damned overheating 4.6

well after months of trouble free running my 97 4.6 overheated yesterday on a long 3 mile climb on a moorland road , i was about 30 miles from home but i let it cool and topped up the coolant from the container i always carry in the boot , i then finished my journey without problem .
this morning i decided to carry out a sniff test on the cooling system and, the blue liquid in the tester slowly turned yellow ................gutted!!!!!!.
so it looks like i will be lifting off the heads , its just fingers crossed that i don't find any evidence of liner slip .
the car has got hot only a couple of times since my ownership 9mths ago , not sure how many time it happened to the previous owner though that's why i got her so cheap , so its fingers crossed that a head skim and new gaskets will resolve the problem . any thoughts anybody ??????????.
i mean has anyone had success curing overheating problems on a 4.6 by just replacing the head gaskets other than the overheating there are no other faults apparent
rick.

Gutted for you mate, PO of my 4.6 had new liners fitted at 116K, if I remember it cost him circa £1600 for the rebuild.

just a quick update , not had a lot of free time with christmas , new year , and new job , but today pulled the heads off my 4.6 ......... not good they are perfect as are the gaskets , i also noticed on number 4 cylinder what appears to be a crack so i`ve bit the bullet and got in touch with turner engineering priced up a short motor and a few extra bits and piece`s like new lifters , head bolts , and gaskets at a grand total of £ 2700.00 , could have done without this expense but it will at least be right afterwards and i wont be driving with one eye on the road and the other on the temp gauge i wil post the outcome later for those interested .
rick.

Sorry to hear Rick,it was a great drive when I had a do hope you get it sorted.Have you moved yet ?

Aerialmark said:

Sorry to hear Rick,it was a great drive when I had a do hope you get it sorted.Have you moved yet ?

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hiya mark no mate not moved as yet just waiting to sell my house .
as for the rangerover up until the sodding thing overheated it was running brilliant , but sh*t happens i suppose .
how did you get on with your problem ? have you got it sorted now ?
rick.

i had my engine rebuild with another crack and pressure tested, then macjined block for £2700!!!!!

Why not go for a new short lump for around £2000 +rebuild of the top end

rick071155 said:

hiya mark no mate not moved as yet just waiting to sell my house .
as for the rangerover up until the sodding thing overheated it was running brilliant , but sh*t happens i suppose .
how did you get on with your problem ? have you got it sorted now ?
rick.

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Strange thing Rick it seems to have sorted its self (not leaking any more and heater warms up) but im taking it to spain this year so I will get a new P gasket fitted when I have a little more money as my other rangie needs a new steering pump and part exhaust so that will come first as its taxed for 2 month yet and the other has run out so I will sorn the TDi for a while.
Hope your well apart fron the car.....

Irishrover said:

Why not go for a new short lump for around £2000 +rebuild of the top end

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i thought about that mate but i intend keeping the car and if i just go for a recon short motor there is still the cracked block problem sat in there , at least with the flanged liner engine albeit slightly more expensive it has got to be the better option , well thats my theory anyway .
rick.

Aerialmark said:

Strange thing Rick it seems to have sorted its self (not leaking any more and heater warms up) but im taking it to spain this year so I will get a new P gasket fitted when I have a little more money as my other rangie needs a new steering pump and part exhaust so that will come first as its taxed for 2 month yet and the other has run out so I will sorn the TDi for a while.
Hope your well apart fron the car.....

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nice one mate , hope its sorted for you then mark, apart from my sick 4.6 im in fine fettle , up to now that is .
rick.

The short engine I got was new, not reconditioned. Looking at the overall picture, although there is a problem with slipped liners I don't believe that it happens to every 3.9 & 4.6 engine made.. The top hat liner is a certain fix but it depends how much cash you want to lay out and at the end of the day, the liners are still going into an old block. I personally prefer to have a brand new block, crank, pistons, camshaft etc. and rebuild the engine with new rocker shaft assemblies oil pump and tappets. I did this on a 3.9 Vogue which ran perfectly for a further 100000 and was perfect when I sold it. My 4.6 is still running sweet and not using or losing any oil after having the new lump. At the end of the day it's down to choice.

hi rick, i just bought a 4.6 from turner's with the flexible iron liner's for £2790 plus vat after mine's had same prob's, come's with a 3 year warranty so not too bad. and that's for the long engine so only had to buy a new oil filter which they sell for £170

i hope you meant oil pump / timing cover rivi .
whilst im not rolling in brass irish ( i wish ) im just trying to look long term and after reading various articles on the net i came to the conclusion that ductile linered short motor was the way to go for me , my heads looked mint when i removed them but i shall be having them skimmed and the valves and seats recut then hopefully after all this it will be cock on fingers crossed after all it is a rangerover .
rick.

ok update time , after much soul searching i decided to go for a second hand engine , cost being the main factor , i like many people dont have an unlimited bank account so when i came across a very low mileage ( 70,000 mls) engine i thought i`ll have a look at this .
the cost was £1250.00 outright with all ancillarys , when i looked at the engine which was in a accident damaged 1999 rangerover i was impressed first of all by how clean the engine was ( no it had`nt been steamcleaned)
o.e oil filter , absolutley spotless inside the rocker covers , and clean oil .
the header tank was up to the correct level with green coolant , and overall it looked totally unmolested .
im just in the process now of swapping the engine but, first im going to do the dreaded heater o rings which ive been putting off for weeks now .
i also need to drill and tap the manifold to fit my lpg injectors ect, ect .
once i get it back in and up and running fingers crossed all will be ok , i will the stick new plugs ,oil and filters in it and hopefully all will be sweet .
if it aint i shall be throwing myself off the footbridge over the motorway .
rick.

Are you replacing a GEMS with a Thor engine???

Irishrover said:

Are you replacing a GEMS with a Thor engine???

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no mate it must be one of the very last of the gems engines , there was a tag on the engine with a bar code and date which read build date august 1999 , tbh i found this a bit confusing because i thought by that date the thor engines would have been being fitted .
rick.

Easy to tell the difference-GEMS has the "Box type" cover on the Plenum chamber with either 4.0 or 4.6 depending on engine size, cast on the top.
Best of luck with the refit.

Rick if you need owt delivering thats to big for car ive got a van just let me know mate.

Aerialmark said:

Rick if you need owt delivering thats to big for car ive got a van just let me know mate.

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cheers mark , but to get me by whilst the rangerover was off the road i bought a swb isuzu trooper and used that to collect the engine , i appreciate the offer though thanks.
rick.

rick071155 said:

cheers mark , but to get me by whilst the rangerover was off the road i bought a swb isuzu trooper and used that to collect the engine , i appreciate the offer though thanks.
rick.

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No probs fella ............