Disco Inferno - Further Disassembly 

"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori) 03/08/2018 at 11:02 • Filed to: Disco Inferno

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Ok, now the Land Rover is actually officially as disassembled as it is going to be. No more.

Probably.

(Sorry this post will be light on photos, mostly because I forgot to take them)

Summary so far

As I mentioned previously, my 2001 Land Rover Discovery II needed new head gaskets and after getting a hilariously high quote from the local specialist, I decided to go it on my own.

While the diassembly to get the the heads was pretty comprehensive, it was mostly straightforward and well trodden.

Not so with the front timing cover that !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (I don’t blame you) convinced me to do while I already had the thing disassembled. The tl;dr there is the timing chain cover is actually part of the water jacket and replacing the water pump can sometimes disturb the timing chain seal and cause a water-to-oil leak.

Thanks Land Rover.

Down the rabbit hole we go

Removing the timing chain cover looks straightforward at first, but it quickly snowballs. You have to drain the oil, drop the oil pan, and remove all the oil cooler lines, water pump, oil filter, cross brace, and crank pulley.

The oil pain, again, seemed staightforward but really wasn’t. The bolts were dirty and well hidden and the instructions unclear.

Example: The Land Rover official repair manual instructs you to:

What it actually means is remove two bolts in back and four in front. You see both sides of that interface have 4+ bolts on them and it is not readily apparent which hold on the oil pan. When Land Rover says “forward facing bolts” they mean the bolt head is pointed at the back of the car and the threads/ shaft of the bolt point forward.

This is mostly apparent if you study the diagram.

Mostly.

My helper was not studying the diagram. He was under the damn car doing work.

So yeah, this bastard bolt took us almost an hour to find the right collection of sockets, extensions, u-joints, and breaker bars to get enough purchase to break... only to realize it wasn’t one of the ones that needed to come out.

Spiffy.

Accoding the the manual and the internet, the crank pulley should almost fall off at this point.

It did not.

No ammount of prying, pleading, shouting, or crying produced any result.

Defeated, I called around and found an AutoZone with the correct puller in stock for rental, drove over in my rental chariot (another story), and rented a 7" puller.

Which didn’t fit.

Back to AutoZone for the smaller puller.

Also didn’t fit, but less so than the other.

I managed to get one hook around the pulley and braced against the crank. Right before the pulley came off I noticed part of the puller was now firmly embedded into my radiator.

Ok well. The pulley eventually came off and the radiator is holding water for the moment, so we’re going to gloss over that.

Job done, we moved on to the front timing cover, which contains nine bolts, all of them caked in grease and grime and some of them having already been removed when I took the water pump off. We got them all off and... nothing. Wouldn’t budge.

We poked, prodded, pleaded, and pried some more to no avail.

Eventually the internet returned a take of woe from some poor sap having the same issue as me. Turns out there is a bolt well hidden under a clamp that while it looks non-functional, it is actually part of the nine or ten or whatever bolts.

That one off, the timing cover finally came off.

It was filthy, but it was mine.

The timing chain has more slack than I’d like, but it should last another 100k. So unless I can find one locally I am going to call it. (Also it has since been pointed out that the other side’s tension is what matters here.... so I am going to check that at lunch.)

Responsible? NO!

Do I care?

...

... a little.

Up Next

Finally we can begin to re-assemble. The timing cover gasket isn’t coming off without a fight, so I’ve got some work ahead of me teasing that off the soft aluminum. After that it I’ll pre-attach the water pump to the timing cover and then start undoing everything we just did.

The hope is to get the timing chain cover and oil pan buttoned back up tonight (Thursday) and start on the head re-assembly this weekend.

random001 > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:10

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I love these threads the most. I have no project car right now, nothing to tear into. I miss my zen, but this is a little taste for me.

LOREM IPSUM > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:25

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Out of curiosity, which engine did that gen Disco get?

Also, I saw a seemingly brand new Disco yesterday. Really nice looking. I wondered how much it might have cost it’s owner. Guessing well over a hundred grand, I pulled along side it and went to admire the factory wheels. The curb damage was sadly impressive. Those wheels probably cost more than my entire car, and the owner was doing their best to grind them back into dust. Poor thing is capable of traversing some of the most rugged terrain on the planet, and some rich dingus will end up killing it without ever leaving the pavement.

benjrblant > LOREM IPSUM 03/08/2018 at 11:26

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D1's got the 3.9 and D2's got the 4.0, at least in the USA IIRC.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > LOREM IPSUM 03/08/2018 at 11:38

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Benjrblant is mostly right. This one is a ‘01 D2 which got the 4.0L Rover V8. In 2003 and 2004 they were upgraded to the 4.6L Rover V8.

Despite its size, equipment, and offroad prowess the Discovery was (is?) Land Rover’s entry level model. I think mine was only $40k new (not that I bought it new) and the depreciation is insane. Looks like new ones MSRP for around $50k, so not too bad.

I actually don’t like the newer ones. The LR3 and LR4 (they dropped the “Discovery” name for two generations) are pretty cool but the current gen looks like everything else on the road to me. Seems like the accountants got a hold of the design and smoothed out all the bumps.

Urambo Tauro > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:40

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That timing chain has about as much slack as my truck did at 290k.

You probably don’t want to hear how cheap & readily available a double-roller upgrade is for a SBC. :)

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > benjrblant 03/08/2018 at 11:43

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3.9 was only 95 and earlier, after that was 4.0

benjrblant > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:44

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In my opinion, the D1 and D2 along with the RRC are some of the best looking SUV’s ever produced. They always get me right in the feels. I’m glad you own one and I can read about it because just about all of your Disco posts remind me why I didn’t get one! (=

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:45

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Be careful putting the timing cover back on. The oil pump gear inside needs to line up with the woodruff key on the crank. Don’t hesitate to put a very thin costing if sealant on the gasket too, same goes for oil pan.

Textured Soy Protein > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 11:51

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Obligatory:

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > Textured Soy Protein 03/08/2018 at 11:59

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adamftw > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/08/2018 at 12:02

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Hylomar! The Rover gasket maker of choice.

adamftw > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 12:03

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Nice going so far. Luckily D2 radiators are cheaper than the D1 ones are, I think.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/08/2018 at 12:03

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Thanks! What sealant would you recommend for the cover? I’ve got Permatex 22071 (Waterpump and thermostat housing) and the black stuff. Was planning on using black on the oil pan as recommended by the manual. Was thinking of putting a thin skim of the 22071 on the cover, but wasn’t sure.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > adamftw 03/08/2018 at 12:42

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Yeah I’ve heard the D1 ones are bonkers. D2 ones are pretty reasonable but I’m holding out hope i just damaged the fins.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > adamftw 03/08/2018 at 13:17

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If you can find it!

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 13:19

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You’re probably fine with those. As someone else said, hylomar is a popular choice, especially for around the coolant jackets at the ends of the head gaskets. Copper spray a gasket works well too.

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 03/08/2018 at 13:53

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Oh interesting. I have the Permatex equivalent, 85420, as well. Would that work better? 

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/08/2018 at 14:38

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I haven’t used the permatex version. But I’m sure what you’ve got is fine. The gasket will do 99% of the work, the sealant just takes up surface inconsistencies.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo 03/09/2018 at 09:31

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your electrical system just heard you and said “hold my beer”

Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo > pip bip - choose Corrour 03/09/2018 at 09:40

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Right? In one of my “wait what was I doing” moments I was gazing into the engine bay at the wiring harness and all the sensor connections and could only think “this thing is going to throw so many codes if we get it started...”