Longevity update: It has now been almost 4 years and 43,000 Miles since I started this rebuild thread. A job change moved us coast to coast this summer, and the LR4 performed great dragging a travel trailer all the way from California to Alabama through some of the hottest temperatures on record in the desert Southwest! Just turned over to 163000 total miles and we will be putting 2k+ more on over Christmas as we drive to the northeast and back.

 

Longevity Update: We have put another 20k+ miles on the LR4 this past year. We are now over 60k out from the headgasket and top end rebuild. It will be rolling over to 183,000 miles this week.

A slight misfire at idle developed in cylinders 3 and 8 a few months ago. It didn't affect drivability, but I could feel that it was not running as smoothly as it should. I swapped coils and plugs from different cylinders, but the misfire stayed on 3 and 8. I should have looked at the plugs more closely, but I didn't notice their wear. When the miss didn't move with the plugs or coils, I thought injectors might be the source. During cylinder 3 injector replacement, i took a closer look at the spark plug and saw a huge gap and electrode wear. It was clearly the worn plugs causing the issue. 8 new plugs and now no misfire.

The NGK iridium plugs installed 60k miles ago were done. See photo. I went with denso this time.

 

I'm about to attempt mines due to warranty not wanting to fix. I have a 2012 range rover sport hse lux. Has a head gasket leak. I'm wondering if I try just changing head bolts first before taking it all apart. Also , what is the proper way to bleed air out of coolant system? Thanks.

 

Hey cody, sorry to hear that you have a leak as well. Good luck on the repair. It can be done if the block is not damaged by an overheat. I doubt that you would get success with just replacing the headbolts though. The failure point is not usually the head bolts themselves, but rather the aluminum threads within the block that the headbolts bite into. Typically the correct fix for this is to drill out the old aluminum threads within the block and replace them with steel inserts.

Good luck!

As for the coolant bleed procedure. Before starting the engine, open the valve on the front cross over pipe. Fill until fluid comes out there and close it. Then open the bleed screw on the expansion tank and on the hose near the battery about 2 turns. They both use a large Philip's head screwdriver to loosen and tighten. Once those 2 are open, you can start the engine and wait for the thermostat to open. Once the thermostat opens, air will bleed out. once you see coolant, you can close those 2 bleeder screws.

 

Very nice to see the long term success of this endeavor, so now I can go shopping for cheap LR4's and do the same. I've seen them as low as $1500 US. I might have to make some room in the garage for a long term project, so do I evict the Mustang, the Squarebody Chevy or the wife's Disco sport?

 

Thanks. Would you have some recommended parts? the mechanic told me 5 and 8 was leaking. I'm guessing that's both heads. I didn't look up diagram yet. I was looking on rockauto, geekparts and also Atlantic British. I know original parts would be best but which other brands would you recommend if you went with any. I'm wanting to get all parts and tools on hand before digging in. Thanks again.

 

Update: Another summer road trip is complete. The Rover carried our family of 7 while towing a 3500lb box camper over 2k miles. Will be rolling over to 200k miles shortly.

 

Cody,

I preferred landrover parts. They are more expensive, but for the engine work I was willing to splurge a little since I saved a lot by doing the work myself anyway. I wascould happy with the Atlantic British stuff I used as well. You could also check FCPeuro. They have a great warranty program.

 

Hi Sir

I have LR4 2010 v8 and it is now blowing white smoke from exhaust in the morning for less then a minute and then gone.

PCV already replaced
I notice coolant losing as well

is it a head gasket failure or something else? The car is still drivable and no notice of engine power loss, that is why I still have a doubt if this is head gasket is the root cause, but yes losing coolant indicating some coolant leakage somewhere which could be again head gasket problem?

May you share the symptom you had?

 

that was the same problem i had. On start up a little white smoke then cleared. It was still drivable with no issues. If its cold out, it would have white steam regardless. Idk how your engine is but mines has a plastic crossover pipe in back of engine and also one on top of engine in front. I would check there first if leakage is occurring. Mines was the head gasket which ive replaced. Lasted 10 months and now its really broken. White smoke first and now all 8 cylinders are misfiring. So probably a head gasket again but i noticed my fuel tank is wet. So im hoping its fuel related being the head removal process takes a little time to do. I hope this helped you.