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- - Blown head gasket (https://landroverforums.com/forum/lr3-28/blown-head-gasket-84533/)

You are the third person to say not to repair head gaskets but to replace engine. Funny the dealer didn't recommend that.....

Quote:

Originally Posted by LMDel (Post 608239)

You are the third person to say not to repair head gaskets but to replace engine. Funny the dealer didn't recommend that.....

They don't care... I find the higher the price of the techs, the less they know. Most high priced dealer techs only replace parts according to a scan tool diagnosis. REAL mechanics on the other hand can diagnose and repair most issues from experience with part replacement being the last option.

A good example, my friend that owns the shop I go to has been a tech for over 25 years now. I had the Caravan towed in because it seemed the starter was toast. Experience told him that it was just the contacts that had eroded in the starter and he was able to replace them ($7 each) plus a little labour. Saved me the price of a new starter... that's what a real mechanic does.

I still say that if Land Rover disables the low coolant warning feature because of known sensor issues, then they would be even more culpable in coming good for the repairs. Trick is, I guess is to have incontrovertible proof of this happening.

Another example of dealer tech incompetence.

on the D2 board a guy went through water and was getting trans codes. Dealer said he needed a new trans.

Since water got in under the seats I suggested a trans ECU, he swapped a used one in and all good.

Bad enough the cluster failed, but Its bull$hit that they charged you 2k to only come back say you have a blown head gasket.

if you have a governing body in your state that repair shop answer to, I would call them right away. We have BAR in CA and it's their job to protect the consumer against fraudulent activity.

Thinking on this a little more, the dealership may have a leg to stand on in saying they couldn't have known the gasket was blown before fixing the coolant leak (although still not sure it needed $2k of work, depending on what the issue actually was). If all or most of the coolant leaked out, and the engine then overheated, then blew the gasket, there would have been no coolant in there to contaminate the oil. It probably would have looked fine if they checked. It was only after they fixed the leak and added back in coolant would it have mixed with the oil.

Still, was the $2k fix really necessary? From what I've heard, the thermostats don't generally fail catastrophically (usually more of a slow leak), but the bleeder valves (the $15 part) do.

Don't feel bad, I sunk about $1k into my engine in new belts, tensioners, and PCV valve right before it threw a rod.

So, a follow-up:

I took the LR3 into the dealer today to have them look on the CCF and see if the LOW COOLANT WARNING had been disabled. It had! Further, the tech could not turn it back on. So, just to satisfy our mutual curiosity, he unplugged the coolant sensor and lo and behold, the LR3 annunciated a "LOW COOLANT" indication.

So, while the warning doesn't work through the CCF, it still does work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by houm_wa (Post 609655)

Well, that's good to know! It was hard for me to believe that they would completely disable something like that. I guess the CCF entry must not really be associated with the warning message. Perhaps a remnant of something in the past or something put there for future use?

Right...I have a hunch that when they re-designed the expansion tank and sensor, they went with a different logical stream like a binary switch, and in order to make it work they had to permanently disable the old signal through the CCF.

Quote:

Originally Posted by djkronik57 (Post 608226)

Well, I probably would have, given that if the engine overheated enough for it to lose power. That's pretty bad. And the temperature gauge was in the normal range? If it was, that would make me suspect their instrument panel repairs, which would lead you to continue driving the car till it overheated and blew the head gasket. If provable (a big if), the dealership would be at fault.

I'm guessing you lost the coolant before that point since there was no steam or leaks, but there's a plastic T breather valve on top of the thermostat on a hose that is notorious for disintegrating and leaking all of your coolant out. It's a $15 part. Hopefully the dealer didn't just go replacing the thermostat as well just for fun.

One more thing, you mentioned oil consistency. I'm guessing there was coolant in the oil? Even the test drive with coolant in the oil could have been enough to do some damage to your bottom end of the engine, so I'd skip the head gasket job and go for a replacement engine. Coolant + bearings is no good.

The head gasket can fail in a number of different ways:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/landrov...cf3809cd19.jpg

Hi,

I am contemplating replacing my LR3 Head gasket set myself. Is this something anyone has done and has a description step by step process for it. I took the car to a dealer and they tested and confirmed exhaust fumes were getting into my coolant. The vehicle drives on limp mode with exhaust smell at the back and in the coolant tank. I am not loosing any water and it is not overheating.