What price a new engine?`

Well the garage have diagnosed either a slipped liner or head gasket.

My suspision is the liner as there is no water in the oil and is passes a pressure test ok. It only looses water on a long run when its heated up. Its lost 1 litre in the last 1000 miles (done in the last week).

I am wondering what the best course of action is, the garage have said that a new engine is the best way forward and have quoted £4k +vat for a full engine and £3.2k for a short block. Both are new and genuine parts but on top of that is fitting etc. However if its a gasket then its about £1k in total.

Anyone care to advise if these costs are about right or if there is another option?

1 litre in 1k, thats not too bad so long as its not overheating or pressurising coolant. i would think it might be h/gasket and you can replace both in a day if your handy with the tools, its not hard!

i think a GRAND IS A BIT STEEP FOR A DAYS WORK! the kit is this and you just need to get heads skimmed. i would (if your willing to DIY) dismantle it first the asses if its H/G or liners.

just looked and noticed yours is a 2001, you will need a different gasket set i think but contact island 4x4 and they will put you straight!

What do you look for when you pull the engine apart? I have exactly the same problem with slow coolant loss and no other symptoms. I'm pretty sure mine is slipped liners, but might be an idea to double check before I start forking out huge sums of money.

the level of the deck to the tops of the liner, it should all look like one continuous piece of metal, but if one has slipped there will be a step and i would say it'd be no 1 cylinder if its like mine then it will be quite obvious!

have a look at mine notice the step between the dark(caused by combustion) metal and the surrounding block!

ah yeah, I see it. I didnt realise it was such a small... 'thing'!

my misses says that too! lol!

when under the pressure of comprssion then a tiny leak is enough to cause problems, mine was severe so it may be difficult to see yours but you can drag a pin over it and 'feel' the step or even with your finger

with reference to that gasket set gav it will fit the 2001 4/4.6 v8 as mines a 2000 model and i used that kit last year,but i used apr head studs instead of stretch bolts

New short engine will cost around £2000 from either Autopost,London or RPI.
You can spend a lot more depending where you go. Just shop around.
Given the revelation of slipped liners etc. manufacturers have stepped up their quality controls.
Read somewhere that V8's are going to get scarce in the future because of the decline in the numbers still on the road etc.

andy 0352 said:

with reference to that gasket set gav it will fit the 2001 4/4.6 v8 as mines a 2000 model and i used that kit last year,but i used apr head studs instead of stretch bolts

Click to expand...

hope the gasket set isnt the cause of your recent problems!

no it wasn,t mate it,s the rear crank seal ****ing oil every where,so im replacing it along with main bearing seals and anything else while im in there

Have a chat with Causeway 4x4 near Bridgewater. They were doing new LR engines for £3k fitted including new rad. I had one put into my Disco 2 and was impressed with their service and the engines been great.

I think they may be out of the new ones now as they told me they were running low on stock in November. However, they were about to start reconditioning the many old ones they had so they may have something.

Thanks for the replies. I am not good enough to be able to take the heads of myself so it has to go to the garage. Trouble is they want £300 just to take the heads of and tell me what the problem is as they say its 3 hours per head to take off. Then once its off they can tell if its the liners or head gasket. Again the trouble is once the heads are off if its liners then I cant just bolt it back up so they will need to fix it.

My problem is that they have quoted £3.2k +vat for a short engine which is brand new from LR with a 12 month warranty. They say not to get a recon one as the liners may be about to go on that and you cant tell so it may put me in the same boat again. As a rough finger in the air they are looking at £3.2k +vat for a short engine plus fitting etc etc which totals up to about £4.5k + vat

tell em to fook off 6 hrs, i can get em both of and back on in 6 hrs. i think the lads on here can also back up that statement or if not check out my posts on liners slipped etc! they are having your eyes mate!

if your gonna pay 300 quid ask if you can watch em do it as you would like to time the ****s! and maybe suggest they use both hands instead of keeping one thumb up thier rrrr's.

also ask em if you can supply the engine and parts needed from a list that they supply. basically labour only for the whole job.

i would certainly shop around cos it seems thier 300 quid for 6 hrs is £50 an hour. 3 hours to take off one head.now for that one head they will have to take off the ancilaries and the plenum(air intake) but the second head should only take another 20 mins! i still think 3 hrs is a long time and to be honest i would take em off myself if i were you! its a great learning exorcise!

i would say for a professional about 40 mins to strip plenum, ancilaries and electrics. rocker cover rocker shaft and head maybe another 40 mins and the exhaust bolts, bit fiddly, max 30 mins. tea break and then back on with the other side if the first side shows no signs of slippage or gasket failure.

Will ask them to confirm the costs for looking

Looking around are the coscast engines any good? looks like they do short blocks for £1.6k

It cost me £3200 inc vat when mine slipped a liner, that included big ends, mains, new piper fast road cam and followers, duplex timing chain and gears, top hat liners ect and fitting.
As it turned out it was number 4 that went on mine but it wasnt visible by eye but when pressure tested it was quite bad.

i'm not sure if land rover supply new engines well not the type that you need anyway. if it is new old stock then its just the same as the latest model range rover they were fitted to(2002??) and i would suspect it will be a coscast type.

so theres no difference from the one you have seen on ebay! you could have yours top hat linered and from what i have seen and been told then the top hat liners have no way of slipping. the theory is that water can still pass behind the liners and into the oil. this is however unlikely as they are heated and put in plus they are also sealed to the block at the bottom and top with a silicone type sealant.

have a good read round the interweb if it is the liners there are various routes depending on your budget.

but until you know the exact problem then unfortunately its a difficult call!

gavbriggs said:

my misses says that too! lol!

when under the pressure of comprssion then a tiny leak is enough to cause problems, mine was severe so it may be difficult to see yours but you can drag a pin over it and 'feel' the step or even with your finger

Click to expand...

haha, I didnt really think about it under the compression forces
If I do take the heads off to have a look and it is a slipped liner, I take it I cant just bolt it all back together again, can I? Also, how bad is it to drive with it like that? I've done a couple local runs and it hasnt lost any water and the temp is still fine. (sorry for the hijack!)

Where do you think LR are getting there engines from?? Are there 100's of casting and machining companies manufacturing soon to be obsolete engines for sales of approx.2 per week??? How come LR can charge £3000 for the same engine as can be bought from say Autopost for less than £2000 and both offer 12 months warranty. If LR are so good, how come there is all the ****e they have left in their wake???
Buy a new short motor for a couple of grand, get it shipped to your guy who is to fit it, if you are not DIY (Or get Gav or Andy to do it!!!) and save yourself a fortune.
My feelings are, that if people are bent on taking their motors for all repairs to their main stealer then it's a waste of time looking on this forum for advice, which they will ignore anyway and continue being taken for a ride.:ballchain: