I just noticed your truck is a 99, if I'm not mistaken? I think cracked blocks are much more common on the 4.6 engine. Because it's the same block as the 4.0 but bored over. So the material behind the sleeves gets really thin. That's what I've heard anyway. I never really paid much attention to mine the few times I've had the engine apart.

 

I like to keep it interesting. The 199 I have has a 2004 engine in it. The engine blew on the 99 at 70k miles. The previous owner was able to fine a very low mileage engine and put that in. That engine has around 130k on it now.


The mechanic is not so much a land rover shop as he has worked on them enough he felt cool with it. I had dropped it off at another shop while I went out of town for three weeks. Came back and the ball joints were down but the coolant leak was not addressed. I guess they lost their head mechanic or something. Was a real bummer. The season is short here in Ouray. Missing a couple more weeks is killing me.

 

Disco Oh No is right on with the pressure testing kit. The block should be checked when both cylinder heads are off so that the gaskets and cylinder sleeves can be inspected for any outward/obvious signs of movement, then the block off plates and water pump cover can be attached to make sure the block is holding pressure and not leaking at the liners and/or holes or cracks behind the liners or bolt locations. I saw a kit for sale on the classifieds here, i think. They are def available though. When you get it all back together, your operating temps should be under 200 degrees to maintain reliability. There are many threads dedicated to lowering coolant temps. Besides the block, the cylinder heads need to be fully reconditioned, trued but not decked. Port/polish/lap job goes a long way. Clean the block threads thoroughly. There is a great thread on landroversonly.com under D2. Failure to do so and then properly torque the head-bolts can lead to new cracks in the block. You should do it yourself after a lot of browsing and research. Tons of first-hand knowledge from those who have survived the trials and errors spanning a half dozen websites/forums. I wouldn't trust many doing this job.

 

Same bore, longer stroke if I'm not mistaken. The faults with the block are mostly consequence of inferior manufacturing as tooling and equipment was never upgraded or rebuilt. The newer the MY, the older/degenerative tool & dye.

 

vishrb,

Check your Private Message inbox.

 

Thanks for the reply. I will call the mechanic I am planniong on using to make sure he can do those tests. Before this saga I ran about 188-192 on highway. Up to around 204 in town if stopped at light for a while. So hopefully I can get back to that.

Well actually I run at that after a fresh top off of coolant and air purge. So maybe I mean maybe I can get there with out doing that.

 

Yes, you're right. I thought about that after writing it. I believe I read that the pistons are interchangeable. I've never had one with the 4.0 so I'm not familiar with both engines. Just the 4.6 ...unfortunately! LOL!

 

Got it the mechanic last week. They called today and told me that yes the head gasket is blown but other then that the engine looks good so far. They have not pulled the heads out but they tested the compression of coolent and engine. Coolant test showed coolant leak at the heads toward front on left side. It also showed a leak in the weep hole on the water pump? Honestly never heard of it. engine compression read out at 90% all around? They seemed happy with that. I had no idea what it should be. So now they are going to pull the heads off and test the block and look it over. If all looks good they are going to proceed with machining the heads and completing the head gasket job. I told them to go ahead and do the water pump while there, to go ahead and fix a oil leak at the front crank seal, and the oil leak at the oil pan. All the other work will be done only if block looks good. Which I am pretty confident it will. The place is being very fair on price. I will let everyone know how it goes.

 

Sounds like the engine is in pretty good shape!

 

Thought I woudl update everyone. They were unable to get the work finished before the 4th. But I got it back on Wednesday. I had them do the water pump, the head gaskets, machined heads, the front crank shaft seal, the oil pan gasket, and soem new hoses. I did not ask for the thermostat to be replaced but they did that as well. Which is a bit of a bummer because it was a relatively new grey 180 genuine. They replaced with a 190 aftermarket. This is important because the rig ran much warmer than before. Before if I kept it topped off and air bleed I was at 188-190 on higheway and 195-198 in town. Now of course within a week or so of bleeding and topping off I would over heat in town if I let it. Now it just runs hot but never over heats. At first it was crazy hot. Like 220 hot. I bleed the air out when I got home and now is running at 209. no matter whether on highway or in town. That seems odd to me. Looks like they put the original coolant in as well. I called them and they were super cool about it. Immediately asked me to bring it back in on Monday. They ordered a 180 using the part number I gave them. They will flush the coolant and put in the new thermostat. I had a bunch of coolant in the back because the previous owner had switched to Pentofrost NF. I had plenty of that in the back because it is not found at every store store I had bought a bunch. I had told them when I dropped it off but they missed it in the notes.

One thing I am curious about is why the temp is not changing whether on highway or in town. That seems really odd. Can the thermo cause that? On a side note that I have no idea if it could be tied in is that my air conditioner does not blow cold air now. They thought maybe they had forgotten to recharge it.

Thoughts?