Hey guys,

Unfortunately I am coming to you all with a bit of a horror story. I wanna keep it simple and break it down.

While away from home at school I had been doing a bunch of camping trips, mudding, etc. in my amazing Disco, but after the time and punishment I needed to have my heads machined. I could not find a shop that gave me confidence in their abilities so I went to a LR dealer in Bedford, NH... ugh. So they do their work which took over 5 days... and finally got it back. After about 1000 miles i started getting misfires. Took it to my local ship independantbritish.com and they discovered a crack in the engine block. The bastards at the dealer put my heads back on with an impact gun, cracking the aluminum block explaining why it took way too long to get it back. I fought it with my lawyer and only got as far as getting my money back from the work they did (infuriating beyond all measure). So now I am here...

I am trying to find a solution. Do I sell as is to one of you chaps who has or knows someone wanting to do a diesel swap, has another motor, etc.? Or does someone have a tip for me that does not involve $9k. Any suggestions are welcome.

I love my discovery, 03 Black w/ Black, only 84k miles, had some great adventures in the mountain trails, I would love to see her live again but at this point I need to move forward. Sell and invest money into something else or by some chance have her relive. Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all,

ATL

 

You could check out car-part.com
If you want a complete engine, they're around $2000-$3000
I did a quick search using the distance from Bedford, NH. Don't know if these will work for you:

If you want to swap your parts over, this place has a block for $600.
Aaron Auto: Your Source for Quality Auto Products
(click on "recycled parts" then enter 2003/ LandRover Defender Discovery/ Engine then click "secondary air injection." It'll bring up the match for short block)

This place has a motor for $2000 (90kmi, grade "A")
Home - Cumberland Salvage

IMHO it would be better to spend $2k fixing a vehicle I know is reliable than spend it on one that could be a money pit. Best of luck

 

If you do it yourself it'll be much cheaper than a used car, like SD said in which you have no idea whether it'll be a money pit or not either.


Personally I would find a bare block and swap your rotating assembly and timing cover in the other one.

 

Find a way to do it yourself. If it's not your daily driver take your time and learn as much about it as you can. This sight is FULL of information to help you do it yourself. Contact some of the used parts guys on this site like Paul Grant and get a used short/long block and replace the head gaskets, with ARP bolts, while it's out and install it with full confidence. While you're at it replace all your hoses and vacuum lines as preventative maintenance. Turn this into a beneficial learning experience.

 

Its a question of how much you love your truck. If you enjoyed it enough and such then keep the truck, take the money from the dealership and use it to get yours back on the road. I dont know how much you paid them to do the engine work, nor how much you could get back as a refund for damages done but you would be surprised at how much you can do with a couple grand. You can get a new updated Rover V8 4.6 engine for around 5k give or take and that would take care of most all the issues that these engines have stock. Or do as they said above, spend a couple grand on a replacement used engine, swap over the good parts and put the replacement engine in your truck.

Alternatively you can use your refund from the dealership to purchase another D2 that already had the heads done correctly. Then either keep your current truck as a parts truck or part it out on here and make a nice profit. Try to get as much $$$$ back from the dealership though. Argue with them that a new engine will cost $$$$$.

Just for the sake of looking, check out these local links:

2003 HSE7 with heads brakes and air suspension done $7,495
2003 LandRover Discovery HSE7

2003 SE7 with new hoses, thermostat, expansion tank, timing chain and oil pump done $5,690
Land Rover Discovery SE7

2004 with engine rebuilt in 2012 $4000
2004 Land Rover Discovery


PS: If you decide to stick with Land Rover then hit me up sometime because I live in Enfield NH which is minutes from West Lebanon and half hour from Claremont NH. Always enjoy meeting new LR enthusiasts and dont mind giving you a hand if I can though Im not expert mechanic yet lol.

Here are a couple very useful inks for parts and servicing in New England:

For new parts and technical support:

Rovers North in northern Vermont: http://www.roversnorth.com/Land-Rover-Parts/WebHomePage

Atlantic British in Albany New York: http://www.roverparts.com/

Lucky 8 LLc somewhere westward New York: http://lucky8llc.com/

DAP Enterprise located in Springfield Vermont for professional servicing specifically for Land Rovers. Not a dealership: http://www.dap-inc.com/

Another option though not in New England but these guys specialize in used Land Rover parts and they sell used engines which come with 90 day warranty. Engines are not rebuilt but checked and fixed as needed. Rover Land Parts: http://www.roverlandparts.com/discov...-complete.aspx


Good luck and we hope you stick around

 

I'm curious though.... you said you're getting misfires but do you have coolant mixing with oil? Is it burning coolant? Coolant blowing back out the expansion tank? I'm wondering if maybe they cracked the heads, or didn't do the HG job right. Did the independent shop test the block? I would think that the symptoms of a cracked blocked would have occurred sooner than 1000 miles.

 

Apologize guys,

I live in Washington DC, I was in bedford because I went to the University of New Hampshire.

SDinDS: It is a crack in the block. The mechanic at my local land rover spot brought me back and showed me. The crack is between the bolt pilot hole and the coolant channel. When the block heats up and the metal expands the crack allows coolant into the cylinder and it misfires.
Thank you for all the links.

In terms of doing it myself, I do not have the space or equipment to do so.

I do love my discovery and would like to keep it alive if possible. I would need to contact my shop to see what they would be willing to do; in terms of getting a bare block and having them swap everything into that.

If I were to part out, what is the potential amount I could make from it, and how long does that usually take with other guys on here?

 

Why put in or buy a rig with another problematic 4.6? Cracked block = great time to upgrade to a top hat liner block. You get the power and plug-n-play of a 4.6 without any of the flaws of slipped liners and coolant leaks they're prone to. It's around $6K for a long block with a 3 year warranty from Great Plains Rovers (Cannibal and Atlantic British are a couple others), or you can go cheaper if you're willing to swap your old heads/front cover over yourself, but then you only get 1 year warranty.

 

Parting out is a pain. You're stuck with a lawn ornament for months while stripping parts off. Just check ebay to see what parts are going for. If you decide your done with it, you may want to read thru a thread on here about the "adventures of irontite." Bypass the heater core and t-stat and give it a try (or try blue devil) You have nothing to lose since the block is already cracked. You might get a few more thousand miles out of it. Just a thought.

 

With the labor to install I am looking at around 8k. My local shop has presented me with this option. The new block design is great, but I don't have that amount to put into it.