Newbie with a few questions please...

Wow Hippo, I'm really impressed and I havn't even got one

Hippo - Thanks for that. I have to be honest in that I don't think I'd attempt such a thing in a gazillion years but it's great background info to have.

You mentioned £602+vat for parts plus 5.1 hours in labour. Unless the main dealers charge over £100 inc VAT per hour than I expect a person would be looking at around £1,200 for a head gasket change. Whilst I'd hope to never be unfortunate enough to need to have one changed - that figure is a lot less than the £1,800 I have seen mentioned around a few different forums. Also I expect that if a main dealer did the work and supplied the parts that there would be some sort of warranty if it were to fail again within a reasonable timeframe / mileage.

I'm curious though... How (by loosening that bolt) are you able to check the level of the auto transmission fluid and how is it topped up if required?

I have heard that the V6 engine although it can be susceptible to HGF is a lot less so than the 1.8 and that if driven sensibly is not any more likely to have issues than most other modern engines. If that's the case mine should last a long time because regardless of whether I'm driving a Jaguar or a Smart Roadster I'm always last away at the lights, go from 0 to 60 in about 5.... minutes and never travel about 70mph on the motorway ;-)

Andy.

Figure of £602+vat was quoted. I can only assume they included the labour discount of 30% wiv Allegiance for standard servicing. So £600 (+100 vat) + £400 gives the 72k service at £1100 approx with discount. 60k service was £380. That’s roughly the same as the £400 part if I int confiddled meself. Hope I got the figures right.

Bearing in mind they were gonna take ma hippo’s engine out to do the belt change, and at the time of the quote ma hippo’s engine was sat on the workshop floor to have the auto gearbox changed… They was gonna put the recon auto on, refit the engine, test it, then take it all out again for the belt change. If it weren’t for the squeal which I purchased as part of the auto change, I’d have carried on using them. If the engine were sat on the floor I could have done the belt change in 30 minutes easily.

The v6 timing belts are replaced on the 72k service, and every 72k thereafter. It’s a good idea to change the water pump and the front idler pulley too. It’s a fare bit of work to get in there to do them afterwards. I didn’t do the pump on mine but had a return visit for the front idler pulley when it’s bearing went. Standard price is about £1200 but Allegiance will get that down to about £1000. That’s the 72k full service wiv belt change.

Main dealers charge about £87+vat these days if I remember correctly. If yer LR is over 3 years old you can join as an Allegiance member of the dealer. This card costs £25 but it’s refunded when you have yer next service. The Allegiance card entitles you to continuously be ripped orf, shorry receive discounted service work. Discount on “service parts” and things like eggsource un tyres is 10%. Standard service labour discounted by 30%. Surprise is they could do my tyres at £99 per corner if I picked em from the range they have. But I went for grabbers instead.

Head gasket repair at a main stealer would be eggpensive. More cost effective to sell yer hippo in bits and buy a diesel hippo when you take into account fool saving and reliability. Several peeps on the web offer a full hgf repair, head skim, new belts, coolant, oil service etc for £800 to £1000. Try and get one who does rovers too and they’ll have done many. V6’s int that bad, but when they go they can be eggspensive. Most owners don’t check oil/coolant level regular. Fewer v6’s on the road than 1.8’s but the main stealer once talked to me about this and the v6 suffers hgf less than the 1.8. But they both suffer from it as many have found out on ere. Not as many v6’s means poa for part prices. Prices are generally higher for v6. I assume supply and demand. Not making as many parts as they int that popular I guess.

Auto oil: The level check bolt is on the bottom of the auto. There’s a tube above it inside. This tube allows oil to fall down it so the right amount of oil is in the auto, but only wiv the engine running and auto oil at correct temp. There’s always argument on how best to do it… but yer best to leave yer hippo on level ground overnight. That’s what the stealer wanted when mine was done. That way yer knows it’s cold all the way through. Now start engine and allow to tick over until the phooter says the auto oil is 35 to 45 degrees temp. Then wiv the engine still running move the auto lever through all gear options. Wiv yer engine still running, undo auto level pug. Refit level plug when auto oil stops running from level plug. If not, fill wiv new auto oil via hole wiv bung in it on top of auto, then allow oil to stop running out of level hole before refitting the bolt. Remove the filler bung un poke a thermometer in to measure auto oil temp. You must use the correct oil. LRN402 at £12 per L from main dealers. There is said to be alternatives... but I int putting any in my auto. At £2200 for the recon replacement I int taking the risk. Nor would I advise anyone else too. Just me opinion. To replace auto oil you can only do 42% from the drain plug. Remove plug, drain, fill wiv same amount of new oil as that which fell out, then fit plug un check level as above.

Full thread of how we worked it out is ere: http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/jatco-automatic-gearbox-69336-3.html

As the 3 timing belts only need changing at 72,000 miles or 6 years you shouldn't need to worry about it for a while, but check this thread

www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/v6-cam-belts-change-59563.html