lipadj46 - awesome, thank you thank you for that recommendation! They were closed by the time we called, so we'll have to wait until Monday. And we're actually in Forest Hills in Queens, so no bridge crossing for us. We'll maybe take it there, and then the other place in Brooklyn (L&M Foreign Cars, any experience with them anyone?) and see what they say.

Rover Curious - Thanks for the advice and reassurance. We'll take it easy on the drive across, no hurry!

antichrist - front propshaft, got it! As of this minute, I'm not sure what that means but will look into it - thanks

UPDATE: Thanks all for the continuing advice and reassurance. She's now in our possession, picked her up yesterday and holy moley, what a beast! But so pretty to look at! It's quite invigorating towering over everyone other car on the street. We drove her around a bit, unfortunately found some more minor things (one interior light not working, left back light cracked and filled with water, etc.). The dealer said we have a 30-day warranty but we're not sure how much he's going to ask him to do (we sound terribly naive, just never bought a used car before). Any advice on the used car dealer's 30-day warranty? It was not a big dealership (half is a auto service stuff), and we dealt with the one of the two owners.

They apparently replaced some of the basic fluids but there is some pink/green goo atop the left rocker cover (left as in driver's side) that we're investigating with the help of the RAVE manual (thank you also for that!!!). If we can't figure it out, I might hop back on here and ask again.

 

ok. well you need to have the drive shaft rebuilt it the u joints are the original non-greasable ones. The LR indie mechanic in queens will know exactly what you are talking about its a common problem with Disco 2's. It has to be taken care of before major damage.

The LH tail light new is $115 from Atlantic British. see link here.
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/XFB000451.cfm

the warranty details should be included with the bill of sale. read the fine print.

As for the goo.. keep an eye on where you have the truck parked and look for spotting on the ground as well as the coolant level to see if it drops over the course of a week as you're driving it, the head gaskets could be leaking and maybe they used something as a temp fix.

If you have any questions ask us.

 

Drive shafts are being rebuilt, that's a definite. We looked under her today the from what we could tell, they were dry as a bone and rusty.

We also investigated the "goo" - and yes it's more orange than pink. There are also traces if green spillage on the rocker block on the side, but only orange on the top. There was also orange congealing on the radiator bleed tube (I think that's what it is, the thin tube running from the coolant reservoir to the... next larger tube that meets right over the block). But the goo did not look fresh, it blossomed out like a flower around where the small tube meets the larger one. The bottom of the engine was nicely covered in black oil, as was the side of the block. Sigh.

I checked the coolant reservoir, and the coolant was orange and plentiful, though there were traces of dried green on the cap and the filter on the filler hole. Also checked the oil level and oil cap - all clean, full of fresh oil.

Yesterday we drove her for about 30 min on the highway to our destination, and then 30 min back. Also drove her a bit this morning - both times there were no signs of leakage beneath the truck except for the a/c condensation.

As said above, we're taking her in first thing tomorrow, but in the meantime I wanted to know...

Mechanical Tech question:
..... if the wrong coolant was added during the previous ownership resulting in Bad Things Happening - can it be fixed just by flushing then changing the coolant? Same questions if green coolant was mixed with orange and it congealed at some point leading to Bad Things Happening, or is there more permanent damage that they obviously did not change? The engine sounds fine so far, no odd noises or ticking or timing, no odd smells, no fresh leaks. Would we need to drive it more to test it? Or is that a bad idea?

Legal/warranty question:
The warranty fine print stated that the used car must be in "in condition" and something about "under normal use, satisfactory and adequate service upon the public high way at the time of delivery." Also states the dealer will "repair or pay in full for repairs of any unsafe condition in the motor vehicle." We were promised 30-day/1000 mile warranty, though not that last part in writing.

If it was a temp fix and our LR mechanic cites leaky head gasket and $2000 job to fix it, is that something covered under the warranty? Is a leaky head gasket considered an "unsafe" condition?

Also, regarding the tail light (thanks for the link, hilltoppersx!)- we're kind of in survival mode right now, so if the dealer does not provide us with a new tail light (he said he would), how necessary is it to fix at this time? Can it wait a couple of months, unlike the engine and drive shafts? Its cracked about 3" from the top, only noticeable if you look closely, and the top plastic layer is bubbling out a bit. We unscrewed the light and just poured the water out.

Thanks again for any help or insight!

One last thing - there is a soft scraping sound that happens while we're coasting, but not during acceleration or when idling at a full stop. Its a fast rhythm, like in time with the engine. Any ideas?

 

Then you don't have the warranty. Unless it's in writing, it's worthless.

If the front propshaft has 4 grease fittings on it (or 3 u-joint fittings and a plug on the slip joint) and you cannot get new grease to come out from around all 4 seals on each of the 3 u-joints, then it should be rebuilt and covered under the "unsafe condition in the motor vehicle" clause because it will fail and likely take out the gearbox.

 

yeah when green and orange coolants mix they turn 2 jelly. that is the goo that you are seeing. Get in there with some cleaner and clean out your engine compartment get all that goo off so you can keep an eye on it see how long ago coolants were mixed. see if any new goo is seeping out. i would do mike 60k service and put new coolant and a new thermostat in it to be safe.

I don't think the leaking head gasket will qualify under some shady warranty that is not even written down. Here is the link for the HG replacement. http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/STC4082BK.cfm

is it work $1850 in labor?

 

don't freak on the head gaskets just yet. Other leaks can lead to coolant splotches.

try to do a relatively long weekend trip before heading cross country. watch your temp gage.

don't be too paranoid. enjoy your truck. work on Mike's list over the next month.

and don't take it somewhere to have the coolant "flushed". that can cause problems.

 

Update: The LR is at the mechanic's in Astoria, spending the night. They did a pretty thorough inspection of her. Good news is that it's not a head gasket leak, bad news is that the overall cost still came to a significant amount - more than we'd like, but less than we feared. The orange goo was due to a leak with the valve cover gasket and throttle body. Also some leak with the oil pan gasket, the intake manifold gasket. They're also doing a whole fluids check/change, changing the lifters, doing a whole coolant/radiator cleaning, and lots of other stuff listed on the 60K list. Other stuff we asked about he said we didn't need, the previous owners took really care of her, and she was in very good shape.

hopefully this will be the most expensive repairs (2/3 of it labor), and we'll be able to keep her well maintained after this.

thanks oysterhead, you were right. my husband and his dad are taking her out for their golf trip this weekend, three hours away, though that will be after we get her back.

again thanks for the advice. will let you know if there are more questions!

 

And we did of course mention the front driveshaft. He said they regrease all the fittings with the oil change, and if there's a problem with the front driveshaft they rebuild it - very nonchalant. This was while the truck was on the hydrolics and we were under it, he looked at them and wiped his finger on it, didn't seem like there was a problem.

Is this okay? Do we trust our mechanic? He did say they do 90% of their work on Range Rovers.

 

First, if they are replace the intake gasket there's a Felpro part that works, that is a lot cheaper than getting the Land Rover part. Felpro MS96002. Costs about $13 at Autozone vs $45 or so.

On the propshaft, no, that's not ok. From the factory there is only one grease fitting, so lubing them "all" won't cut it.
You can't tell if I propshaft is ok by wiping your finger on it.
Every u-joint should have a grease fitting on it. If not, rebuild it.

 

i had my oil pan gasket and my air intake gasket done with my head gaskets. make sure you get that drive shaft rebuilt that $200 will let you get further then Pennsyvlania.