head gasket blown???

[2002DiscoII]

it seems like the antifreeze in my car is slowly disappearing. there are no apparent leaks on my car and it isn't driving rough or idling rough. How can I tell if the head gasket is going with a pressure test? The disco is a 2002 series II with 61324 miles on her, isn't that soon for a head gasket to blow? Any help or advice would be great!

~Andy

[Disco Mike]

Andy,
When it comes to head gaskets, Rovers are unpredictable as to how and when they will fail.
First thing is to do is a chemical test for a exhaust leakage into the coolant. Depending what that shows, a pressure test can verify a leak wether it is internal or external.
If it is leaking inwards there will also be a change of coolant showing up on the oil dip stick when the truck is cold, or inside the oil filler cap as a white sort of gummy build up.
Let us know how it goes.
Mike J.

[TnDisco]

Andy,

I recently had the same symptoms on my 00 DII. Turns out it was a leaking gasket on the throttle body heater. Be sure to check there first. If it's leaking you can bypass it if you wish, or get a retrofit kit from LR. There's a TSB out on the fix as well.

Mark

[Badger1]

Originally Posted by TnDisco

Andy,

I recently had the same symptoms on my 00 DII. Turns out it was a leaking gasket on the throttle body heater. Be sure to check there first. If it's leaking you can bypass it if you wish, or get a retrofit kit from LR. There's a TSB out on the fix as well.

Mark

Also lost coolant on my wifes 00 D2 and the above mentioned was the problem and the fix. Check under the throttle body and see if there is any tell tale signs of a leak, like dried up coolant on the valve cover or any in the nooks and crannies down the side of the motor.

[PDX Disco II]

99' disco II 105K orig owner. only issues so far are leaky t-case and front drive shaft.

pretty much the same just happened to me yesterday. i've had the service engine light on for a couple of weeks. on occassion while driving, i would get some roughness on the engine. also, i would hear a rattle from underneath the tranny area.

i assume it was just the catalytic. i was planning on getting it checked out by next week. UNTIL...

i was on my way home, i happen to notice the temp gauge climb up to near red. then, the red light was on. i was able to limp the car back home and noticed that the coolant reservoir was empty. i also noticed that there was some liquid (coolant i'm sure?) seeping slowly out of the valve cover gaskets.

prior to me taking it to the indy shop, is there any way of telling if this is a throttle body gasket issue or head gasket? how could i tell if i blew a head gasket? how could i tell if i damaged any of the heads? pls help and walk me thru some of these issues...thanks.

[Disco Mike]

look under the throttle body, where the air intake goes in, you will see 2 small hose that if they were leaking would be dripping onto the valve cover.
Let the engine cool off, fill up the coolant bottle to the top, put on the cap and start up the engine, look for leaks,is there any sweet small and or steam coming from the exhaust, check for leaking hoses. Is it over heating while idling, if not, have someone pressurize the coolant system and see where the coolant is going.
Mike

[BlueLion]

Hey, my wifes Acura done the same thing. I just knew it was a head gasket. The antifreeze was disappearing and heat would get cold. What I found was that I had a hose on the back of the engine that was bad and it was slowly dripping antifreeze. Check all of your rubber heater lines for lose fittings or just a bad hose. Do a Radiator flush to unclog any passages and check all your heater hoses, to include radiator.

[PDX Disco II]

I checked on the two hoses beside and under the throttle body manifold. YEP, crusty coolant residue around the two hoses. Checked the oil dipstick. couldn't tell any liquid separation from oil. I have not noticed any white smoke during idle (unless early in the morning idle - Northwest still gets down to the high 50s in the morning).

Before I take this to my indie shop, are there any other signs that I need to look into to see if it is a head gasket. Is it correct for me to assume that theoretically a bad throttle body gasket and a head gasket could be happening at the same time on my Disco II (1999 - 105K).

More importantly, I was able to limp the Disco home by turning up the heater and drive 10 miles. The temp gauge stayed at 3/4 to max temp. The reservoir is almost empty. During idle though, the temp stayed within normal range.

Question: I bought some Penzoil Dextron (sp?) Coolant from the Landy dealer a while back. It has the Summer coolant in it. My coolant has always been pink.

When I opened the coolant, it was orange in color. Is it safe to put this in my reservoir - or do I run a risk mixing pink with orange...

[Disco Mike]

You may be lucky and only have air trapped in the engine after allowing the coolant level to drop low.
There is an updated repair kit for the throttle body coolant hoses, last I looked, cause mine was leaking, they were on back order, so I unhooked both my hoses, place a small piece of hose between them to make a bypass and haven't ad a problem since.
You have the right coolant, it is an orange color. I would suggest you fill you coolant bottle to the top, when cold, start the engine and let it idle, turn your heater to the higest temp and fan speed and let the engine come up to operating temp. Once there run the idle up to around 2000RPM's hold it for a couple of seconds, let go back to an idle and repeat 3 or 4 times. This will help remove the air from the engine and if you are lucky, you may run cool and be OK, if not, just take it to a shop and have them perform a presure test and a chemical test on the coolant to verify the condition of the head gaskets.
Mike

[BlueLion]

Check all of your hoses. My wife had a problem with her Acura. The heat would not heat and she was losing anti-freeze. And just like you mentioned it was disappearing. I was thinking head gasket, until I found a bad heater hose on the backside of the engine. Fixed it and now all is good.

[bcampbe7]

I wonder how many people take their vehicles into get coolant leaks fixed and pay for a head gasket repair when all the shop did was fix a leaking hose?

With a blow head gasket will you not notice a power loss or white smoke from the tailpipe?

The 88-92 Supras were notorious for blow head gaskets, but they usually blew around 30K miles or so. Do Land Rovers have this same reputation?

[PDX Disco II]

limped the rover 10 miles to the shop. filled the reservoir with new coolant. i noticed that the valve cover gasket on the left bank is about to give as i noticed some oil and liquids seep out. while driving to the shop, had the heater on high. temp gauge crept a bit higher than normal mid temp, but made it fine.

mechanic says that water pump, intake manifold gasket, and valve cover gasket (i knew that one) are the culrpits. since i noticed some coolant residue around the connectors of the two hoses below the intake maifold, shouldn't the hoses are peripheral parts be replaced?

question of the day, how do i really know if the water pump is going out on me? any clues???

[BlueLion]

Change it any way, if you suspect it might go, since you are doing everything else.

[DiscoMedic]

I have had to change the throttle body heater about 18.00 and had to change head gasket. My dealership told me that if you have blown gasket go ahead and do head job cause they will be next. that little job was about 3,000 all said and done. but you can put on heater in about 30 mis.

[Disco Mike]

Originally Posted by DiscoMedic

I have had to change the throttle body heater about 18.00 and had to change head gasket. My dealership told me that if you have blown gasket go ahead and do head job cause they will be next. that little job was about 3,000 all said and done. but you can put on heater in about 30 mis.

And you believed that line.
Mike