V6 head gasket repair declined by garage

Hi Folks
I have a Freelander V6 ESX with bubbling expansion tank. Local Landrover (not freelander) garage have checked and said HG gone, but wont repair because "the cost of the specialist tools to do the gasket change are prohibitive" as they only have 3 freebie V6's on their books. Is this Cr*p or does the V6 need very expensive tooling to do a HG change - I thought it woz 2*K series stuck together? I cant believe it requires much to remove the heads and do a HG. Am I being suckered here? Am checking other garages today for quotes.

Anyone fancy a Head gasket jobby? Mind yu - it woz done 2 years ago! - expensive bi-annual job!

That seems mad what sort of land rover garage was that...head gaskets shouln't be that difficult...Hard luck feller...


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ROVER-75-825-...ryZ10414QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


don't know if this may help you...regards cartman690...

Thanks for info
have taken pile of s**t to another garage - had quotes ranging from £750 to 1350 plus parts!

garage in Q was Keith Gotts of Alton.

Most garages work on a fixed book rate for labour hours for jobs, I'm sure someone will know the hour figure and let you know so you can quote it to the garage, as for the cost of the parts you can see that for yourself. did you have both h g changed last time as a pair? and is it the same one that went last time...

lol

dunno - i only bought it a year ago - thought (nievely) "oh that wont need doing again" - since then - vis valves , thermostat leak, chassis broken! , prop shaft now HG - so much for reliability!
(crying into soup)

there are specialist tools for setting up the timing on the V6, you cant do it without 'em, i dunno what dealer you took your car to but they should have the tools as they are standard issue and every dealer MUST have them whether they want 'em or not, the same goes for any other special tools for other models.

When disco 3 and rr sport came out we were swamped with boxes of tools for 'em, cost about 10 grand but we had to have 'em


The reason for high labour cost is 1. your car is out of warranty so they can charge what they like (land rover book time is 12.5 hours and you'll never do it in that time) and 2. the engine needs to come out, you can do it in situ but its far easier if the engine is out, it only takes 1.5 to 2 hrs to get the engine out anyway so why struggle with it in.

thanks clutchdust - your comments on both my posts useful and informative (damn!)

garage isnt a dealer - http://www.keithgott.co.uk/ so maybe dont have to buy kit..

hopefully hg will be covered by warranty purchased with freebie (not holding breath).

ps also forgot gearbox not liking to change up from 3rd and heater matrix leaking in tales of trubbles!

pps didnt think i woz such a mug!

might be time to get rid, gearbox problems are not uncommon, check the condition of the ATF, if its black, change it then see how it is, if its no better then it maybe an internal fault with the gearbox, they are prone to burning out and normally start to fail with poor gear change then gradually get worse.

if you have to have a freelander then get a Td4 manual, they all have problems but the Td4 is the best one to have and to be honest, it goes better than the V6

yeah - i know that now - pity i didnt when buying! - i think i mite av got to the point of no return. It depends if warranty peeps pay up or not.

I believe the HGF on KV6 is the thermal shock due to thermostat late to open. If you want to fix it you may want to try bypassing a small amount of coolant over the original thermostat. I am doing it for my friend's 1.8 and defintely will do for my KV6.

do yuz guys think it is worth fitting the remote thermostat option as per the 1.8?

The Mad Hat Man said:

do yuz guys think it is worth fitting the remote thermostat option as per the 1.8?

Click to expand...

Remote thermostat is only for 1.8 as KV6 already has remote thermostat type.The location of the thermostat is different but it function the same, it sense the coolant directly from the engine not from the radiator.

so wots the housing in the middle of the "V" that woz leaking when i got the car - sure the garage said "thermostat housing"?

thanks for all ya help

The Mad Hat Man said:

so wots the housing in the middle of the "V" that woz leaking when i got the car - sure the garage said "thermostat housing"?

thanks for all ya help

Click to expand...

yes it is the thermostat housing

bit confused dear "OT"

surely not a remote thermostat if sitting in middle of "V" - that will sense engine temp directly - wont it? Not that it matters if I aint fitting the "1.8 remote" type.

thanks for help

ps garage thinks head(s) mite be cracked as they think it unlikely gaskets would go in 2 years...anyone got a set of heads?