[paul descalso]

Does anyone have any experience in helping me in the project of removing my heads and doing a head gasket job? 50k miles on my '97 disco and a year ago I started losing coolant but no leaks which means coolant was going in to cylinders. Now over the last 2 months I have a leak out of the right bank leaving coolant puddles on the front diff. and small puddles on the garage floor. So problem is getting worst. Two questions, am I doing damage by doing nothing? [as long as I top off coolant each few weeks], and can a good back yard mechanic do a head gasket on this disco engin? My son had a '97XD, he let coolant on his engine run low and over heated [twice] and the cylinder sleaves sliped thus ruining his engine. I got a wrecking yard engine did the r and r everything worked great [40 hours labor]. But doing heads could be beyond my abilities and I don't want to get in over my head. Any suggestions from your experience would be appreciated. Paul Descalso, San rafael Calif. 415-456-7650

 

[Disco Mike]

Have you ever done heads before, if so you should not have any problems?
I know a number of people who have R&R their heads before, usually having a machine shop inspect them before reinstalling them, and have had great results. There are lots of shop manuals on E-Bay if you want a little extra direction.
By the way, don't let it go to long, you don't want to wash your bearings over time with coolant.
Good luck,
Mike J.

 

[texasrover]

Food for thought... if you are going to have those heads resurfaced... find a shop that uses the old flat table sander for resurfacing.

Simple way is still the best way.

 

[Badger1]

How does your oil look? Is there actually signs of coolant in the oil? Check the oil filler cap for greenish colored goo that looks like mayonaise, and smell it to see if it has a coolant smell. If there is contamination in your oil either let the truck sit, or if you have to drive it up your oil/filter change intervals dramatically! Coolant isn't a very good lubricant. Let us know what you come up with.

 

[dirtyduk]

if you get someone to pressure test the system you'll probbly find the the coolant is actually coming from the intake manifold and running along the head,
these gaskets fail on a regular basis and freak people out,do a quick check and see if the intake bolts are loose,(I bet they are) do the process of elimination with proper diagnosis. also note that the dealers replace the intake bolts for two reasons, they now have a loc tite coating on them and they have a built on washer (shoulder) also the torque sequence is important so use a manual.

 

[DISCO INCUBUS]

If you have the dealer do the head gaskets be prepared to spend over $2000, if you have a backyard mech Experiment and learn on your truck ....ahhh good luck.
Get yourself a workshop manual and some decent tools, quality gasket set. Take your time and do it yourself , you will save a lot of money and you know it will be done right.

That's what i did.