Has anyone ever had a head gasket issue. It appears as if my gaskets are blown and the local Land Rover/Jaguar dealer won't touch it, they informed me I would need to replace the engine. Does anyone have a resource for this issue? I can have the engine removed and shipped to anywhere within reason. I would like to explore all options before I plunk down $7,600 for a used engine. My Rover is a 2011 LR4 HSE btw.
Blown Head gaskets
- Thread starter CraftyB
- Start date
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f1racer328
Full Access Member
Did you overheat due to a crossover pipe failing?
I don't recall seeing a blown head gasket on the forums here without overheating.
I don't recall seeing a blown head gasket on the forums here without overheating.
jlglr4
Full Access Member
Curious if anyone knows the reason that blown headgaskets/warped heads = new engine on these cars? I’ve heard it said over and over on these forums, but the only explanation that I’ve actually seen is that shops were seeing stripped head bolts after replacing heads and so they stopped wanting to repair the heads (customers would come back later and blame them for shoddy work). That doesn’t seem like a good enough reason to me - simply explain the risks to the customer and refuse to warranty the work.
I guess you can redeck the block and you may be able to flatten the heads but by the time you get there you are close to a used engine? No idea? Perhaps rare enough no one has gotten comfortable with the process? Outside of N/A the gasoline engines are probably a small % of total sales?
I purchased a 2011 LR4 last year with a headgasket failure. I traced it back to a stripped headbolt in the block. No evidence of overheat in the past. Engine was still running, just burning coolant. I did all the work myself in my home garage and I'm not a mechanic by trade. It was a lot of work, but worth it. I think the key is that the block needs to have steel inserts placed for the head bolt threads otherwise the aluminum just will not hold for the long term. I'll post a link to my rebuild thread next.
See this thread for documentation of my experience with LR4 headgaskets.
2011 LR4 5.0 Head Gasket replacement documentation - Land Rover Forums - Land Rover Enthusiast Forum
LR4 - 2011 LR4 5.0 Head Gasket replacement documentation - New to the Landrover community. Recently acquired a project 2011 LR4 with 120,000 miles. - slow coolant loss - failed block test - suspect head gasket failure I will use this thread to document progress and share lessons learned.
landroverforums.com
jlglr4
Full Access Member
I followed that thread for a little while, but lost track. Looks like worked out - a lot of work, but nice job.
But for a professional mechanic, it seems like replacing heads should be cheaper than replacing a motor - by a lot. But maybe its just that mechanic rates have become so high that that the price of a new (used) motor is now actually cheaper by comparison (is it less “book” hours to replace an engine that to replace the heads)? With some shops apparently charging $6K-10K for a timing chain, maybe that’s where we’re at.
But for a professional mechanic, it seems like replacing heads should be cheaper than replacing a motor - by a lot. But maybe its just that mechanic rates have become so high that that the price of a new (used) motor is now actually cheaper by comparison (is it less “book” hours to replace an engine that to replace the heads)? With some shops apparently charging $6K-10K for a timing chain, maybe that’s where we’re at.
