I have discoII 2001 with a blown head gasket. I have had a leak in the coolant tank and recently smell a sweet burning odor coming inside the truck through the dashboard. I open up the hood to see oily patches over the engine/radiator towards the dashboard over set of spark plugs. Naturally I believe this is where the odor and smoke was building up when I was driving the truck.

I took it to the dealer and got a estimate of $4000 to do a repair job. New Head and New Gasket, labor 22 hours. Is this right? Help, what else can I do, I can't pay the $4000 dollars.

 

Someone is yanking your chain. Get the trucks engine pressure cleaned then do a pressure test on the coolant system to verifywhere it is leaking from. Most small Rover shops will charge from between $1800 and $2200. If you need a head, you can buy used one at a fair price.
Any questions, send me your tele number and I'll call you.
Mike

 

Thanks Mike, I called a local European Motor shop, he said it would be a lot less. I taking it there tomorrow. These dealers are cashing in. Charge me 250 for diagnostic. What can I do, have to pay to have them release the truck.

 

I would ask them to document why they are charging that sort of fee for something that cane be tested in 15 minutes by doing a pressure test.
When you signed the repair order, how much was the estimate for, you can hold them to the charge if they didn't call you for an additional amount.
Mike

 

sounds like an oil leak but some know better then me i am just a tech

 

So are you saying that as a tech you can't give any positive imput?
Mike

 

Guys, I love my Disco, but I might have to turn it in soon. It just seems that noone wants to work on a British job and the ones that do, tries to rip you off. It's tough I have a lot of love for the Disco, but can not continue to pay the obscene prices to fix it up. It's a 2001 Disco II with 121k miles on it. I drive it a lot back and forth to work. In my eyes,no other SUV compares to it, in the same class.

So the local European shop diagnose the problem as a bad heater coreand 2 valve gaskets and hoses that needed to be replaced. Why would a dealership say that it's a head and gasket job around $4000 dollars? I know the obvious reason, but a dealership doing this? Are they not there based on their reputation and great service? Why try to rip off customers?

A few questions if you don't mind. How difficult is it to replace the heater core, hoses, etc surrounding it? How long of a job would it consist of? Does the dashboard have to come out to get to it? I wish I knew more about about fixing my Disco.

Thanks

 

The reason that I originally took it to the shop. There was a slow leak from the coolant that I knew about. Would drain the tank about 1500 miles, that's about 3 weeks of driving back and forth to work. One morning I noticed smoke coming inside the truck from the dash/vents, with a sweet smell (I can only assume, coolant). The smoke went away but windows began fogging up, to the point where I had to open the windows to stop it from fogging up. I happen to be near and around the dealer, so decided to drop it of for them to look at. That was where the diagnose for head gasket replacement.

Thanks.

 

Okay ---you have a couple of things going on here. If you smell coolant (that sweet smell) inside the vehicle and the windows are fogging up then the odds are very good that you have a leaking heater core. This is a rather common failure item on the Discovery and Range Rover. A typical shop charge for this repair is $800-1000 ---as the labor time is long.

Secondly --- it is VERY common for the throttle body heater plate gasket to let go and leak coolant on the drivers side valve cover (rear --towards the coil pack and wires) where it is a little difficult to pinpoint the source unless you know what to look for. The kit to fix it is about $15, and the repair is straightforward.

So--as Disco Mike said, you need to get an accurate diagnosis and extract your vehicle from the crooks who threw that big quote at you. It is a sad reality that Land Rover has a major problem with their dealer network. It seems the attitude is that because thetypical buyer is rather "affluent" this gives the service department personnel the green light to put the screws to the customer when the vehicle falls out of the factory warranty period. Part of our businessis running a independent Land Rover repair shop inNorthern California. Many.......many times we have vehicles towed in here from Land Rover Dealers, and then the owner shares with us the crazy diagnosis and costs associated that are so far off it makes you wonder who they are hiring to work on these vehicles.

Anyway ---find a specialist shop--- not one that merely waves a British flag outside their place.


regards,

Geoman

www.eurotekapg.com --- Land Rover Hard Parts delivered to your door --- supporting the do-it-yourself enthusiast

 

For what it's worth, I've had a non LR dealer do some pretty major servicing of my DII and have had excellent luck. I think in the end, it depends on which dealer and which indy repair shop.