I got a 97 Land Rover Disco SE7 with 146k on it and it was cutting out with me, so I took it to a local well known mechanic for a check out. He thinks the Rover has a Head Gasket leak and possibly into the cylinder wall? He is gonna quote me a price on it tomorrow for a fix, but suggested the truck may not be worth fixing. Any idea what a Head Gasket Leak fix would cost. The Rover runs well at times, but cuts out at other times it is what prompted me to take it to the shop. Thanks for your help.

 

I would start with removeing the heads and investigateing further. Cracks in the head or block would definitly give cause to let loose with this engine. Hopefully it is just a failing gasket. That sucks though, sorry for your problems. Probably runs better when it is cold. Once the aluminum heats and expands, the larger the gap which causes more leak. Head gaskets and bolts are not too expensive. Real easy to do also. But once a headgasket goes there are other potential bad spots that are created. Rod bearings, Crank bearings, Cam bearings ETC ETC... Definitly need to check everything out real well. Did the engine oil get contaminated with glycol? How bad, will determine your bearing condition.

 

Get an estimate from the mechanic. Think long and hard about how the truck was running before the leak became apparent. Think of any and all of the other issues the truck has. Weigh all of these know issues with the cost of the repair and you'll get a feel for whether it's worth it to fix. Sadly, the value of these trucks has gone so low that you can get a runner for under $2K. With that in mind it gets hard to justify $1000-1500 in repairs at a shop all the while knowing there are still other issues to be dealt with.

There are those that will throw all amounts of time and money at a truck just chasing their tails. Trust me, life is too short, you don't want to be one of those people.

 

I got this truck for a 4 wheel drive for winter time driving. I purchased it in Jan 2011 and it ran fine till June 2011 and it started to cut out one day. The strange thing it corrected itself and did it again this month Sept 2011. I thought it was just a bad fuel filter, because its like it fixes itself and runs fine, so I thought I had trash in the filter. The LR would cut out when you give it gas and would spit and sputter and not want to get around 10-20 mph. I was hoping it was minor, but apparently it appears to be major. I appreciate the advice and help. I am stunned that is the issue, because when I drove it to the shop it ran great. It appears to do the issue after it sits for a week and not drove very much on a cold engine and wish me luck. Thanks again..

 

I can tell you now, that if that mechanic was worth anything, he could tell you yes or no to the head gasket leaking. No need to guess if you have the tools. Ask him for evidence of a leaking head gasket by means of a compression test and leak down test.

 

Does this sound like a head gasket, its like the truck ran fine from June 1st issue till first of Sept. Strange deal, its like when it does it, I have no power and it spits and sputters, but when it runs it runs great. It has been doing it after it sits for a week or so, both times I noticed.....It has just done it twice and thats what motivated me to get it checked out before I got stranded..;-) I was thought it was a minor issue but oh well.

 

Two events in a summer of driving? Would not think that is HG.

If the mechanic does a lot of work on Rovers, that's one thing. If he just checks on them on some forum, he could have a very narrow view of the problem. There could be other gaskets involved, you have not mentioned anything about loss of coolant. The summer is a tough time on overheating, so I believe you are correct to wonder about that, and insist on an accurate set of tests.

You could have problems in other areas that could produce similar symtoms. Some of those may include:

cracked vac hoses, in particular one that drives the fuel pressure regulator, or fuel pump issues, fuel filter (there is a schrader valve on passenger side fuel rail, look for 32-34 PSI with truck running).

Vehicle Speed Sensor (on the transfer case) - one function is engine speed limiting, if it thinks you are at about 115 mph, it begins to turn of spark to one cylinder after another to slow you down. This can happen at low speeds with a bad sensor, and you might have a bad connection for that guy.

Other sensors, like TPS and IACV .

Head gaskets and bolts run about $300, 10 -12 hour labor - if needed. Also 200 to machine heads (if warped).

But I believe you are correct to question this because you have not had the other classic signs - overheating, coolant loss, smoke from tail pipe, steam cleaned spark plugs (remove to check). Mechanic can do a coolant pressure test and a cylinder leak downtest and there is a test for combustion gases in coolant (chemical test).

Do Rovers need head gaskets? Every day. But don't let it be a catch all one thing fixes everything.

 

primey...have you been losing any coolant ??....visable leaks , or vanishing from the reservoir ??

 

I had been losing power steering fluid is all I noticed, the other fluids seemed like they were staying up to par. He said it was low on Anti-Freeze, the odd thing it never showed it was running hot on the gauge at any time. Thanks for your help.

 

OK - coolant = antifreeze with water inside radiator. Normal coolant level is seam line inside the coolant overflow tank. So that tank not being "full" is not a problem. Now if he used a coolant tester, which checks the specific gravity of the liquid inside the cooling system, the number of ***** floating or the deflection of the pointer will indicate the concentration of the antifreeze to the coolant. Rather than just topping off, suggest you drain, flsuh and refill with 50/50 mix of green or yellow coolant - but stay away from the DEXcool product, too many problems.

If mechanic based "low on coolant" on the tank being half full - change shade trees. He is not familar with Rovers enough to work on head gaskets....

As to PS fluid leaks, the PS tank has two hoses out the bottom, tighten clamps on each. One hose goes to PS pump, on one side. With truck NOT running (safety issue) - tighten that one also. BTW it is NOT power steering fluid inside that system, it is ATF (automatic transmission fluid) and should be red. DO NOT put regular PS fluid in there. OK to add some Lucas ATF tranny stop slip product, IMHO.

You can rent/borrow (they refund your money) a coolant pressure test kit from most major auto parts stores, and test your self at home. The coolant cap is rated at 15 PSI, so if the system will hold 18 PSI for 15 - 30 minutes it is in good shape.

Your described symtoms seem too far removed from HG (two blips in a whole summer) to warrant $1500 - $2000 repairs. But another issue is the instruments being used to decide on overheating. You use the Rover guage, which is designed to give the same reading from 135 - 235 degrees. When it starts getting above the "normal" 8 - 9:00 position, it is really warm. Reading temps with a scanner that has live data display will tell you a lot more. You could have a sticking thermostat ($8) that is making you "spike" to a much higher temp, which you won't see on the guage.

If replacing thermostat, use new gasket, and be sure the pressure vent "jiggle" device is at the top, so air bubbles can pass by. If it is at the bottom, coolant can drain away from the stat body, and it won't operate at correct temp. The spring part of the stat goes inside the engine block.

From what you have said so far, coolant flush replace and a new stat is all I would do at this point, without some solid test as to anything else.