Hi, I just found out that I have a small external coolant leak coming from the rear side of the head gasket. My mechanic did a pressure test and add dye to find it when the engine was cold, so I think the diagnostic is accurate. My mechanic is asking $ 1900 to fix it.
The engine has 120 000 miles, do you think that I should have it repaired, or would it be better to find an other solution?
I drive around 10 000 miles a year, and I want to keep my disco for a while.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

 

Sounds like you have either a head gasket or a valley pan leaking, ask and make sure.
$1900 is a little high for a head gasket replacement, norm is $1400 plus any work, if needed on the heads, and at your mileage you shouldn't need any work on them.
What year is your truck?

 

My discovery is a 1999, the mechanic found dye at the rear corner of driver's side head gasket. I just talked with a friend who told me that replacing the head gasket was not too difficult, and the price given by the mechanic was pretty expensive.
I do all the maintenance on my land rover, the last thing I have repaired was the water pump.
Do you have any tips just in case if I want to do it by myself ?

 

dude.i was just quated $1000 to replace all welsh plugs and external gasket on my 93 rissignol the motor has to come out and i live in OZ so thats about 2 million of your dollars and i`m considering swapping the rover v8 for a windsor v8 or god forbid a chev cheaper to run...

 

Thanks for the reply,

Maybe that's something to consider, I guess the engine repair is probably the best option for me now.
Has anyone performed a head gasket replacement before on this forum?
I found out on this link #www.roversnorth.com/store/c-617-gaskets.aspx# that I have to use a composite gasket.
Does anyone know about this kit, is that the same that atlantic british sells?

 

Fix it! $1900 isn't bad if that includes machine work. I can't make any money on headjobs for less $ than that.

 

At 120,000 miles, your heads need no work unless you aver heated the engine badily.

As for the gasket kit, only buy from places like Atlantic British or Rover Connection. They have the proper gasket sets as well as the new head bolts which must be replaced.

 

If one is going to the trouble to disassemble the engine to this extent, at the very least, have the heads inspected by a competent machinist.

FWIW-I have never removed a cylinder head from a Rover engine that did not require surfacing.

Personally, I'm not gonna do this job without resurfacing and valve work. YMMV.

 

What standards did you use to determine if the heads needed to be resurfaced.
Having been a Rover service manager, the only time we went past a straight edge test was if the engine had over 180,000 miles or there was an obvious problem such as a cracked head?

 

Given a 0.002" acceptable variation of a cylinder head, unless one scrupulously cleans the mating surfaces, enough gasket crud will remain to make using a straight edge silly.

When I remove a pair of cylinder heads, they go to my machinist to be cleaned and measured using the dial indicators on his resurfacing machine, thus being certain of accurate and precise measuring, to a level beyond a visual inspection using a straight edge.

I've never had a come back on cylinder head work. I do not know a dealership tech who can say the same.

Yes, I've been criticized for this attitude, but results speak loudly. I do not want to have to repeat the job on my dime because I failed to have work done by someone who is better setup to do the work than I-and I have a Brown & Sharpe straight edge, yet I trust my machinist's resurfacing machine more than I trust my eyesight and straight edge.

Before you comment that my machinist has a vested interest, I've been using him for nearly 30 years and he has plenty of work that he does not need work that isn't necessary.