Head Removal

[Longtrail]

I've had a fantasy about learning how to work on these LR4s. I figure if you own one it's best to be able to work on it. There is a 2010 non-HD that's for sale here locally that looks in pretty good condition but is said to be blowing smoke out the exhaust. The seller thinks it might be a head gasket, but admits it may be something else, more. In my fantasy, I buy myself a set of tools and take my time to tear it apart and learn everything about it as I go, building my confidence on a car that is already mostly in the bag. In reality, I don't have the time right now or the tools or a place to work on it or the knowledge or expertise, so I am going to take a pass for the time being. Still, I can see myself someday puttering around in a garage and getting the sense of satisfaction that comes with working on your own rig and having it come together.

This forum (and all the great folks here ), YouTube, patience, knowing when to walk away and take a break, decent tools that will naturally grow as time goes by, a spare vehicle, a place to work safely and comfortably, a reasonable understanding of how things work and why (YouTube again), band aids, Motrin, a patient partner, understanding kids..., time!

All tips for success, there's nothing better than driving these rigs when you feel things are as they should be and you've contributed to that well being. I think we're all travelers on this journey!

 

[scapistron]

I forgot to add one other thing. My hood struts went bad while I had them out for 3 months. Not sure why given that's the way they're shipped.

 

[ftillier]

Can you replace motor mounts easily enough while the heads are off?

 

[Rover Range]

Can you replace motor mounts easily enough while the heads are off?

Yes. WAY easier.

 

[djkaosone]

It's a good amount of work to get the heads off and put everything back together. I've removed the heads with the body on with an engine support bar. I highly recommend setting/locking in the timing tools in place before starting. THE trickiest part out of all this is getting those darn screws near the firewall.

I have to do redo my head gaskets on the V8, so maybe I'll do a writeup on all this. I also tend to chase holes while doing work on it, so it'll take a lot longer for me to do this. I might as well walnut blast the intake valves, redo timing chains, clean out injectors, etc while the heads are off too.

 

[M32H32IS]

It's a good amount of work to get the heads off and put everything back together. I've removed the heads with the body on with an engine support bar. I highly recommend setting/locking in the timing tools in place before starting. THE trickiest part out of all this is getting those darn screws near the firewall.

I have to do redo my head gaskets on the V8, so maybe I'll do a writeup on all this. I also tend to chase holes while doing work on it, so it'll take a lot longer for me to do this. I might as well walnut blast the intake valves, redo timing chains, clean out injectors, etc while the heads are off too.

How is your rebuild coming along?

 

[djkaosone]

I'm at the waiting for parts and cleaning while waiting stage. I was fortunate to score all oem bnib thermostat, power steering pump, and 1x ignition coil for $60 while waiting on dealership parts. Unfortunately, I didn't document anything.

An interesting note, a 50/50 mixture of any transmission fluid (dextron IV on hand) and acetone cleans carbon build up pretty easily.

 

[Land Rover Joe]

Can you do it without lifting the body off the frame?

Absolutely - see my photos (below attached).

 

[Land Rover Joe]

Yes. WAY easier.

• While you can certainly access the engine mounts more easily without the heads on, it would be advisable to pull out the rest of the stuff too like all the batteries and harnesses. In fact, pulling everything off the front end (radiator and A/C condenser) makes a huge difference as well (lots of work there).
• Here are a couple of photos where you can clearly see the engine mounts – with the engine out and then with it replaced but without anything else connected and tightened down. On the first, you can see the engine mount rubber and bolt beneath the steering column. On the second, you can see the mounts with the same steel then rubber and bolt on each side of the engine block (which is where it mates to the chassis/engine mount and then bolts on).
• But this all leads to a question: Why do you need to get at the engine mounts? What do you need to do? Fortunately, mine seem to be in good shape (no corrosion and the rubber bushing is solid and not dry rotted).

 

[Land Rover Joe]

How time consuming is it to remove the heads on an AJ133?

I ask bc I’m tired of paying shops & getting 1/2 @$$ work in return.

I’d rather do it myself so I know someone took their time to do it correctly. Have the know how & tools but realistically I need to budget the time.

I’m guessing 6-8 hours tear down & about the same to rebuild…

Nike may have the best motto for your case: Just do it!

That said, I am getting a LOT of help and not actually turning wrenches, so truth be told – I am more of an invested and interested observer for all this right now than the technical guy. Oh, the shame!

But, I was in the “getting parts” and “doing research” phase for almost a year! So I think that patience is the name of the game here regardless of whatever you are doing. As others noted – you will find other things to fix / clean / improve along the way and that makes this more of a “Journey and not the Destination” endeavor.

First off, I think it is going to take you a lot more time than 8 hours each way. I have burned through significant time (actually my mechanic friends who are doing all the heavy lifting) working on this job—and we are nowhere near done yet! That said, my service / rebuild / overhaul is a lot more intensive (and expensive) than just the heads service. That leads to a question: why only the head service and not the timing chains as well? It would seem to me, as I am presently having done, that if you go through all the trouble to do the heads, you might as well do the rest of the engine.

Second, I would say cleaning is a real chore; not difficult…just time-consuming and very tedious (32 valves is a lot!) – but I think very necessary (and my truck only has 90,000 miles on it and I have tended to baby it with many oil changes using the best oils, so the engine is in very good shape—hurray!). We went through 5 cans of carburetor cleaner and quite a lot of gasoline to clean these parts. But you can see – now everything looks like new; a really impressive job by the gang (but we haven’t fired this thing up yet, so I don’t want to get too far down the path of praise…!).

We did not replace anything on the heads (but also are doing the timing / chains and pulled the engine out to clean the pan / sump as well as change the accessory drive chain) except for new silicone seals, head gasket (of course), and valve seats. We removed, cleaned, and re-installed the valves, valve springs (with the keepers for the springs along with these very troublesome little keeper keys), tappets, etc. I have almost all the special tools for all this work but the valve spring compressor I bought does not fit (an overhead style but too wide for the narrow tolerance of these valves) so the gang had to improvise there.
I can offer a couple thoughts / reflections on where we are at thus far if you are interested.

Next steps for us will be to get these silly oil restrictors delivered, then installed, and then the timing chains go on, set the timing replace to include installing the cams then variators and all that…and then we will give it a crank to see if she will fire up.

Here are some photos describing the work to date (mid-May 2025) –