You definitely need to check with some other engine shops. Atlantic British has good prices and I have yet to hear any complaints about their engines.

Land Rover Engines: Short Block Engines For Land Rovers And Range Rovers

In terms of your problems:

First, your pressurized-coolant-leak theory seems possible, though I haven't heard of this specific HG issue. There's an easy way to test it - after you drive it, open the coolant reservoir cap just enough to let the slowly pressure off. Not too much or boiling coolant may spray everywhere! Just let it bleed out slowly, then tighten it back down.

Second - are you certain it's not a leaky injector?

 

try Great Plains Rovers the only one in the businesses that gives a 3yr -warranty.
a few people running them without issue on the site.
if you buy a new factory short block in VT. all you are going to get is a new motor with all the old problems.
you want a motor that the major problems have be eliminated by installing flanged liners.

 

ArmyRover quote "You can believe what you like, but that won't change the truth. Doing a bit of research you'll find due to factory defects with the mis-drilled blocks(oil pump failure), porosity issues, and slipped sleeve failures in the 03/04 4.6 blocks that were not evident in the earlier gems blocks used in the P38 that it is based in fact not myths."

My research was done; it is detailed and in depth. You are the one suffering from misinformation, and myth, and whatever you believe, it, indeed, won't change the truth. There never were any "porosity issues," blocks were all made from same aluminum alloy. 4.0L Rover factory blocks suffered cracking behind cylinder liners, following overheating episodes, approx. 80% of the time, while same conditions resulted in same cracking only about 15% of the the time with the 4.6L blocks. One main reference containing facts; not your readily available but not provable hear say "facts" is How to Power Tune the Rover V8 engines, by Des Hammill. Hear say doesn't equal facts, my friend.

 

That book was published in 2003, which means that the 2003+ disco engines were certainly not represented.

No one denies that OLDER 4.6L engines are very well-built with high reliability. The junk they put in the 2003 and 2004 is another story.

 

This seems to go well.

I think quite a few Rover V8 engines have been 'breathed on' relatively successfully around the world for different uses.

https://www.google.fr/search?q=rover...w=1163&bih=614

He's a brave man - I love this engine

 

You beat me to it Jafir, EarlyRover you need to do more research.

 

I'm going to display my ignorance here, but I have to ask this question. How is it possible to get coolant in a cylinder, even with a blown head gasket and slipped liner, without also having a cracked and/or porous block?

Rod

 

It is very easy. If you look at an exploded view of any water cooled 4 stroke engine you will note that there are annular holes between the cylinder head and the cylinder block which are for the transfer of oil and coolant between. These holes are 'sealed' by the sandwich between the head and block by the gasket. When the head gasket 'blows' laterally it allows the oil and water to mix but it also can break down on the periphery of the cylinder bore and between the coolant holes. This allows coolant into the cylinder bore(s) particularly during the induction stroke which is in effect attempting to 'pull' a vacuum. Also there is a gravity effect as the head has cooling water within it which seeps down when the engine is not running. Hope this helps.

 

the main water passages run next to numbers 1,2,7&8 so when the gasket fails those cylinder get water. if you have water in 3,4,5 or 6 that's different.

 

Thanks for the reply. It is as I expected. I was trying to determine where a gasket could leak coolant into cylinder #4, and went to a photo of a short block from a couple of the remanufactured engine web sites. They show 10 stud/bolt holes, 2 locating dowels, 3 holes of similar/smaller diameter than the bolt/stud holes (which I took as oil galleys) and ONE elongated opening at the rear of the face that looked like a coolant passage. But just one????. I am familiar with MG and Jag XK engines, and the XK head has 4 prominent coolant passages for each cylinder, 24 total. One mystifies me. Maybe thats the reason for the LR cooling problems :-)

Rod