BUMMER, so when you say "the gasket" do you mean the head-gasket or something else? There are a lot of "gaskets", is why I ask.

Do you have some sort of automotive department at your school? Maybe you could buy all the parts, and they could do all the labor as a free learning experience????

Just brainstorming, as you won't be able to get much for your Disco with a bad head-gasket (if that's the main problem) amongst other things....

 

My bad was typing quickly. I actually forgot off the top of my head, I don't think it was the head gasket that's blown but I could be wrong. He said it's not blown but that's there's a slight leak that could grow into an issue, but my car has never overheated or put out white smoke or anything like that. The other gasket was the valve cover gasket which he said is ok but if they were gonna do the other (which I'll get the name for once I'm out of work) they would do the valve repair for free-no cost for me.

What I don't get is that I had the cooling systems pressure tested, I never over heat, never put out white smoke, and I've visually inspected my engine bay multiple times over the past two months and have seen NO coolant leaking, besides that one time when none of us could figure out where it was (which we concluded was a result of the cap not being screwed on tight enough, but maybe thats when my gasket seal broke? I don't think this is so though, because the water i had in the coolant tank would still be leaking if that's the case.) this is the first time in a year ANYONE has made a mention about the gaskets, so I'm gonna talk to him more soon.

Just don't know what I'm gonna do. Now that I actually know the problem I'm going to be paranoid senseless driving normally, but I really am not trying to throw in another $1400 when I'm gonna be selling it at the end of the year / early next year, but I don't want the problem to get worse either.

At this point the rover gods don't even upset me, I'm mildly bemused at all of this lol.

 

Most universities with an automotive program will repair customer vehicles for parts plus about $45 hourly labor rate IF they are currently working on that topic in school. If they are doing basic engines or engine performance, you could get it done much cheaper labor rate.

 

Agreed, although the $1400 was for everything including transmission service, the other valve gasket, and some other optional stuff I talked to him about. For just the gaskets he was only charging ~650 with labor included. I'm gonna have to figure this out sooner rather than later now.

 

Ok so i spoke with them and they told me that the valve cover gaskets were slightly leaking but that wasn't really an issue, what was an issue was that they stated my timing cover gasket is beginning to leak slightly and needs to be fixed. They also said my catalytics were going but would likely be ok for smog tests and whatnot. For the gaskets I believe they quoted nearly $800 with parts and labor for both the timing and valve covers, which seems pretty absurd considering that these guys have been pretty straightforward and wel priced.

It's pretty insane how quickly no problems turned into something so drastic heh. Anyway, does anyone know how serious this is? They made it seem a bit more dire than it appears to me considering my car has been driving relatively well to me and hasn't been smoking, leaking in the driveway or blowing white smoke. Not sure how to proceed from here.

 

Your timing cover gasket and your valve cover gaskets are slightly leaking ? On a Land Rover ? Say it ain't so ...

 

Snug up the 8mm 12 point bolts on the valve covers, switch to 20W50 oil, sell when you planned to. A few quarts of oil between now and then won't break the bank. The underside of a Disco can carry a large quantity of oil and grime buildup, so you may not even see anything on the pavement.

 

Thanks man, will do. Gnna have my local mechanic buddy come by and help me out since I don't have my tools anymore, thankfully I don't think it's nearly as bad as he suggested, and nowhere near posing a risk to the head gasket.


Btw the mpg thing I believe is solved, the catalytics aren't functioning100% properly, think that's why, but after their tune up, ecu reset and whatnot it seems to be much better, little bit less than I would like by like 2-4 but I'll observe over this next week.

Just a lesson for everyone up here, always follow the advice of these guys before shelling out thousands. I was about to shell out close to a grand for an issue that can be temporarily remedied for far less. Thanks all again

 

Gonna be tightening up the valve covers, do we have to do anything to the plenum or are we just looking at the external ones? I'm gonna have my buddy whose ASE certified so he probably knows all of this but in case he doesn't just want to make sure.

Also gonna do the windows now, off to Lowe's to go pick up some rollers now.