[RRChuck]

My mechanic has owned his own British car service for over 15 years. He was formerly a Land Rover dealership mechanic for many years. I have been using him to do all of the work on my family's two MINIs for over six year and have come to trust him quit a bit. Today, I'm a bit skeptical and would like to know if any of you can confirm or deny the story he is giving me.

My 2011 Rang Rover Supercharged has started producing white smoke out of the tail pipe for a short time after first being started. Recently it has needed the coolant reservoir topped off a couple of times. Separate from my mechanic, I took the vehicle to the local Range Rover dealer and had them take a look. The dealer did a coolant system pressure overnight test and found coolant in cylinder 6 the next morning. The dealer says I need a new engine! My mechanic says it's likely just a crack in the head gasket.

My main question is, does the body of the car really have to be removed from the frame in order to get the heads off of the engine? My mechanic claims the studs upon which the heads are mounted are too long for the heads to be removed because the head will come in contact with the body of the car before clearing the top of the studs.

Has anyone been able to get the heads off of this V8 S/C 5.0L V8 Petrol without disassembling the entire car?

Thanks for any input!

Kevin

 

[RRToadHall]

not for the L322 you don't. for the Sport L320 the Answer is yes. Not a big deal. It is designed for the body to lift off.

 

[none77]

HI RRtoadhall,

Will you clarify the answer? I'm not sure if I understand. Do you need to lift body off L322 to replace head gasket? Is this standard for all models, or just the 2011?

Thanks in advance for all the knowledge you share!

 

[RRToadHall]

NO. Your mechanic is confused. It is the Sport that requires the body to be removed

 

[fosterelli]

And for what it's worth, many vehicles have lift-off/body-off design built in for heavy servicing. Here's a RRS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BbOSaA8zYE

Doesn't take too long and makes life easy. You can YouTube all sorts of rigs getting the treatment.

 

[anvilrob]

No, the body does not need to be lifted (or the engine/subframe dropped) if/when the head retaining BOLTS need removing on a full size.

Rob

 

[RRChuck]

Thank you everyone for your replies. This sounds like good news relative to engine replacement or major disassembly. I love this vehicle and have planned on being it's last owner since I started shopping around for it. I started having second thoughts when the engine replacement that costs more than I paid for the entire vehicle was suggested. I feel much better now, thank you!

So, the next step is to get the head gaskets replaced. Since my dealer wants to put a new engine in and my long-time mechanic wants to take the vehicle completely apart, I'm now interested in talking with someone who has actually replaced the head gaskets in a 2010, 2011 or 2012 Range Rover Supercharged.

Does anyone know someone (or someone that knows someone) that has done this work that I could call and talk to them about the work involved?

Thanks in advance!
Kevin

 

[RRChuck]

Here's the latest on my head gasket leak situation...

I spent a lot of time researching and searching to find this vehicle of mine. It's truly my dream car and I fully intended to be it's last owner -- so I'm very interested in a finding a practical solution. When the dealership service department brought the vehicle out to me after telling me they found nothing wrong and I saw white steam pouring out of the exhaust pipes, my heart sank. After leaving it with the dealer another week, they told me I'd need a new engine. My independent Rover mechanic said the head gasket could be replaced for around $5k. I started reading rangerovers.net blogs and saw one reply where someone has put a stop-leak product in their vehicle and solved their problem. After discussing with my mechanic (who said pour stop-leak in and then immediately sell the vehicle) and talking with the tech support people at Bar's Leaks, I decided to give the Bar's Leaks product a try.

The Bar's Leaks fellow told me to make sure and do a thorough coolant flush before adding their product. He also said they have around a 90% success rate with virtually no complications as long as a proper flush is done in advance. After weighing the $40,000 new engine, the $5,000 new head gasket, and the $23 bottle of Bar's Leaks, it seemed to make a lot of sense to give the Bar's Leaks a try.

I just spent the last three days doing multiple flushes to get the old antifreeze out and run the radiator flush chemical through the system. Yesterday evening, I finally got to the point of refilling the system with antifreeze and the Bar's Leaks product. It's still a bit premature, but this morning, no steam whatsoever out of the tail pipes. I'm going to reset the misfire DTC's today and see if they are gone for good as well as monitor the coolant level and see if it stays full. Fingers crossed.

 

[RRToadHall]

NO NO NO! That is nothing more than a band-aid and is NOT a permanent fix. Bar's leak just gums up everything else in the cooling system including heater cores, radiator and the thermostat. I've been the unfortunate schmuck that has had to do tried and true heat gasket jobs after folks have used that stuff in their rigs.

 

[eastchester]

Hi i own a repair shop in Kingston new york we specialize in land rover service, and we are removing heads off today on 5.0 full size range rover. Require quite few specialty tools. I let you know how we made out.
Haider
Eastcheter auto Kingston NY

 

[MARK_C]

Never Use Bars Leak or any other other magic fix for a head gasket leak or you will be looking for a new engine. Bars leak doesn't even work on Aluminum engines anyways. Been thru this several times with the Cadillac 4.6L Northstar aluminum engines. Theres some other crap called Blue Devil that claims it can seal aluminum engine head gaskets, but it also is not a good idea. The stuff you pour into the radiator just don't work and ends up plugging up your cooling passages or radiator. If it truly is a head gasket the only long term fix is to replace them, it its a cracked block then you need a new engine. Don't forget you also have a cooling system in the intercoolers of the SC engine that could potentially leak into the intake manifold then into the cylinders. You know theres water in the #6 cylinder, how does the compression pressure in it compare to the other cylinders, especially the two on either side.

Since its already in there, start flushing it out now before it fills in all the little nooks and crannies of your radiator, transmission cooler and SC cooler. If it fixed the leak its done it's job and you don't need the rest of the crap floating around in solution waiting to plug something else up which will cost you even more money.

 

[EEHam]

This is the primary problem with old Range Rovers. The first owner bought a $70k-$125 under warranty new truck and probably kept up with regular maintenance. The second owner might have snagged a little warrenty, but no matter got a expensive truck for half price or less, and relatively low miles. Then comes along the third owner....

They can afford the depreciated purchase price, but they can't afford the maintenance. So they stop regular service, procrastinate on repairs, and generally leave the brand disgusted because they couldn't really afford the truck. If the truck is lucky, it'll get an owner who can wrench, because by this time no one can financially rationalize paying a dealership tech, or certified tech to maintain it.

That makes these trucks great values for people who can wrench on them. But they have to make up for all the neglect of the previous owners.

Bottomline is fix your headgasket. It's fairly straightforward, and will cost you thousands in labor if you pay someone else to do it, but cost you hundreds if you do it yourself. The most expensive part will be the machine work. The rest is just time and gaskets.

Any of the head gasket quick fix junk, is a tempory fix that people use to temporarily fix a problem so they can unload it on the next sap, who doesn't know how to fix it either, and can't afford to pay someone else to do it.

 

[EEHam]

The L322's are an awesome value right now. You're getting a fantastic truck for the purchase price. But unless the seller can provide you service records, expect to invest a few thousand in parts and tools, or two or three times the price of the parts and tools, if you have to pay someone else to do all the things that probably need to be done. If it's in the 80k-150k mile range with the age it's got on it, expect the following.

1. The air suspension is probably in need of new parts. You can do it bit by bit, as if fails, or just get in there and replace the wear parts.
2. Rubber and bushings need to be replaced, again you can do it piecemeal or just roll up your sleeves and do it.
3, Seals, including head gasket, and some hoses need to be replaced...again you can drag it out or just do it.
4. Gearbox needs a new filter, seals, and oil, and has probably been neglected. The same for differential service requirements.
5. There will be electronic modules that have to be replaced. Figure out the ones that will inconvenience you and replace them before they go.
6. Timing chain and tensioners, and parts need to be replaced, this will cost you thousands if you pay someone else to do it (I think it's booked as a 22 hour job), and requires some speciality tools for timing. But if you do it and are smart acquiring the tools you need, it'll cost you maybe a $1K or less. If you pay a certified tech, it's a $4-$5k job.

I love the L322! But it will end up a nightmare for those that can just afford the purchase price. They'll end up disgusted with the truck, and tell everyone they know they're unreliable POS's. All because they really couldn't afford to do what needs to be done when they bought it.