Land Rover Repair: 1999 LAND ROVER DISC II - headgasket or dropped sleeve, water coolant, visible cracks

Question
I JUST GOT THIS LAND ROVER FROM A ACTION, IT RAN FOR LITTLE BIT AND THEN IT DIED. NO. 8 CYL WAS FULL OF WATER/COOLANT. ENGINE CRANK CASE IS MIX UP WITH COOLANT AND OIL. I TOOK BOTH CYLINDER HEADS OFF AND ONLY FOUND BAD HEAD GASKET ON RIGHT SIDE OF THE BLOCK, NEAR NO 8 CYL AND NO. 2 CYL. ALSO WHEN I WAS REMOVING HEADS I HAVE NOTICE THAT SOME ONE HAS ALREADY BEEN HERE. IT LOOKS LIKE BOTH HEADS HAVE BEEN REPLACED SOME TIME AGO. I DON'T SEE ANY VISIBLE CRACKS AT NO 8 CYL. SLEEVE. BOTH HEADS ARE FLAT. AND SO IS THE BLOCK. WHAT DO YOU THINK I SHOULD DO WITH THIS. HAVE READ MANY THINGS THAT THIS ENGINE HAS PROBLEMS WITH CRACKS IN SLEEVES AND OTHER PLACES
THANK FOR YOU TIME
GABRIEL

Answer
Hi Gabriel,

sounds like either a badly performed headgasket job or it could be more serious - dropped cylinder sleeve.  A trained LR mechanic should be able to see this.  Yes, under extreme heat, the sleeves can loose their fitting and begin to move.

You should return this and have them either repair the problem or refund your money.

IF its the sleeves, you can replace the engine with a salvaged one, purchase a new engine or rebuild the engine you have.  

Salvaged engines can start from as low as $500 and go to $1500 - www.car-part.com can help locate low mileage engines.

A new engine could cost you upwards of $9000 to $11000.  Has a good warranty, peace of mind, hard on the wallet.

Rebuilding the engine could solve the problem and cost you up to $4000 or so - unless you do it yourself.

If they sold the vehicle to you like this...I'd take it back and demand your money back.

Best of luck,

JohnMc