Lol.. thank you for that. I needed it today.

Sounds about right - I called him up and said 'I need another vehicle and I just want to get this over with - do you still have the Renegade that's listed on your website?'

So Brian.. I've heard you talk about D&D down by you.. what is it that they actually do? Can they replace my engine if needed?.. I'd like to keep her if possible and if it costs me $$ than so be it.

Christina

PS.. I had a minivan once too (for 3 months). I traded it in for the Rover and never looked back

 

I read this thread and the other about the good samaritan the other day and feel like I should try and instill a small glimmer of hope. Admittedly I'm not a Rover expert but it's a pretty big leap from overheated to cracked block. Even with an aluminum block, it seems to me that a failed headgasket is a rather common occurrence on these engines and it should take a considerable amount of irresponsible driving before a cataclysm of that magnitude. I'm not talking about losing coolant for a couple weeks, I mean driving with the needle pegged until it shuts itself off. Anything is possible but factory headgaskets are designed to fail as the first line of defense (referencing the thread about Cometic the other day) and a cracked block takes a little more effort. I'm going to hold out hope for you that this is another case of a failed headgasket. I'm not sure if that's a showstopper for you but replacing headgaskets is far less costly than an engine swap so there's a positive. The only downer is that unless you want to pull the engine and have the block checked for cracks, the way forward is to pull the heads and check for failure at the gaskets, and even then you may want to put it back together and see if it's fixed. In any event, I would regard a cracked block as a fork in the road and a headgasket job is merely a speed bump. I'll be surprised to find the block has cracked. Unless there's something particular about your year or I'm just not fully up to speed on these engines, it just doesn't sound plausible to me. Especially giving how many owners have done headgaskets on these trucks, multiple times even. Best wishes.

 

Thank you ahab for the kind words and glimmer of hope. I had the headgaskets replaced five years ago this fall. I suppose it could be time for them to be done again however I don't understand why I wouldn't see tell tale signs such as the white smoke from the tail pipe or smell coolant in the exhaust.

I'll phone the shop today and see if they can fit me in for a pressure test or at least a diagnosis. So frustrating but I guess that is why I call it a love/hate relationship.

The garage I use is typically 2-3 weeks out for appointments so she may be sitting awhile.

Thanks again,

Christina

 

I've talked to Mark and Dave at D&D a few times, but never about removal of engine. I'm not sure if they do that...or not. When pricing the repair of my wife's 03 engine...it was closing in on a pretty big number. so, I went with a used engine.

And yes, like mentioned above...more diagnostics are needed to make a full decision on repairs needed.

Brian.

 

Well, for what it's worth it just occurred to me that I cracked a BMW block a few years ago by not cleaning out the bores for the headbolts. They had filled with residual oil when I pulled off the head (to change a failed headgasket ironically) and by forgetting that step, when I torqued the head back down the hydraulic pressure caused cracking. There was no real noticeable white smoke out the tailpipe beforehand, but after the block cracked there was tons of it. Fingers crossed...

 

Good to know on both counts - thanks. Well I dropped off the rental that I had for the weekend and got the Rover over to the garage... and they're closed . It appears they're on vacation for a week and knowing that they are typically 2-3 weeks out as far as appointments, unless I tear into Bertha myself and scratch my head incessantly, I'll have to wait until then.

I'll update when I know more. Yeah, I know I'm thinking worst case scenario and I need more data. Hopefully it's not as bad as I'm thinking it could be. I'll just have to go visit her in the interim, when I miss her, which will be every single day

 

Hi there! Any updates?

 

The mechanic came back from vacation today so I dropped off the keys and told him what was going on. He's hoping to get it into the garage for a looksee in the next couple of days. Fingers crossed... I'll update when I know more

.....I sure miss Bertha. Can't get used to the 2.4L 4 cylinder 9-speed transmission on the Renegade. It's total crap. I'll probably be hauling that in soon for a software upgrade. And don't even get me started on the traction control system. Twice in one day I had no throttle and everything froze up on me just because I went over a railroad track or a bump in the road. I ended up turning the entire electronic stability control system off so I could feel safe.

My big butt will take a tank any old day. I never felt unsafe in my Rover.

C-

 

Thought I'd update as I wait..

I hadn't heard anything back from the shop and it had been 2 weeks since I dropped the keys off so I called them today. As suspected they are really busy and haven't had much time to look her over. I was somewhat relieved to hear it as I've been worrying over my baby wondering if it was a worst case scenario. It still could be but the mechanic gave me hope as they said it may be the intake manifold and that they'll be checking that next.

It's pretty bad when you stalk your own vehicle on the weekends haha. I have been over there twice to talk to her, peek under her hood and tell her that it's going to be alright. I hope it will be.

They're going to change the oil and coolant to start with a baseline, then let her run (not long enough to get hot), and then investigate the intake manifold, etc. I sure hope that is the issue and I can get her back on the road again. Not looking forward to pricing out engines if it's something more sinister.

 

That has got to be frustrating, but all you can do is wait it out. I know blocks can crack age, wrong coolants attacking the aluminum- I expect this is the cause of a lot of them, or just bad luck. But even on these engines it should be pretty rare.