Freelander 1 Help! TD4 Head Gasket Replacement Price

Help please!!

I've had a search around on the forum but haven't been able to find what I'm looking for. Yesterday on my drive into work the temp shot up and the overhead light cam on, thankfully I was only round the corner from work so coasted in and the temp dropped to normal while coasting.

Opened the bonnet to find that the coolant was all gone however there hasn't been any steam smoke or puddles that I've seen.

Refilled the coolant and took the car to a local garage this morning, they have found a leak at the plastic T at the front of the engine but also did a block test and it's failed.

They've come back with a quote of £1200 to do the head gasket and the plastic T. I knew it wasn't going to be cheap for a HG but this seems very high. Does anyone have any experience with the cost of this and any suggestions of anyone local to me (south Bedfordshire) that may be able to do the job at a better rate?

Thanks.

Get a second opinion as HG failure on the TD4 rare, even if it's been briefly overheated.
I'd be replacing the damaged pipe and going from there.

Nodge68 said:

Get a second opinion as HG failure on the TD4 rare, even if it's been briefly overheated.
I'd be replacing the damaged pipe and going from there.

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Thanks Nodge, I've spoken to a specialist in Maulden and they said exactly the same, will be heading up to pick it up shortly and fit the replacement pipe as soon as it arrives, have use of a van in the mean time which takes the pressure off anyway!

FreddieA said:

I've spoken to a specialist in Maulden and they said exactly the same, will be heading up to pick it up shortly and fit the replacement pipe as soon as it arrives

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Very wise.
I'm guessing the part that's failed is the top hose outlet.


It's very common for it to fail, so it's available cheaply.
Don't be put off by using a Britpart replacement, as they're all made by the same manufacturer.

Cheers Nodge, yes that's the part, have ordered and will be with me tomorrow, will fit that and see how it goes from there, thanks again for your help/advice.

P.S. I would be interested to know what you could expect to pay for the head gasket to be replaced as I think their quote was massive but maybe I'm clueless! Anyone had one done?

I have to agree with John, I have never yet heard of a TD4 or M47 head gasket fail, from your description it sounds then it most likely with be the Y connector which is bolted to the head, it as a rubber seal which can fail but 9 times out ten it is the Y connector it's self it goes brittle, and breaks up around it's edge, photo's below you may be lucky and it could be the seal but after years of OAT passing through the connector and the heat from the engine it can go brittle and for the small outlay I would purchase the connector.
LR006797

https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/water-h...l-p-35568.html

Seal
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-LVJ100180

You may as well purchase the whole unit with the cist of the seal from Rimmer Bros

Cheers Arctic2, have ordered the connector so will change it over as soon as it arrives and go from there. Doesn't look like too much of a challenging job either, fingers crossed!

Arctic2 said:

most likely with be the Y connector which is bolted to the head, it as a rubber seal which can fail

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Indeed. This is mine, which failed in the same way as many others.

FreddieA said:

Doesn't look like too much of a challenging job either, fingers crossed!

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It's pretty easy to change, but it's easier without the inlet manifold being fitted.

Thanks again for the advice gents, I replaced the T connector yesterday picture of the old one below and have done 50 miles without any loss of coolant or temperature issues. Will keep monitoring it though.



I have also noticed some cracks around the filler on the expansion tank, is this worth changing?



Thanks guys.

Bloody images aren't working, will look into that later!

FreddieA said:

I have also noticed some cracks around the filler on the expansion tank, is this worth changing?

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Yes, another common problem. Replace the tank and cap, available cheaply as a kit.

Just another quick update and thank you...

The new expansion tank and cap arrived end of last week, installed and so far no loss of coolant so fingers crossed on this one! Also flew through the MOT today advisories (sorry I mean monitor and repair if necessary) on the front tyres and front pads, both of which I was aware of, phew!

So thanks for your advice and help guys

FreddieA said:

so far no loss of coolant so fingers crossed on this one!

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I was 99.99% sure the HG wouldn't have failed. I've only heard of it once on a TD4. Statistically the crank is more likely to fail than the HG.
Glad it's sorted.

Just to close this one out, what did the garage do as a 'block test' then we can see if they were pulling a fast un!!

Don't put new tyres on the front and leave old on the rear.

Col

Nodge68 said:

I was 99.99% sure the HG wouldn't have failed. I've only heard of it once on a TD4. Statistically the crank is more likely to fail than the HG.
Glad it's sorted.

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You might be able to add 1 to the list, I’ve got coolant disappearing and white smoke in plumes coming out the exhaust ‍

Merloch91 said:

You might be able to add 1 to the list, I’ve got coolant disappearing and white smoke in plumes coming out the exhaust ‍

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It's very unusual for the HG to fail on a TD4.
Even more unusual to loose coolant without the coolant coming out the pressure cap, or the coolant reservoir exploding. The compression pressure on these is almost 400 PSI, so if it's not blowing coolant out the reservoir, you might need to investigate the coolant loss again.
The EGR cooler is a common place for coolant to enter the combustion chamber.

Nodge68 said:

It's very unusual for the HG to fail on a TD4.
Even more unusual to loose coolant without the coolant coming out the pressure cap, or the coolant reservoir exploding. The compression pressure on these is almost 400 PSI, so if it's not blowing coolant out the reservoir, you might need to investigate the coolant loss again.
The EGR cooler is a common place for coolant to enter the combustion chamber.

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I’ll look into that! To be honest it’s sat rotting away with the crap weather and a dodgy back I’ve not had my head in since January I initially thought the smoke was fuel related so refurb injectors, sorted the egr and cleaned out the intake- I was running the engine to try clear the “sat a few weeks” smoke and it was the first time it had a full exhaust so wasn’t sure if it was something on those lines- but when I heard the engine make funny noises I went to look over and found half my coolant gone- at which point I locked it up and ordered a compression tester now weathers sorting itself I might get back to it

Nodge68 said:

It's very unusual for the HG to fail on a TD4.
Even more unusual to loose coolant without the coolant coming out the pressure cap, or the coolant reservoir exploding. The compression pressure on these is almost 400 PSI, so if it's not blowing coolant out the reservoir, you might need to investigate the coolant loss again.
The EGR cooler is a common place for coolant to enter the combustion chamber.

Click to expand...

So, I don’t appear to have an egr cooler, but I opened my bonnet to find zero coolant at all, refilled it 4 times and it was emptying straight away so the Smokey exhaust may not have anything to do with the coolant. Tried to source the leak, appears to be directly above the prop but at the rear of engine under the rocker cover- what looks like a solid black pipe. Can’t quite see what it actually is that’s leaking so I’ll be taking the rocker cover off for a nosey