QuestionJohn, Dennis recommended I contact regarding a situation with our above mentioned vehicle. Last week when my husband started the vehichle it hesitated a bit and the check engine light came on. My husband immediately took it to a local automotive shop and had it placed on the diagostic machine. The code said "misfire". We had a hose replaced which had a small antifreeze leak, had the radiator flushed, an oil change and the drive belt replaced. As my husband drive a County vehicle the auto wasn't driven for three days after completion of the work. On Saturday we drove to my Mother's via Interstate 75, when exiting the freeway smoke was bellowing from under the hood. When my husband raised the hood oil was everywhere. We had the vehicle towed to a foreign car specialist in our area. They are now telling us that every gasket has to blown to include the crankshaft gasket, timing chain gasket, head gasket, cylindar heads, oil cooler lines, and the list goes on. This vehicle is a 2001, with only 37,000 miles on it. We have never had an oil leak or problem with the vehicle. It seems rather curious to us that after the initial work was done all of the sudden we are up against $4383.00 worth of work. Could you please advise if you think there was some type of negligence or is this customary of this vehicle. The mechanic which diagosed the above is telling us he has worked on 7 vehicles with the same problem in the last 6 months. He says there are reports of the same out on the net, but we cannot find any. We are a total loss as we love our LR
AnswerLisa, when someone says "I had the car serviced" and then, a week later they say "smoke was billowing from under the hood" my first thought would be . . . What happened in the service to cause a massive oil leak?
Did the oil filler cap get left off?
Did an oil cooler line blow?
Did the radiator cap get left off?
If the engine is completely covered in oil the first step would be to wash it and then fill with oil and see what happens.
Now, to address the claims of the second shop that "every gasket is blown" . . ..
It is common for Land Rovers to develop multiple oil leaks over time. They are, after all, British.
In most cases the oil leaks are annoyances, not hazards. A small drip from the oil pan won't cause smoke to billow from under the hood.
While I don't doubt that your truck has the multiple leaks they suggest, I doubt very much that's why smoke poured out of it. Something failed, or something was left loose or off in the prior service visit.
Something failed, and you need to find out what it is.
Why do you feel the second shop didn't suggest this? I don't know. Maybe they are hungry. Maybe they are ignorant. Maybe they are cautious. Maybe they did explain it and you didn't understand.
I suggest you find out what failed. Fix that. Then look at any remaining leaks and consider whether they bother you or not.
You may enjoy going to our web site, www.robisonservice.com and looking under service > land rover > articles at some of my magazine article reprints. Look at the one about selecting a land rover service shop.
Good luck,
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John
