My 04 Disco II with 55k miles is at the shop now and I'm about to give the mechanic the go ahead to replace the head gaskets (I do not have the space to do the job and I worry that I would jack it up). I took it in to him because on two occasions last week I got the white smoke out of the tailpipe and rough idle at cold start. I was also getting a misfire on cylinder 6. My mechanic has done 4-5 cold starts but no smoke. He ran a pressure test and was not showing a leak. He pulled the plug from cylinder six and said it had a faint smell.

He is not a LR specialist, but has done numerous HG jobs on Discos and I got a couple of recs on him. I just want to make sure that this is the right move at this point and I'm hoping I've caught the problem early. Thanks for all the help over the past 18 months.

 

Ouch at 55k. That sucks man. But at least you will have that worry behind you. I'm hoping mine will last to the 110k range. @ 93k now. My 2003 is has been great now for 1 year straight...knock on wood!

You could always get some of the BG Stop leak for cheap on eBay. And see if you stop loosing coolant. Its supposed to stay liquid till it detects air.
http://motors.shop.ebay.com/i.html?_...506.m270.l1313

 

How much is the estimate and what will he be replacing?

 

Well, I just got off the phone with him. He was finishing up another job (he has a small shop) and is not on to mine yet. Last time we spoke, it would be gaskets, bolts, water pump (maybe), valve job, check the heads to see if they need machined. (The t-stat was changed 6 weeks ago when I flushed the coolant). He has not given a firm estimate yet--but ballparked $2200-$2500 last week--we are going to talk tomorrow at 9:30. The dealer estimated $3700 and another LR speciality mechanic estimated $2800.

I've read many of the first hand accounts of people doing their own work. Is there anything else that I should make sure he does/does not do?

I briefly considered grabbing some stop leak, but figured that would end up costing me more in the long run...

 

say no to stop leak. I think $2200-$2500 is on the high side. you should have him do wires and plugs since he will have the intake off it will be easier. 8mm magnecors from apexperformance are my preference some people like kingsborne 8mm wires. i run plat 4 plugs some people like the iridiums.

 

ouch, that is a serious estimate. I just had the HGs done on my 2000 with plugs, valve job and an oil change for $1250. I bought the wires myself. I had already done the water pump so I didn't need to pay for that twice. Check around or ask the guy to work on the price a bit. The book calls for 8 to 10 hours for the HG job. Mine were original, 135k miles, amazing. Phil

 

I did the plugs (plat 4) and wires (magnecore 8mm--thanks to the forum) about two months ago...wish this issue would have popped up then. Thanks for the help guys. I've checked around and this guy is on the lower end of estimates for sure. The labor costs in the DC area are very high. I'm going to go by his shop this morning to talk to him and talk about the breakdown in his estimate.

At this point, I'm just having a hard time absorbing the fact that my HG have gone bad at 55k miles.

 

The shop rate manual only calls for 11 hours labor, this guy is a thief.
At your mileage, you don't need a valve job, only need to measure the heads for warpage and mill if over .002" out, not just to be doing it.
Make sure to change out you plug wires going to a set of 8 mm STI wires from British Parts of Utah for $70, also add a bottle of Water Wetter or Purple Ice to the coolant system and flush/refill the coolant system with something other then DexCool to prolong the life of your coolant system.
$1500 is a fair price.

 

I paid a visit to my mechanic this morning. I started talking labor time and he agreed on the 11 hrs after he looked it up. The going rate for labor around here is high--he is at $95/hr, whereas another indy shop I've used in the past is $98/hr.

So, that puts labor at $1045 + tax.

Then we discussed parts, fluids, etc. He is charging $290 for bolts and gasket. The waterpump will be $140 (if required), and he has to "talk to his machine guy" to see what the cost will be on the heads if they need milled. Actually looks like I'm going to come in under estimate if things go well--catching the problem early hopefully helps. Didn't go into much more detail on other smaller items, such as if a couple of the plugs are fried (replaced plugs and wires 6 weeks ago). All the hoses look good as well.

 

Mike, thanks for the guidance on the shop rate manual. Why new plug wires? Mine are less than two months old.