I am in the process of changing hoses and water pump to fix a water leak problem that was to the dealer 5-6 times the last year before my warrenty ran out. Which is a long story, but they replaced several hoses, and head gaskets twice (gaskets failed while at the dealer searching for the water leak). It appears to be leaking from the front and the back of the motor. Now, the throttle body heater plate is completely corroded and left a pool of coolant on top of the valve cover. I am assuming it was running down the valve cover to the rear of the engine. I am also currently changing valve cover gaskets, even though dealer invoice claims replacement was done when heads were done, but the covers have leaked ever since they did the heads. When removing them yesterday, the rubber gaskets were hard as a rock and cracked everywhere. Not a gasket I would consider to be 1 year old. So I am assuming they did not replace them. Now it has me worried that they might not have changed the valley pan, and it could be leaking from there also.

So, basically I am asking since I already have the upper off, and valve covers off, should I change the valley pan also? I would really hate to have to pull everything apart again if the leak continues from the rear.

 

As long as you are already that far in yes, I would change the valley pan gasket too.

 

You should get a 1yr warranty on the dealer's work, and this is clearly a pre-existing condition that began while the vehicle was under warranty... I can understand your frustration with the dealer, but I'd still be trying to make LR pay for it and complete the repairs.