Land Rover Repair: Head gasket, head gasket replacement, head gaskets


Question
QUESTION: I took my 2001 Disco to a LR shop and I was told that I need a head gasket replacement,and he wants to charge me around $2200 to do the job, do you have knowledge of any shops around Ontario, California?  That might do a good job and charge less? Please help

ANSWER: I actually think that quote is low, not high.  We do those jobs all the time here at my shop, and they are never that cheap. The reason:  I think you should surface the heads to prevent yet another gasket failure, and I think you should do a valve job to prevent subsequent carbon failure problems.  Also, I strongly suggest only OEM head bolts and gaskets.  I think if you factored in my opinions, your $2200 may end up closer to $3000

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news but I think it's better to pay $3k once than pay $2k now and then have to do it all again in 18 months.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: What's the OEM brand for Land Rover? I've seen some Earling head gaskets and also Bosch? is atlantic british a good place to buy the parts?

Answer
The only way to be sure you have the correct oem parts is to buy them from a LR dealer.  If manufacturer x makes a part for LR, there is no assurance that the brand x part they also sell is exactly the same.  In addition, some independent parts houses sell reject parts that are in LR packaging.

In response to the last part of your question . . . AB is a good parts supplier but I'd still suggest you buy the gaskets and bolts from the dealer