WTB - Good engine for 2003-2004 Disco 2

User440

Member
Jan 24, 2015
13
0
St Louis
I have a blown head gasket on my 2004 Discovery.

Looking for a good engine for a 2003-2004 Discovery 2 within a reasonable drive (or reasonable shipping) to St. Louis, MO. PM or reply to this post.
 

squirt

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2008
824
13
Los Angeles
Change engine for blown HG's? Seems like the wrong fix, unless there was some other issue with the engine.

Might as well plan on doing the HG job on the new engine before installation if it hasn't been done recently.
 

User440

Member
Jan 24, 2015
13
0
St Louis
Yes, the current engine has a blown head gasket as the only issue. Just looking at options to save money/time.
 

Tugela

Well-known member
May 21, 2007
4,754
562
Seattle
Yes, the current engine has a blown head gasket as the only issue. Just looking at options to save money/time.

This won't save you money, but it will save you time: take the $1,000 or so it will cost you for a new engine shipped to your door, plus whatever other money you plan to spend on the removal and replacement of the current engine, and drop the cash into an empty coffee can. Sprinkle lightly with gasoline, light a match, and voila! You get the same result, but it takes only seconds, it saves you the bloody knuckles and frustration, and it's lots more fun.

Or you can buy the head gasket replacement kit from Will Tillery as referenced above, download the RAVE technical manual for free, tap into Discoweb's wealth of knowledge and experience of people who will be happy to help you through the project, and replace your head gaskets yourself for a fraction of the price and less time than replacing the entire engine.

It's like a rite of passage of Discovery ownership. It's a big project for first timers, but it's not hard. Less committing and easier to do than an engine swap.
 

User440

Member
Jan 24, 2015
13
0
St Louis
Alrighty folks. I've done head gaskets on much simpler engines (8V VW GTI and a 78 CJ5 I6) but this will obviously be more involved. I was guessing two full weekends, but need to go back and read the reference material again. Thanks for the links and references above. I've only called one shop but their quote was $3,500 which seems downright wacky. I guess I just need to nut-up and do it.

Thanks again.
Mike
 

squirt

Well-known member
Nov 13, 2008
824
13
Los Angeles
Alrighty folks. I've done head gaskets on much simpler engines (8V VW GTI and a 78 CJ5 I6) but this will obviously be more involved. I was guessing two full weekends, but need to go back and read the reference material again. Thanks for the links and references above. I've only called one shop but their quote was $3,500 which seems downright wacky. I guess I just need to nut-up and do it.

Thanks again.
Mike


I understand your concern, but it's really not that difficult. These old V8's are dead simple. If you've done the job on the vehicles you mentioned, this won't be much of a jump for you. The headgasket job on your truck is really very straightforward. You don't need to mess with the cam timing, distributor replacement, or anything like that. As long as you can follow a torque sequence, there's nothing more challenging than that.

$3500 was a "go away" quote for the job.
 

JohnC

Well-known member
Dec 8, 2005
896
13
Tappan, NY
Alrighty folks. I've done head gaskets on much simpler engines (8V VW GTI and a 78 CJ5 I6) but this will obviously be more involved. I was guessing two full weekends, but need to go back and read the reference material again. Thanks for the links and references above. I've only called one shop but their quote was $3,500 which seems downright wacky. I guess I just need to nut-up and do it.

Thanks again.
Mike

$3,500 not so bad....

http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/9257DRL1K