They certainly would, and everyone has different experiences. I personally despite preventative maintenance have been stranded by too many failures such as CPS going out, intermittent electrical failures, and cam bearings simply walking out of their bores.

I'll restate my previous statement, I don't feel that they should be your sole daily driver.

There is certainly no education like doing it yourself!

If you want to dig deeper, the oil pump is a great candidate for replacement. You're really close to it by the time you have the heads off. At that point all you need is to remove the harmonic balancer, oil pan, and front cover. I'd recommend getting an impact screwdriver from harbor freight for the oil pump screws.

Ah, thank you for the socket correction. Been a while since I've done a set. That is absolutely true about the cleaning as well. Scrape the gasket bits off with a razor blade and then go at it with a brass wire wheel is how I like to do them. Wear gloves while messing with brake cleaner. You do not want those chemicals soaking through your skin and getting into your system.

 

@Alex_M I get your point and certainly don’t disagree entirely. My wife and I work two blocks from each other so when I have the disco either at the shop or have work in process we just car pool to work. So while it is a daily, my commute is two miles and the best LR shop is between my wife’s office and mine...

 

Np on the 16mm socket.

When I did my first HG job many many many years ago I figured I had everything I needed. I tried a normal chrome 16mm 3/8 socket & I twisted the 3/8 to 1/2 adapter off like a laser, then I bought a 1/2 chrome socket set & I quickly had the 16mm socket explode in my hand...It also nearly caused me to round off a head bolt.. After that I bought some good impact 1/2 impact sockets in 6/12pt and I still have em to this day.

The LR V8 is very basic vs other configs out there. Atlantic British has a good video on how to do a HG job IMHO. Watch it & take notes and it can be done over a weekend if you don't run into any issues.

 

16 is not barrier we did head gaskets in the school shop at that age way back in the dark ages.

@TyTyBinks I would give it a go, they are very easy to work on. Do a bit of homework, ask a local automotive machine shop for the cost of checking the heads and if required truing so you know that value up front.

You can do it with the engine in place it is a bit harder but not too much

Get a bunch of ziplock freezer bags some large and some medium and a sharpie, but all the bolts for a part in bag and label then zip tie it to the part

I have a 4.6 I am tearing down for parts, so if you have questions about removal I can send some pictures.

Take your time, do not force anything. And a biggy everything is aluminum so no steel scrapers get a ceramic scraper to clean up the block and heads I used these https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/t...w.ds#store=434

 

What are the headgasket failure symptoms on your truck? If it's just a slow leak you can drive it for a while to save up the $$$ to do the job yourself or have it done if you just check the coolant level obsessively and keep it topped up.

I did two DII headgasket jobs a little over 10 years ago, first with a scout in our Boy Scout troop and then on my truck a few months later. In both cases we took our time and spent one weekend tearing down the top end and the next week putting all of it back together, with the heads sent to the machine shop on Monday and picked up Friday. I wanted a machine shop to check the heads and the valves. On my truck, one valve needed to be replaced, plus they took care of the valve guide seals.

It didn't hurt that I'd turned a wrench or two a few decades earlier, having grown up in farm country and having had an excellent high school auto shop class. Right after graduating I did a valve job on my '65 Mustang's 289 in my neighbor's garage. (He happened to be a mobile farm mechanic with all the right tools.).

If you were in Charlotte I'd gladly help you. Maybe there's someone on this forum near you in Richmond who can lend a hand. While everyone here is correct that it's not a difficult job, I can certainly understand that it'd be intimidating if you don't have some experience.

One other tip - get an impact swivel socket for that head bolt closest to the firewall. And a 3 ft. length of steel pipe to use as a cheater on the breaker bar. You'll thank me later ...

 

I do not know the condition of the head gasket, just that it is blown. There has been a slow leak for about 1 months now and now problems with overheating. I gave it to the shop to do O2 sensors after I couldn’t get them off and they looked around and found the head gasket leaking. I haven’t seen it yet.

 

Buy the best 1/2 drive, 16mm six point shallow impact socket you can find. And a 1/2 impact swivel and 3" impact extention. A 30" breaker bar, of good quality, at least lcon brand if going with harbor freight crap, will give you sufficient leverage.

Funny what some folks put an age requirement on. Had my 9 year old grandson out in the garage one day, and was about to get started on a electric window regulator on the porsche. He asked if he could help. Thought, oh what the hell...there's only one way to learn. He removed the whole door panel and regulator himself...and while we were in there l had him pull the whole window track out and replaced rollers. He just went at it steadily, and actually...his little hands and arms fit into places so much easier. He had great dexterity too...never once dropping a bolt or nut down inside the door. Yesterday, while visiting to drop off Christmas presents, mentioned to him that l just swapped out the engine in the defender...he was like..." why didn't you call me, l'd of helped you." He's 12 now.

Anyhow, if you have the space available and time...tackling a project like this can be a learning experience. Folks that don't or can't repair their own vehicles or at least have some knowledge of repairs, are at the mercy of a mechanic or garage for everything. Knowledge is power. Folks here will walk you through it and like mentioned previously...there are videos to help also.

 

If its just the head gasket you can find a kit for under $100 with new bolts, and do it in a day. unfortunately when i got the head of mine cylinder 5 and 7 had become one. You could get an endoscope , i've found they're very cheap $15-30 bucks take out the plugs and look before doing all the work. Its an awsome tool to have now and it just hooks to your phone.

 

This is known as good planning, if you drive a Rover. I should look for a job near a Rover shop!

 

Where did you find the kit for under $100 I can’t find any for that price