So, I take the LR4 (2015 3L SC) into the dealer for replacement of the timing chain and related hardware (pulleys, guides, tensioners, etc...) as the engine is approaching 80K miles and since I bought the vehicle I was getting a touch of rattle on start up and I do believe in preventative maintenance, especially in this case, and I get a text from my advisor that says "can the tech give you a call?" That's never good. I also had a very small oil leak but I figured when he was in there he could find it and fix that too. Tech tells me while he was disassembling everything he thinks he found the source of the rattle. I was writing everything down fast so I might not be 100% accurate in the recreation of his explanation but he said one of the chain guides is held in place by three bolts (upper I think?) and he said the first bolt was secure, the second bolt was stripped out and loose just sitting in the hole and the third bolt head was snapped off and the thread portion was stuck in and he would have to tap it out and rethread. He said thank God that second bolt never fell out or else you would have had catastrophic failure. He also thinks the rattle was because the chain didn't have the proper amount of tension and even perhaps that bolt might have caused that sound. I know the coolant pipes were replaced prior to my ownership and his opinion is that a ham-****** tech elsewhere (FL dealer, not mine) over-torqued the bolts and didn't really care. So, I thought good, at least it's a simple fix. Nope, still have to replace the chain and all the other components because he's afraid the chain may have stretched. On top of that I told them while they are in there to replace the water pump and the VVT's as I don't want to open the front end up again. So, he's ready to put everything back together and he discovers problem #2.
Problem #2 is he found a hairline crack in the passenger side cylinder head and remnants of RTV all around it. My assumption is the coolant pipes caused an obvious overheat issue and while it probably didn't warp the head, it actually cracked it. Over time the RTV lost its sealing properties and he said that was the source of the slight oil leak. He believes the previous owner probably didn't want to pay for the repair and had the dealer do a quick fix. That quick fix lasted about 10K miles...my ownership. The previous dealer did admit to replacing the coolant pipes but that's all they would admit to. So I find a used one with a 30 day warranty but yup, you guessed it, the dealer can't/won't install a used part. I do get that. He said he could RTV it as well if I intended to flip the truck. My third option is to buy a new head from JLR and they would sell it to me at their cost. Of course everything is all apart right now so it made no sense to have him button everything back up, buy the used head and have an indy shop do it for me only for me to incur all those labor charges a second time. I opted for #3 since I intend to keep the truck and it is otherwise in great shape. Incidentally, their cost for the head versus what they would sell it for is roughly 50%. Unreal.
This should be one doozy of a bill.
Problem #2 is he found a hairline crack in the passenger side cylinder head and remnants of RTV all around it. My assumption is the coolant pipes caused an obvious overheat issue and while it probably didn't warp the head, it actually cracked it. Over time the RTV lost its sealing properties and he said that was the source of the slight oil leak. He believes the previous owner probably didn't want to pay for the repair and had the dealer do a quick fix. That quick fix lasted about 10K miles...my ownership. The previous dealer did admit to replacing the coolant pipes but that's all they would admit to. So I find a used one with a 30 day warranty but yup, you guessed it, the dealer can't/won't install a used part. I do get that. He said he could RTV it as well if I intended to flip the truck. My third option is to buy a new head from JLR and they would sell it to me at their cost. Of course everything is all apart right now so it made no sense to have him button everything back up, buy the used head and have an indy shop do it for me only for me to incur all those labor charges a second time. I opted for #3 since I intend to keep the truck and it is otherwise in great shape. Incidentally, their cost for the head versus what they would sell it for is roughly 50%. Unreal.
This should be one doozy of a bill.