Cooling Problem

I had very similay symptoms with my old Disco and it turned out to be the expansion tank cap.

Don't necessarily believe everything these "Land Rover" experts say. I gave my Disco to similarly described guys/garages here and they "diagnosed" all sorts of issues with the Disco (cylinder heads, viscous fan, radiator etc) which cost me $1,000's before I gave up on them and gave the car to a (non LR expert) mechanic recommended to me and he found it was just the expansion tank cap.

They may be great, just sayin. If you're unsure, I wouldn't go splashing lots of cash with them without first putting up a fred on LZ asking for advice on good garages/mechanics in your area - there's lots of members in Kent.

Thx for the advice , she's not booked in till next week and I have ordered a couple of expansion caps 2 different types just to check in the mean time? For the sake of £7 y not

I believe the "experts" I gave my Disco to were doing something MHM warned about on another thread - fixing symptoms and not the fault.

So if the garage change your head gasket cos it overheated - ask yourself and them why it overheated in the first place. See if they'll accept a guarantee that if it overheats again in the next 3 months you'll pay for the FAULT to be fixed - but they'll pay to fit another HG (oh and that "soft head")! See how friendly and sure of their work they are then!

ZDomZ mentioned the head itself may be ####ed, I can guarantee if a garage take it off and send it for "testing" they WILL tell you its "gone soft" and needs replacing - ker ching $$$

Call me sceptical but I've been burnt bad on this issue !

Jimsky said:

Thx for the advice , she's not booked in till next week and I have ordered a couple of expansion caps 2 different types just to check in the mean time? For the sake of £7 y not

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Exactly - bloody well done

When my "good" mechanic diagnosed the cap wasn't holding the right pressure, be got a new one - from one of the "expert garages" the car had previously consumed lots of $$$ at. When he got it he tested it and found it was in a worse condition than the broken one it was replacing!!!

GrumpyGel said:

I believe the "experts" I gave my Disco to were doing something MHM warned about on another thread - fixing symptoms and not the fault.

So if the garage change your head gasket cos it overheated - ask yourself and them why it overheated in the first place. See if they'll accept a guarantee that if it overheats again in the next 3 months you'll pay for the FAULT to be fixed - but they'll pay to fit another HG (oh and that "soft head")! See how friendly and sure of their work they are then!

ZDomZ mentioned the head itself may be ####ed, I can guarantee if a garage take it off and send it for "testing" they WILL tell you its "gone soft" and needs replacing - ker ching $$$

Call me sceptical but I've been burnt bad on this issue !

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gone soft ? a good head can be heated and it still remains flat ,an over heated head will bend when its heated thus letting gasket go,often very quickly, theres no test they do to prove either thats judgement ,they only check for leaks and flatness when a head is tested

GrumpyGel said:

I believe the "experts" I gave my Disco to were doing something MHM warned about on another thread - fixing symptoms and not the fault.

So if the garage change your head gasket cos it overheated - ask yourself and them why it overheated in the first place. See if they'll accept a guarantee that if it overheats again in the next 3 months you'll pay for the FAULT to be fixed - but they'll pay to fit another HG (oh and that "soft head")! See how friendly and sure of their work they are then!

ZDomZ mentioned the head itself may be ####ed, I can guarantee if a garage take it off and send it for "testing" they WILL tell you its "gone soft" and needs replacing - ker ching $$$

Call me sceptical but I've been burnt bad on this issue !

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Sadly the K Series WILL NOT tolerate an overheat. If the the liners haven't been surrounded by water the liners expand and the HG WILL fail. This isn't scare mongering, it is fact!!
The head is made of heat treated alloy. This will loose it's properties if subject to temperatures of over 120°C. This will cause it to go softer than required for reliability. Fire ring recession will occur within a few thousand miles.
The only cure is to check the liner protrusion is correct, replace the head and fit the uprated HG kit.

later mls gaskets cure fire ring recession but wont keep and over heated head straight

jamesmartin said:

gone soft ? a good head can be heated and it still remains flat ,an over heated head will bend when its heated thus letting gasket go,often very quickly, theres no test they do to prove either thats judgement ,they only check for leaks and flatness when a head is tested

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We aint talking a 2 1/4 iron job ere where a warped head can possibly be skimmed.

GrumpyGel said:

We aint talking a 2 1/4 iron job ere where a warped head can possibly be skimmed.

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neither was i ,?have you much experience with head machining ,cast iron rarely moves with overheating ,besides having the same thermal expansion qualities of the block its bolted to ,yes you can skim but if it has been excessively overheated it wont stay flat , also you have just made bottom of head flat but cam journals are no longer, whether you notice depends how bent it was

jamesmartin said:

neither was i ,?have you much experience with head machining ,cast iron rarely moves with overheating ,besides having the same thermal expansion qualities of the block its bolted to ,yes you can skim but if it has been excessively overheated it wont stay flat , also you have just made bottom of head flat but cam journals are no longer, whether you notice depends how bent it was

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Only that I've been through the process of replacing cylinder heads on my old 3.9 Disco and trying to learn/understand why and what its all about. There IS this thing about cylinder heads going "soft", but I do wonder if workshops play on it and will use it as an excuse to replace perfectly good heads.

does the garage know freelanders? with the head off, the liners need clamping, the crank MUST NOT be moved, otherwise you disturb the liners and do they know how to check liner heights and to what reference?

Do they give any guarantee, as sequential HGF is fairly common?

are they replacing the rail as well or just the head gasket?

GrumpyGel said:

Only that I've been through the process of replacing cylinder heads on my old 3.9 Disco and trying to learn/understand why and what its all about. There IS this thing about cylinder heads going "soft", but I do wonder if workshops play on it and will use it as an excuse to replace perfectly good heads.

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i shouldnt think that many really understand ,as very few do the machining too,rover v8s dont really suffer that badly with heads as both block and head are both ali, though after so many thermal cycles over the years any head gasket is prone to go ,3.9s suffered more with cracking behind cylinder liners ,when you cast a head or block obviously the outside cools quickest as it cools it creates internal tension ,casting is then left to stabilise before machining as it moves/twists etc ,if overheated that is lost and head relaxes which can lead to valve seats falling out if enough something i have seen head will also tend to want to move again with heat ,its nearly impossible to know if head has reached that condition or is fine to lightly skim and reuse ,normally amount of warping is used to judge and if in doubt fit new , the temp for relaxing is a lot lower for ali heads so its more of an issue with ali heads and not cast iron

Sorry didn't want anyone to argue about it I will just see what they say!! I just like to see if there is anything I can do easier!!! I'm more of a computer man? I like my freelander very much, and to be honest if it costs me £800 to get her right in the end I will! She's a smooth ride and good for the kids and dog!!

Wouldn't be LandyZone without a good spat every now and then.

What James says above is all right. I had continual overheating problems with my V8 Disco from the day I got it to the day I sold it 7 years later - probably had all the above problems! Couldn't even make toilet stops on long journeys cos it would boil over when ever you stopped. Got caught out without water one time in a remote spot and the only water around was some farmer's tracks that was also full of cow **** - it all went in the bottle!

My old diesel Disco and our current diesel Freelander engines are fantastic - can recommend highly. If you have an urge to flick the Freelander on, get another - just get a diesel

I've been earning my crust on computers for almost 30 years, but experiences with garages mean my fingers get a lot oilier now. I really enjoy it and get a lot of saticfaction sorting out the issues LR put in front of me!

Finally been told today that its HGF and she can't be fixed!!! or he won't? He did offer someone that could take it off my hands cheap!! he has left head in boot and I have to get her recovered from garage.......

fit a T series lump in it.

?? not sure what that is lol

WLJayne and Dieseldo will sort it for you

Ok Update, After being told by a local Garage that she was not worth bothering with (need new engine) I contacted mobile repair service!!! after aout 15 emails and photos, repaired today with new Head Gasket, Coolant change, oil and filter etc!!! £290!Gasket had been done before (Mechanic said) but i couldnt confirm this as not by me. Running fine for now, we shall see
Thanks for everyones input!!!