Hi all,

After 12 years of wanting a Disco II, but always diverting to the safer, more reliable Japanese SUVs, I have decided it is time to get what I always wanted. I have researched, looked, and researched again on what can and will go wrong with these amazing vehicles. I also consider myself an amateur mechanic and have mantained a '91BMW e30 series, and '90 Montero myself. In other words, I can read instructions and can wield a wrench (somewhat). This is also not my primary car, just something to tinker with and go camping.

Saying all that, I'm looking at purchasing a Disco II around 90K miles for $4K. I understand I need to be ready for the head gasket issue, because that I one thing I don't think I can tackle myself right away, right?

Thus, I called a 3 land rover mechanics in the Alexandria, VA area and all of them told me it would be approx. $3200 to replace the head gasket. They said it wasn't just replacing the h/g but also sedning the blocks or heads to the shop to be refinished. Is this true ? Does this also need to be done? I was reading in the other threads and people mention you can replace just the h/g for around $1300. Can I just have the mechanic replace the h/g and not send the heads back to the shop?

 

I think many people take the heads themselves to a shop and get it done so that the mechanic doesn't charge you for the job. And yes, the heads need to be leveled, if not, it can cause your headgasket to fail a lot sooner. Head gaskets are a pretty big job, but there have been many members on the forums who have done it at home and have little knowledge about cars. If you're worried about head gaskets, take it for a pre-purchase inspection and have a mechanic confirm or deny the integrity of the gaskets. No sense in spending 4000 on a truck and 3200 on a HG job when you can probably spend 100 more and know for certain. For 7200 you can get an '04 almost.

 

The HG parts are about $300, the machine shop should charge oon the order of $200. The spec for "flatness" is 0.002 inch, your printer paper is about 0.0038 inch thick. Doesn't take much. Many DIY guys do this over two weekends with machine shop inbetween. Major metro area is higher priced, everyone assumes you and spouse are each GS-15....

 

$3200 for a head gasket job

I paid $1681 for mine. Parts, machine the heads, and most of the cost was LABOR.

 

Check out independent land rover specialists in besthesda md and have them check out the disco before you buy it. They have all land rover factory certified techs and offer better prices than the dealer. Ask for dean he is the owner and super knowledgeable and easy to deal with!

 

Thats double what you should be paying... Tell them thats ridicules.... heads to machine shop $150.00 Kit with head bolts no more than $250.00.... Thats $400.00 in parts and machine shop... Ask them if they would also blow you for that kind of price... With a shop and the right tools they should be able to get to the heads and take them to the machine shop in about 3 hours or less...if not there idiots...

 

I bought a 1999 DII Beautiful shape and fully loaded, tomorrow it will be a month since I bought it. Now I hate working on cars, and my father in-law with a huge toolbox lives nearby. But I am on the upswing on my DIY job. Purchased it with the intent on doing it if it needed it or not (IT REALLY NEEDED IT). I paid $259.99 for the head gasket set, bolts and thermostat. I fixed my PAS pump with a $5 homemade gasket, have enough material left to make the 3 throttle body gaskets that did not come with the HG kit. Gonna have another $100 in fluids etc. And another $150 for an O2 sensor, code reader, filters, plugs&wires.
I had a $4000 budget, needed something that would seatbelt my family of 6, and it looks like I may come in right on budget with title and tags, headlight and rear airbag thrown in the pot too.
Go for it, you only live once.
(My heads show true, so no $200 for machine work)

 

I live in Alexandria Va also and just had my head gaskets replaced along with water pump and coils and total came to $2500. The shop is up near BWI in MD. That is the cheapest I found for a reputable shop that I trusted in the area.

 

Lesson 1 for owning a Land Rover. Don't go to the dealership, ever. Not for anything unless its a dire emergency for random nut's and bolt's that you can't find elsewhere or don't know the specs too. Ever.

 

It seems like the price for a HG repair varies quite abit depending on your region. Around me i received quotes ranging from $2100-$3500 for non dealer HG replacement. The dealer was in excess of $4k.

I think in the end i spent ~$2800 with HG, machined heads, valve job, a couple new injectors along with flow matching of all 8, plugs, wires, oil pump gears, oil pan gasket and the other misc related gaskets and crap.