I saw some oil splatters on the underside of the engine the other day and so, took the truck to the dealership for an inspection. They found that, in addition to the 90,000 mile service being due, both right and left head gaskets were leaking oil and coolant, the front timing gasket cover was leaking engine oil, the front differential pinion oil seal was leaking gear oil and that the spark plug wires were soaked with oil. Needless to say I was devastated at the length of the to- do list and by the estimate. First of all, I don't want to sell the truck but the estimate nears the resale value of the truck. Are these worth doing? -or should I start looking for another Disco and use mine for parts? Second, if it is worth fixin', I would like to do as much of this myself as I can. What of these fixes are worth doing myself (It should be noted that I am not a professional mechanic and do not own a professional set of tools)
Any advice would be great before i sign away my first born to the Landy dealer.
Thanx in advance
pete

 

How much was their estimate?
The head gaskets are very common on DII's with your mileage, have you been changing the coolant every 45,000 miles or three years?
A regular shaop will charge you around $1500 for head gaskets, leave that one to the pros.
While he is doing that have him do a tune up as well using Land Rover or Magnecor plugs wires.
Other than that...dont worry about it, just keep an eye on the fluid levels, change them when they need it and call it good.

Is it woth fixing? That is up to you. Is it paid for? If it is paid for then it is cheaper to fix then to buy a new car.

 

Pete, having worked in the dealership service industry for a long time(Chryserl/Dodge/Jeep) that sounds like a shotgun diagnosis. Any decent tech would have recomended to clean off the leaks and diagnose them properly. If you're one of the people that (no offense) doesn't lift the hood much AND doesn't clean the engine and undercarriage at all this could easily look worse than it is. Do you have puddles under the car when you park it?

I see lots of headgasket issues on these cars talked about. But keep in mind that if the car isn't running bad, overheating and the coolant and oil AREN'T mixing chances are the headgaskets are ok. I'm NOT saying that it's not possible they're leaking, just less likely.

When it comes to leaks of any kind on a car keep one thing in mind, gravity. If I ever had a car that more than one possible oil leak typically I recomened fixing them from the top down. IF you don't, the highest leak will simply cloud/mask any repair that was done under it.

My professional opinion, get a second unbiased opinion on the Rover. Don't tell them anything about the first inspection. Once done, compare notes.

 

Thanks to both of you guys, I think both comments are helpful. First spike, their estimate on the head gaskets and new plug wires was $3325 (just a smidge more than what you reckoned) and the car is paid for so i am planning on keeping it. Randy, i do not wash my engine but will surely do so now. The truck doesn't leave puddles -or even drips on the drive way when I park. Otherwise it drives very well -I dare say perfectly. Again, i appreciate the advise.
pete

 

Wow, yeah, that is just a nick over what it should cost.
Make sure the coolant stays full, if you overheat the engine you WILL be buying a new one.
Take the truck to a DIY car wash and degrease the engine, make sure that you do not use the high pressure wash, then take it to another shop for a second opinion.
Then degrease the engine once a year, I do mine every spring, I do the undercarriage really well too.
If you keep the engine clean then you will notice any leaks before they become a big problem.
Make sure that you check all the under hood fluids once a week, like Saturday's before you drive anywhere.

 

You may want to thinkabout getting a second opinion from a mechanic that is familiar with rovers. The dealer told me a few years ago that my head gaskets were leaking. Turns out it was only the valve cover gaskets. 2 years later my head gaskets are still fine. The valve cover gaskets cost me $800, and they put in magnacor's for me. Take your disco to the self serve car wash and clean the engine. then look to see where the leaks are coming from. If you aren't losing coolant or oil, and there isn't coolant mixed in with the oil, I doubt you need new head gaskets. I would look at the valve cover gaskets and the throttle body. Good luck.

 

I just had a independent LR mechanic do head gaskets, water pump, tie rod, new oil cooler lines and a bunch of other little stuff for $2250. The quote from the dealer is outrageous. Just thought I would throw that out there for comparison sake.

 

When you go to a dealer Land Rover or any other dealer Honda,Toyota ect
they will let you know what you need to get it back to New..

Most times it is just a matter of time or if you can take a few small leaks.

Its funny how many people think that their car and trucks dont leak,, but never
look under it at the bottom.