Thread: Recently Purchased 1999 TD5 Disco Suspected Head Gasket Problem

not all that much to it.

theres a few threads in here that make it look so easy its not worthy of having a for dummies book considered.


research the tooling first, research the process once you have that sorted ask questions on the way and have at it.

jeep have their "thing"

thus is the landrover ethos.

Hi there BrJen!
I was in a similar position to you, I bought a 110 in Vic and cooked it driving back to QLD from coolant leak. Financially at the time if anything stopped me from getting it home I would have had to leave it on the sid

Originally Posted by squizzyhunter

Hi there BrJen!
I was in a similar position to you, I bought a 110 in Vic and cooked it driving back to QLD from coolant leak. Financially at the time if anything stopped me from getting it home I would have had to leave it on the sid

Bugger... Accidentally hit send on small phone.
... Would have to have abandon it on the Hume. Nursed it home and after a few days of denial, toppling up fluid and hoping it was a mystical cooling issue faced up and had a crack at it. I had nothing to lose as couldn't afford to get it done at a shop.
The threads on here are absolute gold, I had never touched a Diesel engine before and had only really tinkered with motorbikes growing up. The expertise on this sight was invaluable for a noob like me getting my head around what was involved with step by step threads on how to do it (tdi and Td5). Listen to anything old mate above (BlkNight) has to say as it will save much heartache and time. It took me as a complete noob a day and a half (prob only half a day if you are reasonably competent mechanically). Download the rave manuals and follow the how to threads and you will save thousands and have the piece of mind of knowing how to do it. Unfortunately I had warped the head so needed to change that also which I was lucky to find a second hand one here with a bit of life left in it So in essence it cost a noob like me a few nights of reading,a spare weekend and just over $200 for head bolts, gasket ect. ( a couple of hundred for old head also). In hind sight a year later I am glad it happened like that as before this that sort of job was the black arts as far as I was concerned at the time and well above what I felt I could manage, after doing it you realise there isnt that much too it if you follow all the info and all the help here. I was also much more confident driving the old girl with a little more mechanical knowledge, which I suppose is inevitable owning old 110 really :-).

Have a crack at it, worst case scenario you waste a Saturday. But more likely you will save thousands and gain valuable knowledge that is worth more that a few grand.
Good luck mate

215K's isn't bad out of a plastic dowelled motor, or so I was told. Mine was done at 240, under a warranty which I was truly grateful I had paid for. The local LR guy charged 3.5K, but that was obviously inflated to the warranty underwriter.
Thing is though, there was nothing whatsoever wrong with the rest of the engine, and it has been great ever since.

If I were you, I'd do the fuel cooler while you are at it, and definitely do the exhaust manifold mod as well. There are a few threads here about that, and, as usual, varying opinions,
but I would definitely do the research, and get the head guy to replace all the exhaust manifold studs, and get the manifold ceramic coated.
Costs around 100 bucks and can save many dramas from warping manifolds snapping studs, which is a serious PITA
.
I say I was lucky to have the warranty, but in a way I wasn't, 'cos it's not really that hard a job to do, and you stand to learn a great deal.

Before you start ripping a head off, have your radiator checked, it may need rodding if partially blocked. This is common, drive around home or town with no heating problem, get out on hwy. for extended run and it overheats.
If it is the radiator, putting a new head gasket on is not going to solve the problem, Regards Frank.