Thanks for sharing this excellent video. I recently helped a friend fit ARP head studs without taking the heads off. By retensioning the head, we managed to (apparently) solve the head gasket leaks without removing the heads. Your video details many of the difficulties we encountered including the seized secondary air connections, head bolt access etc. it certainly pays to take lots of photos during disassembly. In our case, we had an unmolested D2 in the background for reference. I have a small coolant leak from the back of my right side head and am considering an ARP head stud upgrade. I haven’t decided whether I’ll change the head gaskets. Your thermostat information is also spot on. I went through 5 thermostats before I found the one that works well. I ended up with the genuine grey Land Rover PEL500110 unit which keeps my temperatures in the 186-192°F range. In traffic, I can see temps rise just over 200° but rarely to the point where the cooling fan comes on at 207°. I tried multiple cheaper aftermarket options with no success. Don’t waste your time with aftermarket thermostats or an in line thermostat conversion. I don’t know if you follow the local Northern California Land Rover club, but if you do, I may see you around some time.
Thank you for your comment. Are you a member of the NorCal club? If you could send me some info on the club Im interested in coming out to one of their events.
I did this job about 15 years ago right around 105k on the odometer. It had started to weep coolant at the front of the driver's side bank. In regards to the TTY bolts what I did was put a paint pen mark on the heads at straight up and used it to determine my degrees. I've just now crossed over the 200k mark and have a set of Turner top hat liners I bought last year so I plan to do a complete rebuild with new cam, rocker assemblies, valves, pistons, the whole nine yards. My experience after 20 years with a Disco, having dealt with the head gaskets, 3 Amigos, front driveshaft, airbags and a few other odds and ends is that it never actually "broke down" or left me stranded anywhere. It always got me home. So I'm keeping it.
Thank you for your comment. Ya I bought this one because I just all ways wanted one. Just for fun really. Three years and 35k miles later I thinking I may put 100k on her before Im done. Good to hear they can do it.
I think I'll follow the engine removal tutorial instead. OIl Pump, coil pack/wires location, head gasket, Cyl liners slipping and the cracked blocks, "All happen to me". Huge money pit!! I'm going to bite the bullet and do the 5.3 swap. Great video! Thanks for taking the time to do this. I couldn't imagine trying to film/document and reach some of those PITA bolts!
Ya the 5.3 swap is popular. I would rather keep a Rover Engine. Maybe a use engine. It would be simpler. We build race cars with a lot of mods. The mods don’t always work like you hope. Getting all the ECUs to work together sounds like a nightmare.
I suspect the thermostat you removed was also aftermarket. It says "Motorad" which is company that makes many of the aftermarket thermostats today. Thanks for the video. I don't have a LR, but have been looking at them off an on for awhile.
Great video. I don’t have it in me to do this, I’m in the Chicagoland area and I’m sure bolts are going to snap. Sadly I’m mine is too far on the other side for me to complete the repairs myself. I’ll be cleaning it up, replacing a few things and listing it For sale. Thanks for the video and explanation.
Thanks for the video, very helpful - especially the thermostat part at the end. Quick question: what size tires are on the Discovery? They look larger than the original size.
Thank you for the comment. Im glad you found it helpful. The tire size it 265/60 R18. This size will fit on the rear spare holder with out modification. It dose rub a little at full lock up front.
A guy who worked on a lot of these said most of the time it was a leak from the intake manifold gasket. I wonder if that's what happened here since no pistons were clean.
I'll be doing this soon. I've noticed in other videos no one is doing oil pump or chain. What are your thoughts? I also noticed that some of my manifolds have 3 gaskets!! My one side sounds like a diesel! But I do have a crack in one of my secondary air pipes.
Thank you for your comment. I guess the factory use the gaskets to adjust for the imperfection in manifold casting. I found a used secondary air pipe on ebay. The 03 was know for problems with oil pumps. The o4 like mine was good so I did not take it apart.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 yes I have an 03. I don't have a head gasket issue but I do have manifold noise and valve cover gaskets to do. I have zero history on this vehicle so I thought I may as well go big or go home. I'd like to keep it now that I'm invested. Thanks!
I did the unthinkable and did an antifreeze flush and replace at JiffyLube they didn't bleed the air and it's winter we'll I have white smoke out the exhaust and have a low reservoir. Just topped it bled it and still white smoke but no overheat now. But I noticed the temp gage went above mid way so I knew there was an issue. So checked and let them know but they blew me off. So planning this job in the Spring. Will keep topping til then.
Thank you for the comment. Sounds like the head gasket is blown. I would not rely on the factory temp gage. By the time it reads hot you may have all ready damage the engine. These engines are very sensitive to being over heated. I would recommend buying an Ultra Gage to keep a close eye on the temperature.
@unclewaynescarworld7528 yeah and I just learned of the inline thermostat. Did a thermostat replacement last January and waterpump. And also alternator. Which found out the bracket was broken at one of the corners that holds the bolt. If you have a brand to recommend please do.
@unclewaynescarworld7528 quick question I Use the Torque app to read temps is that similar to the ultragauge? Or do I need to have a direct wire to the inline thermostat to the ultragauge? Just wanna make sure I dont rely on false info.
Forgot to add I put a temp liquid glass product in which stopped rhe smoke for 2 days and didn't hold. So looks to be a daily addition of distilled water or flush the system and use Titans polymer sealant until I can get to the repair. I ordered Atlantic British's kit.
Thank you for you comment. Not sure. I think it was about $1,000. With new sensors, coil packs and plug wires. Just gaskets and ARP studs was about $500. I did not need any machine shop work done on the heads. You can find most of the items you need on line at Atlantic British or Lucky 8
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 thank you. And I think that’s a ASE thing, I noticed the bigger bold on mat cars is the drain bolt, the Cherokee and several others. Thank you.
Thanks for the comment. I guess it depends on the condition of your Disco. The parts are not real expensive so if you don’t need any machine work it’s probably worth it.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 I sold it , every last one of them the head gasket pop at around 80k miles and it’s $7200 for a rebuilt motor just not worry to me , good luck with it . I lost $10k
Thanks for sharing this excellent video. I recently helped a friend fit ARP head studs without taking the heads off. By retensioning the head, we managed to (apparently) solve the head gasket leaks without removing the heads. Your video details many of the difficulties we encountered including the seized secondary air connections, head bolt access etc. it certainly pays to take lots of photos during disassembly. In our case, we had an unmolested D2 in the background for reference. I have a small coolant leak from the back of my right side head and am considering an ARP head stud upgrade. I haven’t decided whether I’ll change the head gaskets.
Your thermostat information is also spot on. I went through 5 thermostats before I found the one that works well. I ended up with the genuine grey Land Rover PEL500110 unit which keeps my temperatures in the 186-192°F range. In traffic, I can see temps rise just over 200° but rarely to the point where the cooling fan comes on at 207°. I tried multiple cheaper aftermarket options with no success. Don’t waste your time with aftermarket thermostats or an in line thermostat conversion.
I don’t know if you follow the local Northern California Land Rover club, but if you do, I may see you around some time.
Thank you for your comment. Are you a member of the NorCal club? If you could send me some info on the club Im interested in coming out to one of their events.
Wayne, great to meet you today. Love this! I did the same exact job to my ‘04 Discovery a couple years ago following the Atlantic British tutorial.
I did this job about 15 years ago right around 105k on the odometer. It had started to weep coolant at the front of the driver's side bank. In regards to the TTY bolts what I did was put a paint pen mark on the heads at straight up and used it to determine my degrees. I've just now crossed over the 200k mark and have a set of Turner top hat liners I bought last year so I plan to do a complete rebuild with new cam, rocker assemblies, valves, pistons, the whole nine yards. My experience after 20 years with a Disco, having dealt with the head gaskets, 3 Amigos, front driveshaft, airbags and a few other odds and ends is that it never actually "broke down" or left me stranded anywhere. It always got me home. So I'm keeping it.
Thank you for your comment. Ya I bought this one because I just all ways wanted one. Just for fun really. Three years and 35k miles later I thinking I may put 100k on her before Im done. Good to hear they can do it.
Awesome video! Planning to do the same project on mi '03 Disco. Cheers.
Great video! Invest in a Nanocom if you plan on keeping the Disco.
Cheers Wayne from Disco 2 V8 enthusiast in England. 🏴
I think I'll follow the engine removal tutorial instead. OIl Pump, coil pack/wires location, head gasket, Cyl liners slipping and the cracked blocks, "All happen to me". Huge money pit!! I'm going to bite the bullet and do the 5.3 swap. Great video! Thanks for taking the time to do this. I couldn't imagine trying to film/document and reach some of those PITA bolts!
Ya the 5.3 swap is popular. I would rather keep a Rover Engine. Maybe a use engine. It would be simpler. We build race cars with a lot of mods. The mods don’t always work like you hope. Getting all the ECUs to work together sounds like a nightmare.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528what is the 5.3 swap?
I suspect the thermostat you removed was also aftermarket. It says "Motorad" which is company that makes many of the aftermarket thermostats today. Thanks for the video. I don't have a LR, but have been looking at them off an on for awhile.
Great video. I don’t have it in me to do this, I’m in the Chicagoland area and I’m sure bolts are going to snap. Sadly I’m mine is too far on the other side for me to complete the repairs myself. I’ll be cleaning it up, replacing a few things and listing it
For sale. Thanks for the video and explanation.
Thanks for the video, very helpful - especially the thermostat part at the end. Quick question: what size tires are on the Discovery? They look larger than the original size.
Thank you for the comment. Im glad you found it helpful. The tire size it 265/60 R18. This size will fit on the rear spare holder with out modification. It dose rub a little at full lock up front.
Thanks for the info and video!!! Outstanding!!!
A guy who worked on a lot of these said most of the time it was a leak from the intake manifold gasket. I wonder if that's what happened here since no pistons were clean.
Yes could have been.
I'll be doing this soon. I've noticed in other videos no one is doing oil pump or chain. What are your thoughts? I also noticed that some of my manifolds have 3 gaskets!! My one side sounds like a diesel! But I do have a crack in one of my secondary air pipes.
Thank you for your comment. I guess the factory use the gaskets to adjust for the imperfection in manifold casting. I found a used secondary air pipe on ebay. The 03 was know for problems with oil pumps. The o4 like mine was good so I did not take it apart.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 yes I have an 03. I don't have a head gasket issue but I do have manifold noise and valve cover gaskets to do. I have zero history on this vehicle so I thought I may as well go big or go home. I'd like to keep it now that I'm invested. Thanks!
I did the unthinkable and did an antifreeze flush and replace at JiffyLube they didn't bleed the air and it's winter we'll I have white smoke out the exhaust and have a low reservoir. Just topped it bled it and still white smoke but no overheat now. But I noticed the temp gage went above mid way so I knew there was an issue. So checked and let them know but they blew me off. So planning this job in the Spring. Will keep topping til then.
I'm glad for ur vid as I have the 2ndary air.
Thank you for the comment. Sounds like the head gasket is blown. I would not rely on the factory temp gage. By the time it reads hot you may have all ready damage the engine. These engines are very sensitive to being over heated. I would recommend buying an Ultra Gage to keep a close eye on the temperature.
@unclewaynescarworld7528 yeah and I just learned of the inline thermostat. Did a thermostat replacement last January and waterpump. And also alternator. Which found out the bracket was broken at one of the corners that holds the bolt. If you have a brand to recommend please do.
@unclewaynescarworld7528 quick question I Use the Torque app to read temps is that similar to the ultragauge? Or do I need to have a direct wire to the inline thermostat to the ultragauge? Just wanna make sure I dont rely on false info.
Forgot to add I put a temp liquid glass product in which stopped rhe smoke for 2 days and didn't hold. So looks to be a daily addition of distilled water or flush the system and use Titans polymer sealant until I can get to the repair. I ordered Atlantic British's kit.
Any idea what the final cost was for the head gasket rebuild?
Thank you for you comment. Not sure. I think it was about $1,000. With new sensors, coil packs and plug wires. Just gaskets and ARP studs was about $500. I did not need any machine shop work done on the heads. You can find most of the items you need on line at Atlantic British or Lucky 8
What bolt was that to drain the coolant?
I think its the water pump bolt that is 13mm head. It is shown in the Atlantic British head gasket video 1.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 thank you.
And I think that’s a ASE thing, I noticed the bigger bold on mat cars is the drain bolt, the Cherokee and several others. Thank you.
I have to do the same job on mine , is it even worth it ?
Thanks for the comment. I guess it depends on the condition of your Disco. The parts are not real expensive so if you don’t need any machine work it’s probably worth it.
@@unclewaynescarworld7528 I sold it , every last one of them the head gasket pop at around 80k miles and it’s $7200 for a rebuilt motor just not worry to me , good luck with it . I lost $10k
😢 ░p░r░o░m░o░s░m░
What?