Land Rover Repair: Land Rover Discovery SE 2002, land rover discovery, head gaskets

Question
Hi there, I am having a problem with my land rover, i took it to the garage in July for routine mant. when I picked it up I drove about 15 min. and the temp. light began to get into the red before this I had NEVER seen the temp. hand move, it eventually overheated and completely shut down steam was everywhere and it made a loud noise when it shut off. I called the garage and when they come to pick it up they saw the radiator cap was not tightened properly, they told me they refilled with coolant and there was no damage done, but now i am having problems with missing coolant every few days the coolant will get really low and the temp. gage rises , i was told at the garage that there was no damage done because there was a temp. sensor that would shut the engine off before damage could be done, but why would I start having this problem with missing coolant now?  please help....

Answer
There is no sensor on this vehicle that will switch the engine off before overheating can damage the engine.  Overheating is the main cause of engine failure on these vehicles.  From your description, I would say, at a minimum, you have blown your head gaskets.  I would take it to another facility and have it block tested.  You want to address this problem immediately as failure to do so can result in additional engine damage requiring replacement of the short block.

Good luck!