My Mechanic Said...... - Land Rover Forums

jrover99 · #1 02-03-2012, 10:41 AM

I left the rover at my mechanic last night so he could have it first thing this morning. As I said in a previous post we suspected head gaskets, but according to the mechanic it is worse, Truck was misfiring first thing in the morning. He said the misfire was from cylinder #5. When he removed the cylinder there was water and oil and the cylinder wall was scatched. My husband and I are looking to sell the truck and were trying to get the check engine light off and fixed. Any ideas on what can be done?? My mechanic said he can put new plugs and see what happens. My mechanic seems like a pretty nice honest guy, but does not work on rovers that often. Rover is a 99 Disco with 175,000. miles on it and had a head gasket job at about $90,000. miles. Thanks as always for everyones advice.

Savannah Buzz · #2 02-03-2012, 11:04 AM

Engine light is unlikely to stay off for very many drive cycles if coolant is coming into a cylinder, new plugs or not. I would assume he removed the spark plug and looked into the cylinder. Could be head gaskets, but their leaks are more common on cylinders 1,2,7,8.

Depends on how DIY and adventurous you want to be. Head gasket kit of parts is about $300. But you could also have a cracked head or block. Used engine from a donor vehicle? www.statewidelist.com to search your state for what Discos are going for in running/non-running condition...

jrover99 · #3 02-03-2012, 11:20 AM

Just spoke to my husband #4 cylinder not #5. My husband gave him the go ahead to put new plugs, I am hoping a quick fix before I bring it to a dealer to trade in. We will see how it goes he is charging $205. for the job so I thought it might be worth the chance. Wish us luck.

drowssap · #4 02-03-2012, 11:21 AM

are you looking to sell the truck or tade it?
if your going to sell it you should fix it or it will come back to haunt you.
if your looking to trade it, have him put in hotter plugs and drive it directly to the dealer.

jrover99 · #5 02-03-2012, 11:23 AM

No I won't sell it to anyone and give them the headache the previous owner gave me, I just can't do that to someone. I will bring it to a big dealership and trade it in for something else..

drowssap · #6 02-03-2012, 12:22 PM

trade it on a rainy day;
the used car manager is ussually an older guy
and he wont want to get any wetter than he has too.

Disco Mike · #7 02-03-2012, 12:26 PM

First, don't put any more money or parts into it till you get a second option.
How did they determine the cylinder walls were scratched without removing the heads, find out and fold their feet to the fire for a very specific answer.
Then you might consider sending me your number so we can talk about it, cause something is way wrong and new plugs won't help it.

cdeuso · #8 02-03-2012, 05:04 PM

I'm glad to see you weren't planning on dumping it on someone else. That would be very cruel. Screw the dealers, though. I would take them for everything I could.

jrover99 · #9 02-03-2012, 07:51 PM

According to my husband they pulled the spark plug out on #6 (finally got the right #) and put a scope camera through there. My mechanic did not want to do any big job he has an auto repair business, but is not use to working on Rovers on a regular basis. I am looking to trade it in, I simply cannot afford to keep up with it. My son graduated from the Marines on 1/13 on the way there we blew a house that connects to the radiator, thermostat,resovoiur, heater core and water pump. That ended up costing us about $900. because the Land Rover dealer was 106 miles away and we had to be towed. The car was misfiring before the hose happened. The Rover does not run rough, it runs well it only was misfiring some mornings and it came and went lasted for a fraction of a second and then ran fine for the rest of the day. I just wanted to get it checked out with a mechanic now, cause we were planning on selling it, and had wanted to get the check engine light off and ready for selling. It cost me $200. today and my mechanic said if the light comes back on he will reset it before we go to the dealership. I will not sell it to anyone I would feel bad, let a dealership get it is my feeling.

Spike555 · #10 02-03-2012, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jrover99

According to my husband they pulled the spark plug out on #6 (finally got the right #) and put a scope camera through there. My mechanic did not want to do any big job he has an auto repair business, but is not use to working on Rovers on a regular basis. I am looking to trade it in, I simply cannot afford to keep up with it. My son graduated from the Marines on 1/13 on the way there we blew a house that connects to the radiator, thermostat,resovoiur, heater core and water pump. That ended up costing us about $900. because the Land Rover dealer was 106 miles away and we had to be towed. The car was misfiring before the hose happened. The Rover does not run rough, it runs well it only was misfiring some mornings and it came and went lasted for a fraction of a second and then ran fine for the rest of the day. I just wanted to get it checked out with a mechanic now, cause we were planning on selling it, and had wanted to get the check engine light off and ready for selling. It cost me $200. today and my mechanic said if the light comes back on he will reset it before we go to the dealership. I will not sell it to anyone I would feel bad, let a dealership get it is my feeling.

THIS is why these trucks are expensive to keep on the road, if you do NOT take it to the stealer for repairs and do most of the maintenance yourself you can save a TON of money.
Spark plugs are $15 for all 8, DIY, even if you know next to nothing is 2 hours, 1 hour if you are a average DIY'er.
Replacing all the coolant hoses...Land Rover Discovery II Hose Kit: Land Rover Parts & Accessories From Atlantic British and it takes a few hours.
Now had you been proactive you could have saved yourself the breakdown and tow.