine had been overheated..

Quite easy to check with a straight edge though

I think I did my head gaskets, yes both over a couple of days going slow less than £100 in parts with my trusty halfords tool kit a breaker bar and torque wrench

Here you go

https://www.landyzone.co.uk/land-rover/about-to-pull-my-heads.281183/

Listen to the guys, they're not wrong.

Heads off and gasket swap, bit of cleaning for inlet and throttle body etc, check a few hoses and cables no big deal really. If you have a reasonable tool kit and all the gaskets etc it is perfectly possible to do it in a weekend. I have done a head gasket swap on my RRC in a day - a long day I'll admit but it is doable. Not sure what extra bits there would be on a 2001 Disco but the basics are the same. At the end of the day it is a logical operation of taking bits off and then putting them back.

FWIW I would stay away from stop leak potions, they are a false economy. I have used them and even after a number of years after fixing the leak, draining down and flushing through together with later radiator and gasket changes, the cooling system still shows evidence of it so I would say DON'T.

Head gaskets do need occasional attention depending on how it is looked after and used/abused. Last time I did mine was a couple of years back but that was part of a cam swap.

As for "rebuilding" the heads, not sure what that is supposed to mean. I'm sure they are fine. Maybe you might lap the valves if you want to and check for excessive wear in the valve guides but if it isn't smoking and using oil I wouldn't get too excited although lapping the valves is also an opportunity to replace the valve stem seals. HTH

My project P38 4.0 had similar weep, plus leaky core plugs when I bought it. As said above check the flatness carefully. A good quality steel rule works, but a proper engineers flat is better. Mine needed a 9 thou skim, because the previous owner had tried all sorts except fixing it properly. Also had to have block heli-coiled where they had over-tightened to try & fix the wrong leak !!

Most likely with small weep like that, it only requires new gaskets & tightening correctly. Buy if you do need a skim get both the head face & inlet manifold faces skimmed the same amount, or the inlet will not fit properly. Max skim according to RAVE is 0.020" or 0.50mm.

It certainly doesn't need to cost £2000. Mine was £850 for the Head Skim, Block Core Plugs, Helicoils, and 50degC pressure test to check for leaks everywhere including liners Luckily all liners were good.. I used http://cmesuk.com/ in Bracknell. They are excellent.

Thanks all.
I have, since my initial post, been forced to change mechanic.
The expert (he certainly is an expert and tunes and builds Rally/Raid Land Rovers) did charge me the price of a new Rolex, but carried ut the jobs listed for the price of a Timex.
Diff oils not changed but topped up, invoice with jobs titled but not detailed, "oveall sum" without a breakdown of what he actually did and the components used.
I don't even know what weight engine oil is in the sump!
So I changed mechanic, the car will now be serviced by an "indie" who is actually a fellow offroader who is also rebuilding his own 1970's 3-door Range Rover.
Incidentally, this chap swears AT stop leak fluids, not by them - suggested skimming the heads and renewing all the gaskets, but backed out of doing so himself.
So, for now, it'll be new water pump, ne thermostat and hoses, new RED coolant, and we'll see how long it takes for that bluish stain to become reddish...