Well, I buy a 2001 DII a couple of months ago. First, about three weeks after I buy it, the 3 amigos show up. Planning on doing the fix, no big deal. Then, Watts linkage starts popping. Again, plan on fixing myself, no big deal. Then, Service light comes on and it's air in the fuel system. Had planned on getting it smoke tested next week. Then, heard waterfall behind the dash, but did the bleed and problem went away. Coolant levels were holding fine.

Now the nightmare....

Today, my wife was driving to work and the heater started blowing cold and the engine started running hot. She pulled in the parking lot and turned it off real quick (hope that didn't do any more damage). I just went my to check it, hoping like hell it was just air locked or that the thermostat was stuck. I pulled the dipstick and it looked like it was full of chocolate milk. Obviously, head gaskets.

So, I now have an expensive head gasket repair ahead of me that I can't afford right now after Christmas, which my means my beloved new Land Rover will be towed in to the driveway for the birds to crap on.

What pisses me off is that I have a damn 2000 run of the mill, boring as hell Ford Expedition with 151,000 miles on it that has needed nothing but tires, oil, and a few odds and ends now and again. Now I buy my dream vehicle, and it's anything but.

SO, is a head gasket replacement anything I want to attempt on my own? Is there anything else (wires, plugs or anything) that I should do while I'm having this done? How much should I expect to pay for parts, and labor if I have to go that route? Is there anything that will keep these things from going again?

Any advise would be appreciated. Am I too old to cry????

 

Have your mech check the gasket on the timing cover behind the water pump. If the bolts are sort of loose when he or she removes it that is probably the problem. I did the head gaskets on a D2 thinking as you didi and it did not fix it. The the coolant came back into the oil, I had checked the sleeves when the heads were off and the liners were ok. Pulled the timing cover and found the bad gasket. repaired gasket, let the oil drain for hours and hours, ran the engine and drained oil after it reached ops temp and then drained the oil again after a run around the block. I kept changing oil until it cleared up ( two more times) filters too. Its still going today, Neil

 

It sounds like you have a couple of great places to start off with. The gasket and the head gaskets.

The problems you are experiencing is because the owner (s) before you did nothing to it and so now you are stuck fixing the problems. Give it time, once this is past you will have most of the major stuff out of the way.

 

Just out of curiosity, how many miles are on this truck? The reason I ask is because it seems like there are so many of these trucks that have low, low miles with what seems like an endless list of repairs to be done. I'm not saying mine is great or anything but when I bought it, it had 130,000 miles on it and I've put 6,500 or so on it and it really has no major problems as far as I can tell (except for a slight tick @ idle). Also, when I checked it on carfax it said that the previous owner had put an average of something like 16 or 17,000 miles a year on it. Non-descript/vague repairs listed, but didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary... engine serviced @60k fuel pump replaced @ 83k, etc. and mine is also in the terifying vin. range with the bad oil pump and what have you. Just a thought but, I know my Volkswagens HATED to sit, if I didn't drive them daily they would tick, smoke, spit, sputter, sometimes stall, etc. Maybe they NEED to be driven more. I don't know??? Any thoughts?

 

It may be a month or so before I can afford to have it fixed. Should I go ahead and change the oil since it has coolant in it.

Know anything about Steel Seal. They advertise on this site and claim "Repair Blown Head Gaskets with No Disassembly" "Lifetime Guarantee" "Do It Yourself In An Hour". Load of crap?

I looked on roverparts and saw the Composite Set. Is that what I need?

 

Mine has 135,000.

 

If you use any of that "head gasket repair" in a bottle crap you will also be replacing the radiator and the heater core too, guaranteed.

Thats the problem with dream cars, they just want your attention.
If you treat them like you would any other car then you wont have many problems.

 

Spike is right that head gasket repair in a bottle is crap. I have never used it but have heard of people that have ended with more problems after using it than what they started with.

 

The comment about Steel Seal was my broken hearted attempt at humor. I wouldn't touch that crap.

Time to pull her in the garage, drain my nice antifreeze / oil mix, and start saving my money.

 

If you plan on doing the work yourself, the gaskets shouldn't be too much money. Provided the block isn't cracked behind any of the cylinder liners. I was thinking that if that ever happens to me maybe I will just purchase a bare used block then turn my stepfather loose on it in his machine shop with a set of top hat liners while I strip the old block, clean everything up and inspect/replace everything that needs replacing. I don't know, maybe I'll get lazy too, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...