It is the upper plenum that should be removed to facilitate changing out the plug wires. If you are VERY careful and don't "ding" the sealing ridge on the gasket you may be able to re-use it. However- we supply the gasket with the plug wires on this model as a "kit" on the www.eurotekapg.com site because 50% of the time the gasket material seperates when you remove the upper plenum. To answer the question about dealer cost for this job, I can tell you the service arm of our organization charges 2.5 hours labor (at $125/hr.) and the price of parts to change these out. This labor includes scanning the vehicle with the Autologic unit to make sure there are no more faults, and clearing out the multiple misfire code.

Also-- make absolutely sure that you get the "click" when attaching the wires to each spark plug. The little silicone packet you get to smear on the plug-end boot is for this purpose as it helps to get the boot seated firmly on the plug. We have seen vehicles where owners changed out their own wires, but then the vehicle comes in for rough-running and it was simply a loose plug lead.

Regards,

Mike McLaughlin
eurotek apg

 

Thanks Geoman.

My Disco II had misfires. It has 115K miles on it. About 50K miles ago I had a local European mechanic shop change out the plugs and wires, but he said that he needed to drop the engine to get to the last sets. Back then I didn't believe him and told him no. So he just replaced the reachable ones. Now when I reving near 40mph, engine lights blinks and the dealer tells me that they need to repalce the plugs, wires, clean the valve casket because carbon buildup. In order to do this all, they have to drop the engine to get in there. I know dealers do it by the book with no shortcuts, but they are quoting me for $1900. @110/h. I assuming all parts the maximum would cost $200 plus change? Would it take 15 hours to do a job like this? Thanks

 

Qtiep,

The shop is pulling a "smoke and mirrors" play on you!. There is no need to pull the engine. And there is no need to remove the cylinder heads to "de-carbononize" the combustion chambers and piston crowns. You need a new set of spark plug wires and spark plugs after the upper plenum is removed. Then they can use a product like Sea Foam to clean out the carbon from the misfiring cylinders. They also need to scan the vehicle for fault codes and clear the stored ones related to engine management.

To answer part of your question, yes-- the parts and labor rate for doing a head gasket job on a Disco II normally runs around $1800. And the parts for this operation account for about $250 of this. BUT!!---you don't need this operation based on the comments you have made regarding the present running condition of your vehicle.

Find another shop or tell them what I have said here. Or hell!....have them call me! (phone number on the website of www.eurotekapg.com)

Your situation is exactly why the Land Rover is getting such a bad rap out there with potential buyers as a used vehicle to "run away from". The general automotive shops (even if it says European over the door) are not knowledgeable enough on this make to diagnose it right the first time, and the customer is getting hosed!

Regards,

Mike McLaughlin

 

Thanks Mike. Will find another shop. At least now I know what I'm talking about