2002 V8 Disco 80,000km Oil Leak, Coolant Leak and slight ping from engine

[CJT]

Morning,

I have just purchased my 2002 Discovery with everything being nice and fresh with the engine degreased. I picked it up with 79,000km on it and have travelled 1,500km over the last week and a half for work.

What should the temperature guage on a discovery read, mine constantly sits mid way on the guage and gets to this after about 30sec - 1min of driving.

I have also noticed the following:

Coolant cap was not tight letting coolant vent out when hot, I lost most of the reserve tank of coolant after picking it up from the dealer. Topped up tank.

Appears to be coolant leak near throttle body.

Possible coolant leak passenger side head gasket.

Topped up tank with aprox. 500ml coolant in last 1000km.

Possible oil leak passenger side head gasket.

Slight pinging sound under acceleration, does not seem concerning.

I am using minimum 95 Octane BP or Caltex fuel with majority of fuel being 98 Octane unless not available.

Should I being seeing these kind of leaks on a V8 with only 80,000km. To me it would appear to need gaskets replaced, but I will find out next week.

Getting it serviced and checked over next Monday, luckily it is covered by a 3 month, 5000km statutory warranty and I have a further 12 month, 20,000km warranty after that.

Cheers,

CJT

[CJT]

Further to above, the temperature guage has not gone above half way that I know of and no warning lights of any kind have shown.

[ozscott]

Coolant leak around throttle body is normal after some ks...it usually just needs some sealer. I bought a new one after reading some comments on here, pulled the old one off and it wasnt stuffed, just the gasket.

They can develop some head gasket leaks.

The dont usually ping, unless crappy fuel or unusual conditions. If they do ping then the knock sensor steps in pretty quickly to adjust the timing to stop it. Try to use premium 98 always if you can.

They, like most modern cars, dont have a temp guage that represents the actual temp. The mid way is normal, but represents from about 60 degrees to 100 degrees....if you want accuracy get a scanguage III and connect it up.

Otherwise once you get the leaks fixed you should be good for a while.

Cheers

[CJT]

Ozscott,

Thanks for the info.

I do always try and run the 98 Octane, gets a little difficult in regional areas to find sometimes.

Cheers,

CJT

[Ferret]

Should I being seeing these kind of leaks on a V8 with only 80,000km. To me it would appear to need gaskets replaced, but I will find out next week.

Getting it serviced and checked over next Monday, luckily it is covered by a 3 month, 5000km statutory warranty and I have a further 12 month, 20,000km warranty after that.


Head gasket leaks in a V8 appear to be associated with over heating. I have just been down that path in the last couple of months. At no stage did the temperature gauge show anything above normal but both head gaskets developed tiny leaks at the back of the engine where they are very difficult to see.

Fixing the problem amounts to not just addressing the head gaskets themselves, your cooling system is probably RS. When removed, my old radiator weighed several kg heavier than a new radiator, ie it was full of gunk yet coolant fluid was crystal clear pink. Age is the governing factor here, not kms travelled. My Landy mechanic told me radiators only have a life of about 6 years and swears the pink OAT coolant LR recommends is evil.

Make sure the radiator is checked out under warranty if you confirm the head gaskets have gone.