by "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
Published 12/21/2017 at 12:47
by "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
Published 12/21/2017 at 12:47
Tags: Disco Inferno
STARS: 0
After my overheating this weekend and subsequently finding the leak in an odd spot, I knew it would bug me if I didn’t go ahead and look into what was causing the problem. So, I booked it into a local recommended, independent shop specializing in Land Rovers.
It did not go well.
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The bad news is both head gaskets and the throttle body heater are leaking coolant. Not much more to say about that, I’m afraid.
The good news is they have been doing this for longer than I’ve owned the car. So in reality nothing has changed. This car still completed a 1400-mile off-road road trip and lived to tell the tale. It still runs and drives as it always has, it just is slightly more… broken that I’d like it to be.
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Oddly, the frustrating part about this isn’t that the dealership that sold it to me likely knew it had a blown head gasket and sold it to me anyway. Nor it is that that the head gaskets were replaced 60,000 miles ago, meaning this car eats head gaskets, on average, every 55,000 miles. No… the frustrating part is the indy shop I took it to touched me in a bad place (not literally).
You see, I was quoted $60 to $80 for the pressure test to determine the location of the leak. When I showed up, I also mentioned the parking brake doesn’t work and the problem isn’t the adjustment or the cable and asked if they could take a look. The guy said “no problem” and that was that.
Turns out that “no problem” meant “no problem, but it will cost $50 for us to look at that”. In the end, what it really meant was $50 to learn no information I hadn’t already told them.
I’ve priced it out before and the shoes are about $30 shipped, but you have to remove the propshaft to do the job, which is lame. Their estimate? $900
Same story on the throttle body heater. About $30 in parts and a 15 min job. Their estimate? $255
Head gasket is a little tricky, but what I’ve heard on the internet is about 10 hours of work, $200 in parts plus whatever it takes to get the heads checked out. Their starting point ? $3800
This is literally why I learned to work on my own cars. Not because I actually enjoy it, but because of shit like this.
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Not... quite. As I mentioned, I’m going to quote send it unquote , as the kids say, on this offroad road trip next week (which I haven’t mentioned yet but I will get around to writing about). After that it is off to the body shop to fixed up after the boop , and then pick a weekend to begin tearing it down and doing the work myself.
Part of me though it would be “fun” to try and do the job before next Thursday, but between Christmas and expediting fees, it would be a close thing and more stress than I really need. Would have made for good Oppo though!
My guess is it is a two weekend job, so I’ll budget three plus two garage bays, one for the car and one for parts.
So yeah… The Disco isn’t dead (yet)
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
12/21/2017 at 12:53, STARS: 1
I’ll say it:
LS swap.
"diplodicus" (diplodicus)
12/21/2017 at 13:13, STARS: 0
WTF does that place charge an hr? I’m used to 85/hr so 10hrs +parts would be like 1100 with tax. I don’t see how machining and pressure testing the heads would run you another 2700$
Why does the prop shaft have to be removed to replace the parking brake shoes?
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/21/2017 at 13:19, STARS: 1
This is why I prefer to keep my cars under warranty. I spent too many years wrenching in the rain, mud, cold, or hot weather to make it fun. Not until I have a dedicated covered work space do I ever want to do my own wrenching again. That being said, I still need to a brake job on the WRX. The Explorer needed new plugs (have to drop the engine for that, WTF?) before it got wrecked. And then I need to ....
"R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet" (r-saldana)
12/21/2017 at 13:26, STARS: 0
Can’t run the LS through the stock transfer case for 4 LO
"R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet" (r-saldana)
12/21/2017 at 13:26, STARS: 1
You can bypass the throttle body heater
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/21/2017 at 13:46, STARS: 0
When I showed up, I also mentioned the parking brake doesn’t work and the problem isn’t the adjustment or the cable and asked if they could take a look. The guy said “no problem” and that was that.
Turns out that “no problem” meant “no problem, but it will cost $50 for us to look at that”. In the end, what it really meant was $50 to learn no information I hadn’t already told them.
Ok, so I understand why that needs to be a separate item on your bill from what was already agreed-upon. But they still should have been up-front about the cost.
I can’t believe they had the nerve to take your money without diagnosing it any further than confirming that the cables and adjustment were within spec.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 1
Right? I think they’re about $150/hr, but that still doesn’t get to the $4k mark. They might be adding in a buffer for other finding? Valves? It is a single line quote so...
The parking brake is a drum on the prop shaft because Land Rover.
"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
12/21/2017 at 13:47, STARS: 3
I’ve done the head gaskets on my RRC. You’re in for a treat. Nothing overly complicated really, but you’ll get stuck way more times than you think you will and won’t remember how the dam power steering pump goes back in no matter how many pictures you take.
Let me know if you want some pics, vids, tips, etc. from when I did it. There’s a decent amount of stuff on the web about it, but I never found a comprehensive writeup.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 13:50, STARS: 0
You’d think!
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/21/2017 at 13:53, STARS: 2
You know what else I’d think? If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that they were actively trying to turn you away as a customer.
"diplodicus" (diplodicus)
12/21/2017 at 13:55, STARS: 1
I glanced on ebay to see what remanned heads go for. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Land-Rover-Discovery-4-0-Cylinder-Heads-COMPLETE-PAIR-CAST-HRC-2479-1995-1999/192254755970?hash=item2cc346c482:g:B7UAAOSw-vlVgvtK That seems like a killer deal. IDK what that shop is smoking. Or what land rover was smoking when they though putting the parking brake on the prop shaft was a good idea.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 13:56, STARS: 0
Thanks! Any tips would be great and I’ll keep you in mind. I don’t expect it to be easy, but not the worst either. In a sick way I’m looking forward to it. I read over the procedure in the workshop manual and was surprised at how simple it seemed. Atlantic British also has over two hours of video on the matter so... fingers crossed.
Luckily I don’t think the PS pump has to come off. The alternator removed and the AC manhandled a bit, plus I’d have to take off the ACE pump if that hadn’t already been removed (PO did the ACE delete).
My current unknown is what else to do when I’m in there. Plug wires are an obvious one, but I’m not sure about going ahead and swapping out the coils too. Also not sure what engine work (valves, springs, etc) to look forward to...
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 14:00, STARS: 1
I also had this thought! I don’t know why, I’m delightful haha. Realistically I’d bet enthusiasts make the worst customers. We know what the parts cost, we know roughly what it takes to do, and we are going to ask a ton of questions.
But yeah, with prices and customer service like that I also considered it might have been intentional.
That said he seemed like he honestly expected me to want to schedule the service, even though my reaction to the $3800 was to start laughing and saying “no” at the same time.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 14:03, STARS: 0
Oh wow yeah that isn’t terrible. I’ll see what getting mine machined will run me and compare. New valves are tempting, but then again the engine only has 100k on it and all this was done 50-60k ago.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/21/2017 at 14:08, STARS: 2
TORQUE THE HEAD BOLTS IN THE CORRECT SEQUENCE.
That is important-est.
"brianbrannon" (brianbrannon)
12/21/2017 at 14:09, STARS: 1
I’d love to see the comeback list for a shop that sourced all its parts from eBay
"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
12/21/2017 at 14:17, STARS: 1
I had a machine shop skim the heads, and check all the valves. Some valves needed to be lapped, and they put all new seals in. The kit from Atlantic British has a million different gaskets to replace including the injector O-rings. All belts can be replaced if they look questionable.
If you’re ambitious, you can do your camshaft and lifters at the same time. I really wish I had because in the process of having the heads off and using cleaner on the lifter valley area, I dried out the lifters and now I have several that are stuck and noisy. If you do that, you have to take the front cover off and you can replace the timing chain, water pump, and front cover gasket as well.
The design could have changed from my 3.9 to your 4.0, but the power steering bracket bolts into the left side head so I had to take that out completely.
I used ARB studs instead of the stretch bolts. The trick with those is you have to fit the head, then thread the studs into the block as there isn’t enough room to clear the exposed studs with the head. Also, not sure if clearance issues are the same, but I had to get a 1/2" universal joint to get to the bolts near the firewall.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 14:18, STARS: 0
Haha I’ve watched enough Wheeler Dealers to remember that. Also use a piece of cardboard to store the push rods.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 14:19, STARS: 0
How much did the machine shop work cost, if you don’t mind me asking?
"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
12/21/2017 at 14:32, STARS: 1
$150 for everything, and they even painted the heads for me. I wish I would have brought in the valve covers so they could take a bath in the parts cleaner too, but I didn’t.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/21/2017 at 14:34, STARS: 0
Oh excellent. That gives me hope (and a ballpark figure for that part of the job)
I actually put a parts washer on my wish list because of this new info. Also a garage heater haha.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/21/2017 at 17:40, STARS: 0
Classic is way different from a D2.
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/21/2017 at 17:43, STARS: 1
Sorry dude. If you plan on keeping it a long time, cometic head gaskets and ARP studs are the way to go, no more 60k life expectancy. I could do these with my eyes closed, happy to offer help if you need it.
"razorbeamteam" (razorbeamteam)
12/22/2017 at 09:41, STARS: 0
The belt layout is different (serpentine vs. v) but the block and heads are very similar, right?
"AMGtech - now with more recalls!" (amgtech)
12/22/2017 at 10:24, STARS: 0
The block, exhaust manifolds, and heads are nearly identical, or are identical if the classic has 10 bolt heads. Wiring, intake manifold, accessory drive stuff, brackets are all way different. D2 is much easier.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
04/04/2018 at 17:01, STARS: 1
Oh hey! As a follow up I did end up buying new heads off eBay, but not from this seller. I googled them and their reviews are overwhelmingly negative and looks like they may have even had some legal trouble because of it. Luckily Dover was also selling on eBay for $25 more, so $400 got me some beautiful heads. Thanks for the tip! This really ended up paying off as my local machine shops were both expensive and had long lead times.