Hello everyone
I need some expert advice on my discovery. I just bought it knowing that it was leaking and running rough.This is my second 03-04 se7.
The po said that the rear main was bad and they didn't want to fix it. There was a ton of sludge all over the front cover and running back all over the whole engine and bottom. The ground from the heads wasn't connected to the fire wall and the fuel line connection at the injector rail is leaky. It had random misfire codes for cyls 4 and 5. I pulled those spark plugs and found them completely coated with carbon. When I drove it there was smoke that smelled like gun powder coming out of it and a popping sound coming from the intake area. I didn't see any water or coolant in the oil or any oil in the coolant.
When I took it apart I found a lot of loose bolts missing hose clamps etc everything seemed to have oil or sludge in it there was even oil in the throttle body. The head gasket at cyl. 4 was extremely blown at the inside edge which I think was causing the nose in the intake area the explosion was popping the valley gasket, it was actually dented and had a burn mark on it. The push rod also had a burn mark on it from the head gasket leak.
The top center head bolts were pretty lose.
I am attaching some pictures to help with the diagnosis. Also, if it is a slipped liner what will happen if I treat it like a head gasket and put it back together? Instant failure or 1-2 yrs until failure?
Thank you in advance for your input.
** When I tried to put the heads back on the threads pulled out. I installed helicoils in the bad holes and got the passenger side up to 70 foot pounds and it's holding, but when I tried to get the driver side from 50 to 70 it broke loose. Now I have to take that head off again and try to redo it. I'm not sure if I can just redo the helicoil or if I'll need to go to an oversized one. Btw, the fuel injectors were just fine. No leaks and good spray pattern.

 

well definitely a blown head gasket, strange that it blew under the intake and not out. It would explain you #4 misfire for sure, don't know it it explains the # 5 misfire.
do you have any idea how long it was run like that? the reason i ask is you probably want to put a straight edge on that side of the block.
all that heat and gases racing by could have damaged the block surface.
plus I would have to assume all that exhaust and condensate was also mixing with the engine oil in the valley.
see what you find when you pull the other head.

 

The gasket on the other side is blown in a similar manner, but not as extreme. There is a burn mark on the on the push rod on that side too This was a used engine that a shop put in for the po at 110k mi and it has 170k now. The receipt didn't mention head gaskets so I assume these are original. It was not a land rover shop.

 

That's the worst combustion chamber carbon buildup I've ever seen.

A pressure test on the block wouldn't be a terrible idea to see if you're losing pressure from between one of the sleeves. If you're not, check the block and head at that gasket failure for fire etching, and if it all checks out ok, button her back up with a new set of gaskets and bolts, and you're off to the races.

 

Would it be possible to PT the block in the rover or do I have to pull it? The rear main is not leaking Btw and I don't have an engine hoist etc. I can do it if needed, but I have never pulled an engine or replaced bearings or rings before and would like to avoid if possible.

 

it can be done in the truck,
check utube for videos, kits can be rented and also made cheaply.


You never know, if your lucky it could just be a crapping HG job.


someone who didn't know any better just replaced the gaskets,
didn't deck the heads, reused the head bolts.


and the seller doesn't want to disclose that information.

 

I replaced ONE of my engine mountings on a D2 TD5 today, it took 6 hours excluding unscheduled interruptions and stoppages (from neighbours and friends dropping in and wanting favours). Believe me if someone says it's easy and straightforward they are JOSHING you. Admittedly, I did it without any assistance and still have the drivers side to do followed by the 2 autobox mountings. The second one, the drivers side, surely can't be as difficult as the first. I'm informed the autobox mountings are a real 'push over', hahaha, but someone wrote that about the engine mounts so I'm very sceptical now.

Oh, I've got some cuts (plus blood), scars and gouges to my head, arm and hand to prove how easy it all is ................ I'm sure cars are designed masochists to be as difficult as possible and inflict endless pain to the DIY mechanics.

 

I think it's a combination of six or seven really crappy jobs all together. I am contemplating the pressure test. I don't want to fix a bad engine, but I don't want to spend the rest of my life working on this repair as I'm sure there will be another to come once she's back on the road. Thanks for your advice.

 

Heads look fine.
Clean them up.
Clean up the block.
Go over the injector wiring carefully and make sure all of that is in order.
You may have a leaky injector or a few of them.
Maybe get two injectors fix cylinders 5 and 7 or whatever misfire.

I think all will be OK.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76579732@N07/

 

the blown out head gaskets have nothing to do with your problem, it leaking injectors