Figured I'd start a new thread since my misfiring escapade on my vehicle has taken a new unfortunate turn. Quick background, I have a 2006 LR3 HSE with 116k miles, and for the last couple of months I've been dealing with a check engine light. I've had the codes read and codes say I'm misfiring on nearly every cylinder, but driving it I can barely notice anything wrong, maybe feel a slight missing but only slight. I have been slowly losing coolant and haven't been able to find a leak. I took the vehicle in to have it block tested, and sure enough I'm burning coolant in the exhaust. No milky oil, so I guess that's some good news...

Anyway, the place I took it to said that blowing head gaskets on this vehicle is very rare and they didn't want to proceed with a head gasket job and only find a cracked block, which will cost me a lot of money for nothing. They said that the best course of action was a "new" used engine that had about 98k miles on it and with labor they were quoting me around 7k. I asked what they would charge for just the straight head gasket job and they were saying 3.5 to 4k.

Needless to say, to me jumping straight to a cracked block seemed suspect, even if it is rare for the head gaskets to go, and the price quoted for the head gasket job sounded insane. So while I'm shopping around for a different mechanic, my question to you guys is should I be really concerned about a cracked block, and is it incredibly rare to blow head gaskets on these? Also, what is a reasonable price from a good indie mechanic to do the gaskets on the LR3? I live in Central Oregon, but I'm willing to look at places in the Portland area since I go that way for the National Guard anyway. Thanks in advance guys, I'm really hoping to put these woes behind me soon.

 

Cracked block is more rare than head gaskets.

Did it overheat?

3.5K is a decent price. Consider that the head work on those costs a minimum of $500.

The job is listed at 18 hours. Plus there are all the gaskets, head bolts, and you should consider doing timing chain tensioners.

 

Thanks for the reply Abran. I've never overheated it, but I can't speak for previous owners. I've been pretty religious about topping off the coolant.

I was kind of hoping for better news on the pricing, but it is what it is.

 

How long have you had it? When you bought it was there signs of overheating like coolant splatter in engine bay?

 

I've only had it for 6 months. When I looked it over myself before purchasing it I saw no signs of coolant splatter, and I had a pre-purchase inspection done by a reputable mechanic which turned up no engine problems. I had a few trouble free months before this issue came up, so I want to guess that it only started recently.

 

Check out Columbia Rovers and Green Oval in Portland....

 

Bummer. You might want to try a second opinion on the blown head gasket.

 

Best test would be a leak down test.

youtube it.

 

You might be able to get a camera in through the spark plug hole to check out if you can see any cracks. My other car is known for cracked blocks, but it's an open-decked high performance turbo-charged car. Sometimes the cracks can be seen with a look inside the cylinder with a decent enough camera.

Do you have any white smoke or stumbling on cold starts? Did they do a test for exhaust gasses in the coolant?

Like Abran said, pretty much the only way the head gasket goes is if it has overheated. That's not that uncommon, given the weaknesses in the cooling system (like the bleeder T).

Leak down test should tell you where/if you have an issue. Then go from there. If you need a new engine, I'd try to find one with less than 98k miles on it. I got one a little over a year ago with 49k.