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barney5781

Member
Hello everyone.
I have a 55 range rover vogue petrol 4.4 bmw engine ,it was running when I first got it but the water was bubbling and the smell of petrol in the expansion bottle I was told it was the head gaskets,a mate did a compression test on the cold engine{ Cant start it because a so called mobile mechanic took some parts off and broke 3 of the 4 coil packs}the readings were as follows. 1,115 2,35 3,100.4,130 5,53 6,105 7,45 8, 100.If anybody could advise I would be gratefull.
Regards Lee
 
Those numbers are all over the place, I would of liked to have seen maybe 1 cylinder down, perhaps 2 at best if one head gasket gone. But based on those figures I'd think both gaskets are toast.

Even the good readings are too low, they should be around 160 psi. That's possibly due to the cold engine.

I think the left bank is 1-4 and the right is 5-8 (looking at it from front)

I would get it running again, and repeat the test with a warm engine, with ignition on and throttle wide open. Remove the pump fuse or fuel injection fuse to stop flooding the engine during test.
 
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ok,i would liked to have a go at doing it myself but it seems I am opening a can of worms and its beyond me,i did receive a download of the workshop manual hat seems clear enough its just the tooling I need to cover the job which has thrown me.
 
Barney, it's important to be a realist. If you don't have the tools or abilities then you may be better off fitting a used engine.
Even then it's quite a chunk of money.

Even on a cost basis, you are looking at a top end gasket set for both sides, even possibly considering doing the timing chain and guides, even the vanos seals whilst you are all apart, then there is the cost of having the heads pressure tested and skimmed, new head bolts, new oil, coolant etc etc. It will mount up. The heads may be cracked after it's boiling!

What actually caused the overheating?

Will you need a new rad, water pump, expansion tank, hoses?

These are reasonably complex engines, and very involved, essentially it's twice the parts, twice the time, and all at a height that make life less than favourable.
 
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The timing chain guides replacement is an involved process but before going further into the heads it would be good to get a definitive answer as to what’s going on. I looked at quite a few coil packs recently from new genuine to pattern but from where you are I would get yourself some used ones.
As your man above says I would want to know what caused the failure in the first place and also the correct compression test and ideally leak down test
 
Thankyou both for replies and considering your knowledge ive decided to perhaps sell it as spares,the interior is in good condition and has new tyres fitted and hopefully recoup part of my money.
Regards Lee.
 
Barney, I feel for you.
Quite possibly it was the simplest thing like the coolant reservoir splitting (common problem) which caused the overheat.

Only you can make the decision to call it a day, so many factors at play here, premises, family, financial, personal fears, these L322s are cheap as chips to buy but on occasion the feckers bite.

Some individuals would relish the challenge, personally I would cry internally for a week then pick myself up and just get on with it, after all it's just a couple of head gaskets and a timing job. Break it down into little tasks.
After days of research and spirit building I'd give it a fair crack, but that's not for everyone. I have tools.

Bon chance.
 
Thankyou for your supportive message,i think I w ill take your advice and do it bit by bit and take my time.
Its a beautiful car and would be a shame to rip apart,a friend of mine will help and he is quite handy with a set of spanners the only daunting thing to him is getting the timing right,would you have any idea where we could purchase the cam and timing chain clamps ?.
Most appreciated to have someone like you and your knowledge on my side.
Regards Lee.
 
Lee,
Firstly, I'm no expert, and I've done nothing more than changing the cam cover gaskets and the PCV valve on my 4.4 when I still had it. Not a breeze as you may think!

Secondly, I'd buy or borrow a scope to view the cylinders first, if there is no major scoring then I'd proceed to a warm engine compression test.

Thirdly, you need to find out why it overheated (if it did)

You have 2 cylinder heads, so basically two head jobs. If you or your mate have at least some previous experience of cylinder head gasket fixes then what's to lose. The timing won't be insanely difficult, it's just important to use the tools and understand the process.

I'm not even sure you that you actually need the full timing kit to do the heads, but the full kit is about £100 on ebay.
Some firms rent them, but I'd buy my own.

Search on the BMW forums for advice on gasket brands, but Reinz is top drawer I believe.

Loathe as I am to say it, Google is your friend.
Search this forum, search the Bimmer (BMW) forum, search youtube,
you have the 4.4 M62TU engine, it's all been done before.
 
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The timing is easy with the correct tools, but you do need to get it right as getting in wrong will kill the engine or at least the valve train in one turn of the engine.
if you want to have a look through my thread it will get you some of the way and have a look at the youtube links and you don't necessarily need to remove the lower timing chain covers and replace the guides but while you are in there it would make sense if they haven't been done. there isn't much more to removing the heads. i have a timing kit coming from the states which is this German Auto Solutions one and i also have the kit i used previously which is a little tired but as @myfirstl322 says you can pick up a kit for around £100 and @Saint.V8 had a very nice unused kit as well which isn't the cheap chinese copy.
Get a copy of rave which is essential and the beisan seals link is also very good but goes into a lot of detail about rebuilding the vanos which you may not want to undertake but again let me know as i have a vanos unit with the seals already in and another set of seals.
 
Thankyou appreciate your help as I am going in blind and don't know even what a vanos is,so I will also take your advice and read up all I can.
Many thanks .
Lee.
 
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