QuestionHi John,
We recently had a blown head gasket on our 2001 Discovery. The repair shop recommended we replace both, which we did, along with new spark plugs and a new thermostat. We asked them to look over the engine and check for any other obvious issues that needed addressed. Before we had the work done the engine would get a funny smell, like it was too hot, but the temp gage never registered it was overheating. After we had the work done it continued and finally the other day, it overheated for real. Steam pouring out from under the hood and alert on dash going off. We took it back to shop immediately and coolant was leaking from the engine by the time we got there. (Drove it about 10 miles.) It's been in the shop over a week already and still no answers. They are waiting on a plastic plate of some sort (?) that needs replaced before they can run the engine to diagnose the problem. They are already talking about possible engine damage and/or cracked block. My question is, shouldn't they have figured out the reason for the blown head gasket and addressed that issue at the same time? Or could this really be a completely new unrelated issue? We have already paid them $3000 for the last work they completed. Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
AnswerUnfortunately, this situation is all too common. The head gasket may have been a misdiagnosis, or the car may have cracked the block when the heads were torqued back on after the repair. I have an article on what fails in the block here:
http://robisonservice.blogspot.com/2010/04/last-word-on-land-rover-liner-failure
Odds are, you need a new short block, or a new engine. Expect a bill in the $7500-11,000 range depending on what you choose (new vs used, etc)
You ask if they should not have figured this out earlier . . . obviously you wish they did, but they clearly didn't. Did they have a responsibility to? I don't think so, in most cases. Unless they represent themselves as Land Rover experts they could hardly be expected to know of this problem which is peculiar to trucks like yours. Frankly, that's why I tell people a true specialist may save them a lot of money and trouble even if their labor rate seems higher.
