You could be right about the crankshaft actually now that I think about it... At any rate about the time they started putting 4.6's into Discoveries the quality went down. You don't hear of many P38's with cracked blocks.

 

Ace engineer posted that he his LS conversion kit should be in the $1500-1700 range, plus an LS engine.
I just spent over $2k in parts to rebuild my pos 4.6
I only wish his kit was available a few months ago, as I won't pay anyone to work on my vehicles, and I wasn't about to give Trailhead $10k+ for the swap.
I'm not a GM fan, but the LS engines are great, and most anything beats a Bosch engine.

 

I overheated mine like crazy, so I am not going to blame the block, but who knows.

 

The bonus is that I have read you can get an 4.8 LS for a couple hundred bucks. That is a huge savings from a new or used Rover motor. There's a zillion LS's just sitting in junkyards.

That said, restoring the Rover is fun as well. Dealing with the high maintenance issues and sharing the fixes has been fun for me. You gain a lot of respect for people that keep them going.

 

Amen to that. The thought of having to do headgaskets on an engine destined to eat them completely saps any motivation to even lift the valve cover. I assumed that event would be the end of my Rover ownership. Having an LS option for relatively short money is a whole new ballgame. I'd willingly do that swap on the side of the road at night if I was pressed into the situation. Until that kit is available I keep my Uber account up to date because if the temp needle ever pegs the truck becomes a walkaway for me.

 

So I called the shop today and had a candid conversation. They haven't looked at it yet. Said that they were almost caught up and were just about to take a look at it when I called..

mm hmm.. I really like these guys but I think it's a matter of they don't know what to do with it. Sigh. I think the situation is dire and they can't see charging me a bunch of money to tell me that I need a new engine.

So we talked about new engines..I did a lot of talking haha. At least I made people laugh today. He said that he definitely could swap it out and would work up a quote for me based on me buying a new engine.

So that is option #1.

Option #2 is I called another place in town and commented that they have a lot of Rovers in their parking lot and asked 'what's the story with the one with the knee high grass below it?' Apparently it needs a new engine and is going to be fixed up soon. I pass it every day and it has been there for a two months or so.

So the guys at this particular place seemed knowledgeable and are really into Rovers (the owner has 4..). I explained the situation and they said that they could do a few tests to see if they could narrow down what the issue is. Probably would cost $200 and if they couldn't figure it out by then they'd have to look at the cylinders which would be more. Seems reasonable to me but I worry about the costs of digging into the cylinders. They also stated that they've never seen a cracked block but many slipped liners. They also said that the 2 places in the US that manufacture flanged liners are booked up for the next 8 months or so.

OPTION #3... my colleague has a lift and is really into cars. He's from Great Britain but not into Rovers.. He said if it was plug and play he'd offer up his services to get me back into my ride - at least that is the rumor. I'd have to discuss it with him further.

So the big question is.. would you guys just bite the bullet and get a new motor without having the tests done or is that just stupid? I had hopes that it was the intake manifold gasket but who the heck knows. I'd hate to throw $1000 to tests and someone digging into the Rover only to hear that I need a new engine.

I'm tempted to just make Bertha a year long project and get her all spiffed up. A spa year shall we say..

Your thoughts, as always, are appreciated.

Christina

 

My first suggestion would be...have the guys fill and pressure test the coolant system. See what that brings. If coolant is pouring out, they should be able to determine where. If nothing comes out immediately, run it up to temp and see if anything changes (with the pressure test). They need to also check the oil pan for signs of coolant, by dropping a little oil from the pan. This shouldn't cost much.

If they still can't find where the anti-freeze is going, have them pull the spark plugs and check each cylinder for coolant or steam cleaned cylinder chambers, with a scope. This would verify if it were a head gasket issue or slipped liner. Which, shouldn't cost much either.

Then, after these two checks have been done...you/we/they can...hopefully...make more educated guesses.

The last thing you want to do is buy an engine...when you don't need an engine. I'll have to go back to your original post, but l thought this was just a low coolant/over heating situation? Let's not go all "worse case scenario" right off the bat...let these guys, or someone else, do a little diagnostics. Diagnostics are the key to making a better, more educated decision.

Brian.

 

Thanks Brian - I'll make those suggestions.

Coolant in the oil was the issue at hand. Losing coolant, overheating and high oil levels after changing it.

I'm an anxious planner - always have been, always will be. I make lists, plan years ahead, have a plan B, C, D, E, F and G and over analyze everything. It's just me haha. I think it helps me to know that I have a plan and that everything will work out. I can't stand the unknown

So I made an appointment at the other shop - they are working a week and a half out so I'll go park her next to the overgrown jungle Rover and see what they say.

thanks again,

Christina

 

Just went back and read the first page of discussion. Yeah, the bubbling in the coolant reservoir would lead me to believe head gasket...and if there is coolant in the oil. A cracked block could do some of this also, but for no known reason, just out of the blue...not so much. If you had overheated it previously, l mean hot-hot, and added coolant without it running...then l could see a cracked block or slipped liner showing up. But, just out of the blue...no.

Brian.

 

Oh, and what happen to plan A?...lol.