Head gasket time

[DownUnder]

2001 D2 117,000 miles and head gasket is now leaking. It's a small leak on the drivers side head gasket, it is dripping down onto the cat. I knew this day would come:ack:

I am going to take this job on myself. So I am going to start searching threads and doing my homework.

Any advice would be great. Thanks.atriot:

 

[hayleyspop]

I consider myself to be relatively novice when it comes to major work like this, but I actually managed to pull it off with relative ease. Took lotsa' pictures and a bit more time tha I probably needed to, but.. I also wanted to clean everything during the process as well. I also took lots of "before" pics as well You can do this and you'll save yourself a pretty nice chunk of change as well. I did it without the In Search Of The Experience DVD as well.

If ya' need any help, gimme' a shout. I think, inlcuding the machine shop work, I was into it...maybe $450-$550 at the very worst. I did my share of searching for deals, too.

This IS something you can do yourself, so you know. Mine is a '95 Disco 1

- Ken

 

[DownUnder]

Thank you for your response.

I am in no financial position to pay a shop so I have to do it myself. I will take your advice on taking pics and plan on taking my time and labeling all the nuts and bolts.


This should be fun, I just hope I can get this right the first time.

 

[ukoffroad]

Zip lock bags and a sharpie, take lots of pics. Get a torque wrench. Clean it up with degreaser if you can before you dig in, makes disassembly less messy.

 

[carlosz]

are you sure it is a head gasket and not valley pan gasket which has failed?, I would get a mirror and a flash light and lay on top of engine to verify before dropping an extra 300.00 on head work at machine shop.
once removed, it is highly reccomended for the heads to be resurfaced, it is much more common to find a leaking valley pan before leaking head gaskets. besides a head gsket leaking water would have enough compresion blow by to cause other isuues such as oil leak, combustion gas contamination of cooling system, noises, misfires cooling issues etc.

 

[Tugela]

This will get you started.

http://discoweb.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67575

 

[DownUnder]

Awesome thanks for the writeup Tugela.

 

[jhk07]

I drove mine for 18 months with a "small" HG leak. Not that I advise it, just saying.

 

[antichrist]

If you're using head bolts (as opposed to studs) I suggest a beam type torque wrench and a torque angle meter
http://www.tooltopia.com/lisle-28100.aspx
With the click type wrenches it's real easy to add a bit more torque when it "breaks" at the torque setting.

 

[singingcamel]

I bet its your valley gasket , usually if you see anti freeze its the valley gasket and it lets loose at the intake seal.
Youmay not need a head gasket.

 

[DownUnder]

I bet its your valley gasket , usually if you see anti freeze its the valley gasket and it lets loose at the intake seal.
Youmay not need a head gasket.

I will look into it better and take some pics to post here. All great advice.atriot:

 

[pdogg]

I drove mine for 18 months with a "small" HG leak. Not that I advise it, just saying.

mine's still seeping too... been about 2 years... I just top off the coolant every 3 weeks or so..

 

[DownUnder]

Here is a photo of the leak area. http://i906.photobucket.com/albums/ac263/VonBerg77/IMG_4172.jpg

 

[Tugela]

Am I crazy or does it look like those exhaust manifold gaskets are on backwards/upside down? Apologies for the thread drift, that wasn't part of the original question.

 

[carlosz]

Am I crazy or does it look like those exhaust manifold gaskets are on backwards/upside down? Apologies for the thread drift, that wasn't part of the original question.

picture has been taken from under motor, drivers side rear of engine.

down under,
I would do a coolant pressure test to verify, but the trail seems to indicate valley pan gasket leak.

 

[DownUnder]

okay i will do that, thanks