I'm helping my uncle with his 2000 Disco II. He said that while driving it overheated and had it towed to his house he was so frustrated that he just parked it and did not bother with it. It said on his driveway for about 6 months. I helped him check what the issue was and it turns out that it had almost no oil in the engine. Filled it up with oil and coolant and started it up. We let it idle for about 25 minutes and drove it for abot 10 and it never overheated. The check engine light was on since it started it so I checked the codes and it said there was a cylinder 8 misfire. I switched the wire from cylinder 8 to cylinder 7 and vice versa to see if I had a faulty wire and if so the code would go to cylinder 7. I erased the code and started it up again and again the check engine light started blinking after about 15 seconds. When I checked the codes again it came out that cylinder 8 is misfiring so I know that it is not a faulty wire. I decided to take the spark plug out and check it. To my surprise the spark plug was completely dry, I took out the spark plug from cylinder 6 and it had black deposit. I began to crank the engine a little bit to see if anything would come out of cylinder 8 and nothing. It seems that no fuel is getting to the cylinder yet no code came up saying that there is a problem with the injector or anything else. Can anyone help? Has anyone had anything like this happen?
Sounds like he hasn't done a lick of maintenance on the truck. Doesn't even check the oil or coolant. If you let a Disco go like that, you have nothing but a pile of scrap metal and some aluminum mixed in. Total fucking junk. These trucks require a daily-dose of TLC. Just sell that thing to the recycler/junk-yard, depending on where you are. It's worthless at this point. Don't waste your time on it as it will need $500 worth of parts just to find out that it needs a $1500 head gasket replacement and everything that comes along with it.
engine needs total rebuild and even then the block is most likely cracked or the cyl sleeves have come loose. Just leave it be.
You say the number 8 plug was completely dry but number 6 had a black deposit. Did the number 8 plug look freakishly clean? If so it may be that a coolant leak into cylinder 8 is "steam cleaning" the plug and the combustion chamber.
When headgaskets fail on these engines it is very often at the back of the engine, either cylinder 7 or cylinder 8. The coolant passage there is very close to the edge of the block and head so the gasket is very narrow at that point maybe an eighth of an inch. That said they more often leak externally, not internally.
The factory-spec plugs for a 2000 DII are Champion 7070s (RC11 PYP B4). They are double-platinum, which important in a wasted-spark system like that in a DII. Autolite makes a compatible double-platinum (APP 3924).
You should check to see if your uncle's truck has that plug. If it's a conventional copper plug (3924) it will have worn out faster. Here's a link to an Advance Auto Parts web page that describes why double-platinums are important in a wasted spark system.
My path back into doing my own wrenching on my Rover began with misfires in November 2009. The indy shop that replaced the plugs and wires two years and only 13,000 miles before used STI wires (Good!) but installed copper Champions. I replace them with the correct 7070s and they're still going strong seven years and 48,000 miles later.
Thanks RedRover I will try that and see what happens. Will keep you posted.
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