Relentless Head Gasket Issues-2012 RR Sport SC

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Harrison Lange

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Hey guys-


A few months ago I bought my first Range Rover. It is a 2012 Sport Supercharged [5.0L AJ133 V8]. I picked it up for a little less than half price because it had a blown head gasket. I have done the same thing for other cars before; I buy them for half price or less and replace the head gasket and then drive them around for a year or two. I have never run into issues like what I have come across on this Range Rover. At this point I have replaced the head gaskets twice on the old block, installed a new block and installed the heads and it still won't run right. Maybe someone on here knows to do something I'm not? Below is what has been going on:


REPAIR 1:

After disassembly, the heads appear to be warped but not greater than 0.1 mm as indicated by the Land Rover repair manual. The block is totally flat. I lapped all of the valves, cleaned everything, replaced the head gaskets and head bolts with the proper parts, reassembled.

The car ran well for a minute or two, then started burning coolant and pressurizing the system. A leak down test shows that between the number 1 and number 3 cylinder there is leak.


REPAIR 2:

This time I sent the heads off to be machined and checked for cracks. The heads are now totally flat and neither of them are cracked. When they came back I reassembled with all new head gaskets and head bolts.

This time the car ran well for a minute or two and again started burning coolant and pressurizing the cooling system. A leak down test shows that between the number 4 and the number 6 cylinders there is a leak AND there is a leak between the number 5 cylinder and the cooling system.


REPAIR 3:

I bought a new engine (new to me) that came out of a 2011 Jaguar XF non-supercharged and I swapped the pistons from my supercharged engine into the block of the Jaguar engine and then I reinstalled the block into the car and then reinstalled the heads from my original supercharged engine onto the new Jaguar block. STILL it is burning coolant and pressurizing the cooling system exactly the same way it was when it was in other attempts. The leaks are now in places that are different from the previous repair attempts as indicated by the misfire codes.


The leaks that I have found through codes and leak down tests never seem to be in the same place so this makes me think there is something wrong with the way I am installing the heads. I have followed the instructions in the manual exactly (20nm, 35nm, 90deg, 120deg and pattern). These are possibly the weakest head bolts I have come across and it doesn't look like there are any head studs available for this engine. Does anyone have any ideas?
 

John Robison

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The problem may be cracks in the heads. There may be damage to the block. You may have made errors in machining. Finally, the supercharged and non-supercharged blocks do not interchange, from everything I know. We rebuild all these motors, and we often hear stories like this because they are challenging to do. But it is pretty straightforward. You can have leaks within the heads, you can have cracks around the cylinders or around the head bolt holes. You often have warpage and it may not be obvious especially when checked in the car. The possible paths for pressurization are limited, and I know it's frustrating to read, but these things usually come down to missed faults and imperfect repair processes.

If it's any consolation this is why Land Rover does not want their dealers overhauling engines
 

Harrison Lange

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The problem may be cracks in the heads. There may be damage to the block. You may have made errors in machining. Finally, the supercharged and non-supercharged blocks do not interchange, from everything I know. We rebuild all these motors, and we often hear stories like this because they are challenging to do. But it is pretty straightforward. You can have leaks within the heads, you can have cracks around the cylinders or around the head bolt holes. You often have warpage and it may not be obvious especially when checked in the car. The possible paths for pressurization are limited, and I know it's frustrating to read, but these things usually come down to missed faults and imperfect repair processes.

If it's any consolation this is why Land Rover does not want their dealers overhauling engines

John,

Thanks for the input even though it's really what I didn't want to hear. I checked the levelness of the new block when I had it out of the car. Indeed it was the case that I could not see how warped the old block was until I got it out of the car. I don't believe either of the heads are cracked because the cylinders that are leaking is different every time I reassemble it.

I ran into a guy that works at a Jaguar/Land Rover dealer a few weeks ago and I gave him a call today- he said something similar to what you said about how Land Rover doesn't want techs at their dealerships to rebuild these engines; they will only allow them to install a remanufactured engine from Land Rover.

I think the only thing I can do at this point short of installing a remanufactured engine would be to somehow install head studs. The Land Rover head bolts seem to be very weak and maybe the additional clamping force from studs can overcome any imperfections in the mating surface? It's not looking that great at this point so I'll explore this option for now.
 

Pancho

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Your head gasket repair problems are similar to mine, 2010 RRS SC, except that i was able to go for a week or so without coolant loss. I have resolved to sell it, am too young for this stressful vehicle
 

gsxr

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Dumb question, but... are you using OE/Genuine gaskets, or aftermarket?
 

BendRover123

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I think another way to go about testing the engine is actually pressurizing the cooling system on the block and leaving the pressure on for say 1 week. Then check for leaks.
 

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