2001 LR Discovery Rehab Plan

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I've recently acquired an orphaned LR Disco2 SE. Head gasket and water pump were both leaking coolant. Fortunately, it was not overheating, so the plan is to rehabilitate the English lass in time for hunting season.

Heads are off and are being Cleaned and checked. Parts are on the way and will be here before the weekend. Will be replacing: Head gaskets, and all the gasket north required. Valve seals, Water pump, timing set, Ignition wires, Thermostat, Coolant flush, Oil change. Pan will come off and cleaned when the timing set is changed.

So as for oil, I want to do a quick change following the work, so I bought a jug of Supertech 10w-40 for cheap, and a Fram filter to go with it. Will likely run a quart of MMO with the 10w-40 to reach 6 qt volume. The engine is fairly heavily varnished. How long would you run this Oil?

A) Start engine and run till warmed up, then dump
B) Drive around for 20-30 mins then drain
B) A full tank of fuel worth of easy driving
C) 1K
D) 3K

I have M1 10w-40 HM on hand which will be the next fill with a Mahle filter.
 
Thank you for answering the question that I did not ask. I figured the MMO would garnish side comments. I have it on hand and jugs are 5qts, and 6qts are required for a drain and fill with filter.

I have no idea how long the current fill has been in use, or what it is. I'll try to post pics of the uncleaned rocker arm assemblies and push rods in the next day or so. Heavy varnish but no chunks of sludge under valve covers. Engine has seen some neglect.
 
i'd idlee it for ten minutes with mmo then drain/fill, then go with one tankful of easy driving (ideally on hdeo) then drain/fill, and probably a couple of 1000 mile changes after that just to make sure.
ymmv
 
Manual states 5w-30, 5w-40, and 10w-40 are acceptable depending on ambient temps.

IMG_0694.jpg


IMG_0693.jpg
 
Just use the 10w40, it's correct for your engine, run it for a while until you're sure that you've done the job right and then change it out for the right oil for your ambient temps as stated in the manual.

MMO will likely not shift the varnish/deposits you have in one go anyway, just let the oil do it gently over time with the shortened OCI's that I imagine you will be doing.
 
You're a brave man taking on this vehicle. I knew someone who had a Discovery SE. Not sure what year, but I think it was a Discovery I, which had a 4.0 l V8 engine. It was nothing but trouble. It was particularly good at leaking oil. It also burned a shocking amount of premium gas, especially considering how little power the engine produced.

Good luck. Please continue to post updates.
 
Forget the naysayers as far as the mmo is concerned. I've used it in new to me vehicles that had visible deposits and in 3000 miles there was a significant clean up.
Remember that the solvents in the mmo will flash off fairly fast,within 1000 miles so there is no harm running it an entire interval.
If you are thinking of doing a 10 minute idle type flush and then changing the oil I suggest using something stronger than mmo.
Have you considered rislone for the entire interval.
The fact that molekule has recommended its use in engines with heavy deposits tells me all I need to know and I'll always have mmo on hand but my new "go to" product for deposits will be rislone based on his recommendation of the product.
Your a brave man resurrecting that vehicle. I wish you the best in your quest.
 
I'd do 3k and monitor oil level every fill up which will probably be around 200-250 miles. I loved my Disco Ii but she succumbed to overheating. They are fairly easy to work on though, and are very basic. I usually ran Rotella T year round. 4k oil change interval.
 
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Got the pan cleaned out today. About 3/8" of sludge/tar in the bottom of the sump.

I picked up two gallons of delvac 15w40. And I have rislone conc on hand! ;-)

So thinking idle till warm plus ten minutes with supertech/MMO blend.

Drain and change filter. Fill with delvac and rislone. Run for ~500 miles.

Drain, change filter, and add jug of M1 HM 10w40 and a quart of delvac for six quarts. Leaves me a quart of delvac for make up oil. Will run that for 2-3k.

I seem to move from project to project. This one is pretty ambitious. Previous rehabs were neglected 2000 miata, 93 legacy, and a 2001 Boxster. Always learn something along the way. Probably not the most financially astute hobby to have though.

Timing set is pretty loose on the disco, so glad we're doing that. The lass is in quite a few pieces now. Hopefully things start going back together soon. Dove season opens in just a few weeks around these parts...
 
Marvel, Rislone... can see used for the entire oil run interval.

After the repairs, I'd start it with nothing but motor oil. If no leaks and all sounds well, shut it down for cool off. Add a 5-10 minute flush product following its directions, then change the oil/filter with the 40 grade with marvel or rislone.

Marvel isn't a fast flush.
 
As far as the MMO goes, Warm up plus ten isn't going to get a bunch of cleaning done, I know that. I might get some started, maybe not. It will cut my 10w-40 to a 30 grade oil, in hopes that my filter bypass lets the filter do it's job as quickly as possible.

I could have bought six quarts of 5w-30, but I had the MMO on hand and Supertech comes in 5 quart jugs. I need six quarts and wanted to run the thinnest oil the engine is rated to run for the first short rinse. Mainly to limit the filter bypass exposure if possible. Probably over thinking this too much. It seemed like an easy solution when I was standing in the oil isle, at least.
 
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Timing set swapped out tonight. Oil pump, front cover and water pump all back together. Slow going, pick up and pan back on next then back to the topside..
 
Shiny new water pump (and front engine cover) in place:

IMG_0698.JPG


Should have gotten a pic of the before and after of the timing set. New set is much better fit than the worn original.
 
C.
Nothing will happen in less than 1K, which would be 25 or so hours of typical driving, at least for me.
Those pushrods and rockers do look pretty toasty, but you've cleaned out the pan and the heads, and any residual deposits are what oil filters are for.
Good luck with this beast, along with its old GM alloy engine.
You are a braver man than I.
 
GM engine?

By 2001 the engine had been modified and improved over the original 3.5 Buick engine that the rights were bought.

We used the 3.5 version with carbs on the Ambulances in London from the 80s till 2011.

And they are now being used in Cuba and Mongolia.

From memory they ran our 3.5's on Castrol GTX 15w40 with 6week or 3000 mile oci.

I only remember a couple that had top end wear and none that blew a HG.

The 4.0 is still a fine engine.

But to call it a GM engine is a bit far from the truth.

As i have already said it was substantially modified and improved over the 40 odd years of production.

Hope you enjoy bringing your Disco back to find fettle.

I wonder how many other vehicles would have survived such abuse.

If i ever go for a Disco 2 it would hopefully be with the V8.

What ownership of a diesel Pathfinder has taught me is that diesel isn't always a money saver as far as fuel use goes.

Mine does 22/23mpg (UK) overall and i suspect a Disco V8 would give 17/18mpg with the option to go for LPG or maybe even CNG.

Hopefully the OP will give us some pictures of the rest of the vehicle at some point.
 
Regardless of improvements it is a GM (Buick) designed engine.The joke is that GM produced more in 3 years than Rover did in 35. A lot of the improvement (emissions & performance) was done while BMW was running the shop.

The AJ-v8 that replaced is a huge improvement.
 
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Oil pan is back on. Gasket moved first time we put it in place, had ALL the fn bolts in place and started to torque before we saw it. Major downer. A couple of those bolts are a pita. Dan pushed through and got it after many unmentionable phrases.

There seems to be two types of valve stem seals. But I don't have an equal number of each in the kit. Some have an insert inside the seal, some don't. Need to call Atlantic British in the morning and get sorted what's what and which goes where. One of the ones with the insert looks off.
 
Oh, and I promise full vehicle pics when she's running again. I'll try to get some of the heads going on too.
 
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