Head gasket repair? Is my beloved disco dying?

[Jerry38]

I have a 1999 discoII, with 156K miles on it, I'm the first owner dealership serviced since new until I lost my job 6 months ago.
It all start as overheating problem I replace the thermostat and coolant when I was refilling it didn't bleed from the screw. Still heating, I took it to an autozone to get it scanned and these are the codes they gave me: 505 vacuum leak on engine, 307 misfire cylinder 7, 116 engine coolant temp. Circuit, 300 misfire on cylinders, 150 oxygen sensors. On my way back home white smoke start getting out from exhaust. Is my engine dead? I replace the head gasket 1 year ago, any ideas? I really need help don't want to see my disco dead but I can't afford a $3,000 repair......
Thank You

[Disco Mike]

Send me your number and I'll walk you thru what to check and do.

[lanceputnam]

Jerry-

I have been in the same boat as you, with two trucks... twice...

It sucks. But, don't loose optimism. The white steamy smoke out of the tail pipe is indicative of a head gasket failure. The exhaust gasses are leaking into the coolant passages and vice versa and causing the white smoke of death out of your tail pipe. First things first. Stop driving it and start diagnosing the problem which will generate the solution. First thing I would do is drain the oil and check for coolant content. White milky froth look will give it away.

There is a solid write up on here somewhere from a guy who did a full gasket rebuild on his 4.0/4.6 in a P38. I thought so much of it I printed it out and bound it and it now sits as a hard copy in my workshop library. Find it and start breaking down the motor from the top down towards the block. Follow the steps carefully and bag up all the bolts and nuts into little sandwich baggies and label them with a sharpie. Take pictures for reassembly reference at ever major step!

You need to find the problem. There are many causes for this problem, but most of the time it is these in order of best case to worse case:

head gasket failure (simple, replace gaskets and put back together)
slipped liner (pin liners or send block in for top hats)
cracked block (source a new block with top hat liners)

You really wont know until you get into the engine. You can do the full disassembly of the engine with your average tool set (metric wrenches, extensions, breaker bar, torque wrench 0-100ft lbs). I can do it in about 6 hours, if you have never done it before and have some mechanical knowledge it shouldn't take you more than 8-10 hours.

I know this is financially frustrating, but PLEASE do not cut corners or try to shortcut finding the problem, ie: replacing head gaskets and putting back together hoping that it solves the problem. If you are careful and find the problem (liners or new block), you can essentially solve the issues that solihull should have fixed years ago which will extend the life of your rover exponentially. Once you have the heads off, go ahead and run them down to your local engine machine shop to be gauged and trued up. This is one of the most important steps and some people over look it thinking their heads are good-to-go and the end up doing this repair again within 5k miles.

Report back what you find and then we can go from there. Im sure Mike will be adding his input as well, he will for sure have some sources that you will need for sourcing a new block if necessary to help keep the cost down.

[Jerry38]

Thank You for answer so fast, I've been reading the manual, (thanks Mike for the link) and it might take some time but it looks like I can do it, i got some mechanical skills but I never open an engine before think I can do it? Of course I'm not driving my disco. Mike my phone is (773) 408 7143, I think this week can start buying the parts I think Atlantic have fair prices any suggestion here?
Once again thank you! Can't wait to get it on the road again.....
P.s. Just check the oil no coolant there clear as honey, I think is a good sign, isn't it?

[Racer X]

Originally Posted by Jerry38

Thank You for answer so fast, I've been reading the manual, (thanks Mike for the link) and it might take some time but it looks like I can do it, i got some mechanical skills but I never open an engine before think I can do it? Of course I'm not driving my disco. Mike my phone is (773) 408 7143, I think this week can start buying the parts I think Atlantic have fair prices any suggestion here?
Once again thank you! Can't wait to get it on the road again.....
P.s. Just check the oil no coolant there clear as honey, I think is a good sign, isn't it?

I would reach out to Will Tillery for the heads and gasket set. Will ships a gasket set and head bolt set, with a pair of heads that have been cleaned, machined, and have a valve job with new stem seals installed, for less that it would cost you to get every thing done on your own, not to mention the decrease in down time.

His e-mail is willtillery@roverguy.com

[CFDRover]

Jerry are you from Chicago? I'm from Chicago and getting ready to tackle the same problem. Let me know what your gonna do for parts. I tried to email Will and got no response. My number is 7734061127.


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[Jerry38]

Thanks racer I'm trying to contact Will, CFD I used to live in Chicago but I just moved to goshen, Indiana, but I'll give you a call if I can contact Will or any other good tip.