Thread: An i was only just saying to myself how good the D2 is running

Core plug on the back of the head?

First rule of Disco running well club... Never talk about Disco running well!

Fingers crossed it's something simple for you!

It's a head gasket leak.

Funnily, it's weeping from the front corner on the drivers side bank, and the back corner of the passenger side bank.

Nothing going into the engine, just leaking externally.

And only very slightly. Looks a lot worse than it really is.

But, none the less it's a slight leak.

So looks like new head gaskets. $$$$

Or I try the quick fix and do a chemical seal treatment.

I've previously had a similar issue on a different car, and used the copper chemical treatment, where you flush out coolant, replace with water and the chemical treatment and drive for 1000kms. Then flush and put coolant back in.

The other car I did that on was my 3.5 ranger rover. It leaked like this at 85k after standing still for a year. Did the treatment. Never leaked again andi put almost 140k on it before I sold it.

Anyone else tried similar?

Originally Posted by xaymaca

First rule of Disco running well club... Never talk about Disco running well!

Fingers crossed it's something simple for you!

Second rule is when it is running well, enjoy the time and always remind yourself what it was like.

Mine always runs the best just prior to needing some TLC! In fact I start to get concerned when it is running too good. 😀

Sorry, I didn't look at your sig to see it was a v8. On the positive side, you at least spotted the problem before it ended as a roasted engine by the side of the highway.

B

Wouldn't it be good practice at this point to have your heads checked and possibly machined instead of just doing a gasket change?
I assume there must be some slight warping to allow it to leak.

I had this same problem with my RRC 3.9.
I had the heads shaved and fitted composite gaskets but the problem came back.
I was told by TRS that the Ehlring gaskets" are good for holding compression, but not water"
I bought expensive gaskets from them and it fixed the leak problem along with ARP studs , but about a year ago ,after AFAIK about 60KK the gaskets failed.( the car had been sold and the buyer reported )

IMHO the problem is that the block relaxes over time and goes down at the ends. I recall a 3.5 I had many years ago had to be line bored because of that.
I would now do the chemical thing in hindsight.
Regards Philip A