Please talk me out of this

Coley53 said:

Not a garage as such, he’s a bloke well known around here for his knowledge of all things LR, I told him the problem and at first he though heater but as soon as I told him about pressure remaking in the header tank even after a couple of days non use, he just said “your engines knackered”
He then went on to give me chapter and verse on all things Thor.
He said it would be about 4K to repair using what he called “top hat sleeves” or a cheaper option would be to replace it with a diesel, I think he mentioned a 3.7 bmw?

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It is a known issue, but simply based on this forum & rr.net it seems to me the issue happens more to our US LR friends. There's also rumours that the commonality or the problem is exaggerated by those that sell the top-hat liners & rebuilt engines !! Even your local expert cannot know for sure without at least taking the heads off.

Many engines from all makers can have small leaks that only open up when the engine is warm (there's been several on here). The symptoms are unexplained coolant loss followed by pressurised system. The fan then blows the hot coolant away, so you cannot find it afterwards !! The proper way to diagnose is to get it really hot (not overheating), and pressurise the system with engine off. Then look at all hoses, core plugs, head to block joins, water pump seal & gasket, front cover, etc.

pete