Hi There,
New to the forum..Need a bit of advice. After being quoted 4100k to fix my head gasket I've decided to order the parts and do it myself. As far as tools go, does this model use metric or american? I'm ordering a huge mechanics tool set as I don't have one already.
This will be the first big undertaking on my car, any advice would be greatly appreciated. I did download the RAVE manual and ordered parts from AB and a dvd that was recommended. Hopefully its not too bad of a fix? I will be the first lady in the family to undertake this..HAH take that mom.

 

The head gaskets are a big job, but I as well as many others have done this repair successfully and saved money. I feel it important to also tell you that some people have tried this repair and not been so lucky and end up taking it to the shop to get fixed and paying more. How much experience do you have working on cars?

As far as tools go:

You should get a good Craftsman (or better) socket set that has both metric and SAE sockets and both deep and shallow. It should also have 1/4,3/8,1/2 ratchets.

36inch breaker bar and 4foot cheater pipe for the head bolts

1/4 drive 8mm 12 point deep socket for the valve cover

If you have SAI, then a crowfoot wrench set will be very helpful.

A good Torque wrench

A few different size socket extension, 3,6,12,18inch

A good Socket Swivel adapter

Im sure there are more but those will get you started. The DVD that you ordered will help you alot and so will the RAVE. If you follow the RAVE step for step then you will be okay. Remember to take your time with everything and label every multi-plug you disconect and try and screw every bolt back into the hole it came out of so you don't end up with extra bolts or nuts at the end. Take plenty of pictures that you can go back to if you forget how something went. Don't forget that you need the new head bolt kit also.

I don't know if this will tell you anything the DVD won't but I made a Thread when I did my head gaskets if you want to take a look. "Doing a major 100k service"

 

Smaller hands is actually a plus when working in many places on a Rover. You go girl! Also, if you want to practice on another truck, $2 gets you in at most self serve junk yards.

 

Why do you need head gaskets, how was it verified? If you have any questions on what/how to do this job, shout so we can help. Also down load a free copy of a Rave CD, shop manual, from my signature section for a lot of information.
Also, check with us as to where to buy the necessary parts for the repair.

 

Where are you located? If we knew where you were some of us might be able to actually give you some hands on help.

 

Curious how your project is going. One thing I would suggest is once you have the heads removed, bring them to a reputable machine shop to have then cleaned in a tank, have the surface checked for warping, and if so have them re-surfaced, this should only cost about $150 per head including the cleaning, and they will also thoroughly inpect the heads for any cracks or defects. A complete rebuild of the heads including a valve job with new guides and seals should run about $250 per head. depending on the miles and what the symptoms were that lead to your diagnosis, I would do as much preventive work as possible while those heads are off, clean, clean, clean. A lot of fluids tend to leak out over the course of 100k miles and it's nice to have an opportunity to pressure wash the engine and clean everything up while it's apart. Don't forget new plugs, wires, all new fluids and good luck torquing down those heads, i'm 6'4" , 200lbs and I had to really give it my all to get a nice smooth 90 degree sequence (some are done to a specific ft/lb some are done in stages with the final 2 steps being a 90 degree tightening for each bolt. Let us all know how it'sa going....

 

Hello, my name is Francis Montero, I live in Atlanta Georgia, I'm new to this issue of Land Rover, I front to Costa Rica, I have a Discovery II, 1999, with 190,000 miles, recently had a failure, leak coulant on one side of the injection, next to the ignition coil, the vehicle is not overheated, and you turn it off in time, need help with manuals, and I want to fix it myself, because I think you blow the head left.

 

I'm going to be doing a head gasket on a Discovery in a couple of weeks. I might do a video on it.

 

Mr. Montero, you should be in the Mitsubishi forum... lol - but here is the download below of all the shop manuals, called the RAVE.

 

Yesterday I opened the engine, and it turns out the coolant drain gasket failure is larger than the camshaft cover, when he had opened 3 screws out of adjustment, I think that's the reason for the leakage of coolant.
The vehicle is not warmed, so I consider not working with the heads.
Change the thermostat and various hoses.