Blown head gasket RR 1999 HSE V8

[CaptainBlue]

New owner of a 10 yr old car and the head gasket has gone. I must have been losing coolant although I've not noticed any leaks. Has it all gone through the exhaust ? The engine oil looks OK. What is a blown head gasket, is it due to old age or too much pressure ? I hadn't been experiencing any overheating problems apart from the fact that I must have been getting low on coolant because I saw the needle go into the red it and started to boil over.

The local 4x4 garage done a test for Co2 in the radiator coolant and it was positive, more than so, the bloke said the gasket had 'really gone'. I've been quoted £1200 is that reasonable ? Think I saw in another post that the job is about 8 hrs labour.

[Roverbo]

I've been quoted £1200 is that reasonable ? Think I saw in another post that the job is about 8 hrs labour.

Tjena (Hi) Cpt. Blue!

Dont know if it´s reasonable, it´s a lot of money (Thats SEK 14.000,- isn´t it? Shiver...). Join the swedish land rover forum on www.slrk.se and ask for help. Surely someone near you will offer his help for cheaper money. I´m doing most work on my RRC myself, but have used authorized workshops for my old Volvo in Sweden (much cheaper than here in Denmark), and have never paid over SEK 800/hr. So for 8 hours, that would be 6-7000,-. The parts will only be a few quid...

Regards

Bo

PS: OK, if its only a new gasket theres needed, it ain´t a difficult job. But if you have got the old 4.6 engine it could suffer from loose liners, cracks in the block etc. And that´s another story...

[CaptainBlue]

Hej Roverbo,

Yeah I frequently visit the swedish LRC site, was an old member but still read the posts. I live in Sweden but got the range rover based in England. I don't think I'm being overcharged but will get a breakdown of the bill. Think they said they will send the block or cylinder or something away for skimming ?

[Roverbo]

Hi,

yes skimming the the heads is often a good idea to be sure it´s all getting straight and tight. Without skimming, many prefer to replace the original "tinplate" gasket with a composite gasket. It is more tolerant to warps, but lowers the compression (it´s thicker). So, if you will pay "real money" for the job, don´t compromise here.

I guess other members of this forum, situated in England, can give you better advice as where to get your engine fixed...

Regards

Bo - soon on my way to Blekinge, Sweden.

[Range Rover Blues]

Is that £1200 in British money? hell's teeth that's a bit steep.

I can get the heads off on my own in half a day, take them into the RES in Sheffield and get them skimmed and tested for £60plus VAT each. Full set fo geaskets last time I did it was about £40, plus some new antifreeze and anything else I bust along the way.

As for which gasket you will get differing advice. Many people still use the "tin" (actually aluminium) gasket with no problems. The later factory 10 bolt compostie gasket was fitted along with stretch bolts and has a different torquing sequence. then there are aftermerket composite gaskets that can replace the tin one using the original 14 bolts.

I've fitted the later with no problems at all, they are more tolerant so you can omit the skim on a very lightly twisted head.

A tin gakset torques down to a nominal 0.5mm thickness, a compostie is nominally 1.2mm so you loose 0.7mm of compression, or put another way you can skim that amount off the head and swap to composite with no ill effects.

The LR manual gives the minimum thicknesses for the head if it's skimmed.

[CaptainBlue]

Is that £1200 in British money? hell's teeth that's a bit steep.

I can get the heads off on my own in half a day, take them into the RES in Sheffield and get them skimmed and tested for £60plus VAT each. Full set fo geaskets last time I did it was about £40, plus some new antifreeze and anything else I bust along the way.

As for which gasket you will get differing advice. Many people still use the "tin" (actually aluminium) gasket with no problems. The later factory 10 bolt compostie gasket was fitted along with stretch bolts and has a different torquing sequence. then there are aftermerket composite gaskets that can replace the tin one using the original 14 bolts.

I've fitted the later with no problems at all, they are more tolerant so you can omit the skim on a very lightly twisted head.

A tin gakset torques down to a nominal 0.5mm thickness, a compostie is nominally 1.2mm so you loose 0.7mm of compression, or put another way you can skim that amount off the head and swap to composite with no ill effects.

The LR manual gives the minimum thicknesses for the head if it's skimmed.

Hi Old Hand,

Yes, good old GBP 1200 of them. To be honest I didn't know what the job entailed. Anyway, I got no way of doing it myself. I did speak to the bloke today for a breakdown of the cost. Even being a novice I was taken aback when he said the whole job would take 20 hours at 50 quid an hour. I did see someone mentioned the repair manual states about 8hrs for the job. I did mention that, so anyway he knows that I know. They do seem nice people - which I'm learning fast does not mean much - and they're close to home. So I'll see what the bill says.

[Roverbo]

They do seem nice people - which I'm learning fast does not mean much - and they're close to home. So I'll see what the bill says.

There are so many nice people around, who wouldn´t charge you 20 hours....I would def. get a fixed price before they started. What if they charge you 30 hours?

Not to offend anyone, but I wouldn´t trust a garage a "carte blanche", if I hadn´t very long experience with them.

[CaptainBlue]

There are so many nice people around, who wouldn´t charge you 20 hours....I would def. get a fixed price before they started. What if they charge you 30 hours?

Not to offend anyone, but I wouldn´t trust a garage a "carte blanche", if I hadn´t very long experience with them.

Then I'll give the Office of Fair Trading a call.

[SteveRK]

If the head is warped to the extent that it needs skimming i would expect the rocker shaft to be seized stuck?

Bolting the head back down evenly would straighten a modest warp if using tin gaskets?

[Range Rover Blues]

I've had heads go, after loosing a heater pipe for example, with no outwards signs of damage but that were warped like the proverbial.

thing is they are an ali casting so I'd expect a certain amount of 'settling' even if they had never actually failed.

If you use composite gasket you can "chance" not skimming the head. PLenty of times it will be fine but for peace of mind and long term reliability I'd skim it, time permitting, every time these days.

It's hardly the weather to be doing anything but the heads on a V8 are far from the worst job to have a go at yourself, if you want to save some money.

In your shoes though Captian Blue I would be ringing a few garages for quotes, I still think that's way too much. Best of luck with it.

[vougese39]

if you have ap38a with a warped head then have them skimed and pressure tested as a pair and skimmed the same as a pair.

have the block inspected could be a porus block problem and you would be wasting the money now and not having it checked before refiting use a good quality gasket kit i normaly charge around the 800+vat and that usualy includes the skim and crack test on both heads expect a worn cam as well as it is a good time to inspect too