Scott_Argyll

Many thanks for the advice guys, I think i will have to attempt it this time as i could not afford the garage labour, to be fair my mechanic will work for cash so will do it for 20% cheaper than his normal rates which arent that high to start with but is still more than i have. could some one help me with a parts list, if my understanding is right I will need a new set of bolts, head gasket (which size?) I use Christian Autos in Bristol who are brilliant. Also how much of the engine will i need to remove to get the head off? and will the head need pressure testing if it has not failed through over heating?

My time as a discovery owner has not been a good one, after one head gasket failer caused the engine (300TDi) to seize I had it replaced with one from ebay. The replacement seemed to be a good engine it ran really well, pulled well and had no problems with burning oil or problems with using water, at the time of having the engine fitted I also had a new timing belt fitted and as it took time to save up for the new engine it had a new battery, after the engine was fitted it then needed an MOT, with it being of the road for nearly a year I thought it would not needed much doing to it, how wrong was I? To cut a long story short it has now cost me £1500 to get it back on the road after not being able to use it for 12 months. Our first thought was to flog it but instead decided to use it for a road trip to belgium, this went without hitch doing around 800 miles until 60 miles from home when is started to sound like an air cooled VW. we pressed on home at a slower speed. The following morning started up the engine again only to see exhust gases coming out of the bulkhead \ drivers side of the engine. I am reallyannoyed of as we have now spent more than the car is worth. Has anyone come across this, to me it sounds like head gasket but there is no sign of water loss or presurisation. I would seriuosly appriciate any help.

Carrying on from my "it nearly lives thread" I thought i would give an update. I have just spoken to my mechanic (who's have a well deserved extra day off today) and he said he has had one or two problems but the engine is now in the bay. The minor problems he has had so far has been due to the current engine being from a 97 and the replacement engine being from a 96 (allegedy). 1) The starter motor was different having four wires on the 96 and two on the 97. 2) Fuel pump - Mechanical on the 96 and electronic on the 97 3) Trouble mating the engine to the gear box so swapped the flywheel over. Hopefully it will be up and running tomorrow afternoon

Really sound bloke on the phone and the wife is going to pick the parts up this afternoon. Top man deffo my new landy parts supplier!

I went down the second hand engine route as rebuilding the engine was beyond my means and I had a quote of £800 (including new head) to have the top rebuilt again and I also had no idea what other damage was done from it seizing, thee was oil in the water in the expansion tank and it was suggested that one of the cylinders could have had been damaged explaining the un explaned coolent loss, like I said it was doing some funny things with getting hot. It is a risk with the engine but hopefully it will done all in for £800 with a lot lower mileage engine. If it does turn out to not be a very good engine i will be seeking to get my money back from the seller, there will also be an Disco that I will be breaking up Les I wish I had your mechanical ability and knowledge, it would save me a few hundered quid over the years!

Thanks for the tips Jim, I will be looking out for a tranlucent expansion tank, I always thought it was bloody stupid having a black one thats difficult to see inside I might as well get a P-gasket when I pick up the cambelt kit. My other car is a Nissan Primera and the thing is brilliant for reliability, thats why I thought I would try a shogun out for a few months, it was good for a lot of things but both my wife and thought it was rubish to drive compaired to the Disco. I have some tools and will give most things ago, I will be stripping as much of the engine as I can this weekend prior to it going to the garage on Monday, its going to cost at least £300 to have the old engine taken out and the new one plumbed in, that was before I asked for the cambelt to be done.

I had a standard one the other week to pick up a trailer, on a run from Bristol to Wakefield managed 30 mpg driving at around the motorway speedlimit +/- 10% it soon dropped to 29 when I was in a rush the next day, on towing the trailer back to Bristol it had dropped to 27, which is still not to bad.

Hi all, have not posted much on here but have been lurking for ages sucking up the knoledge. I bought a R reg disco last June from my Uncle that he had had for a while, my Wife had always said that if he came to get rid of it she would like to have it! Well to cut a long story short a bought the car knowing that it would need a new Clutch so I got that done straight away, the first mistake I made was I took it to Mr Clutch (Never ever again) they bodged it. I also new that it had had the head gasket done recently as well, the engine was on 168K and unfortunatly is still had some overheating problems and used water, after doing some digging around I had a look at the radiator to find it completly knackard with vary few fins on it. So I fitted a new radiator but the damage was already done. After another trip back to MR clutch the disco overheated for the last time and seized. It has now been stuck outside my house since last December while we have tried to save up for a new engine. The time has now come and I bought an engine of Ebay - 100K on clock (dodgy I know) and it is being fitted next week. I am having the cambelt done and of course all new filters, I also need to get at least two of the door locks done. So once the new engine is plumbed in we should be good to go again, but then that nagging feeling is going to come back about what is going to go wrong next, I did for a couple of months have a 3L V6 shogun which was older than the Disco but you could never tell and it was a joy to drive it not thinking that it was going to break down, the only thing that did let it down was that it did not drive as nice as the disco.

Testing these guys out today, seem really helpful on the phone and prices seem really good too.