Sterlin is 10 years old car with 95,000 miles on the odometer. During this time he has been been a remarkably reliable car with no major repairs needed until recently. Yes, three failures have occurred which have needed attention. All of the following failures were discovered around the same time.
Valve Cover and Engine Head Casket
Approximately three years ago and when Sterlin had 72,000 miles on the odometer we noticed some mild seepage from the rear of the engine block on the passengers side. The oil was not dripping to the ground and the leak did not get really worse over time. In fact we were not even clear if the leak came from the valve cover of the engine block. And then at 92,000 miles and some three years later we noticed some coolant seepage in the same location This was not a great sign for us as we were preparing for our overland expedition. With the car valued at only $5,000 this was to be a costly repair with marginal benefit. But we were going on an extended trip away from repair shops specializing in this type of repair. So, of course we were torn between making the repair or just risking it.
After a short discussion with our local indy mechanic, Philippe from Euroland 4×4 Center, the decision was made to open up the Engine and make the repair. The good news was that the head was still straight and did not need to be machined and the valve sleeves had not fallen. So there was no evidence that the engine had been overheated. I guess Land Rovers are just meant to leak. As the joke goes, the only reason a Land Rover does not leak, is because there is no more oil in the engine.
With the head out it was possible to see some deterioration of the radiator, so we opted to installed a new after market radiator. The radiator hoses were original as well and can fail after 60,000 miles so it seems like a very good idea to replace them along with the thermostat. The total cost of the repair was $3,400. So hopefully this will buy us an equivalent amount of peace-of-mind.
Transfer Case Seals
Unlike the head casket, the transfer case seals were leaking quite badly and dripping to the ground. It was clear that these would need to be replaced. This was a relatively straight job of dropping the transfer case and shafts and replacing the seals. And when I say relatively easy, I mean relatively easy for our indy mechanic.
The Three Amigos
And would you believe, just recently the three amigos have appeared. This is when the ABS brake light, Hill Decent Control and the Traction Control fault lights all light up at the same time followed by by the sounding of three warning tones. At this point none of these braking functions will operate, although regular braking is still available. Turing off and restarting the engine will clear the condition, until it reappears. The failure was occurring almost daily.
There are two common causes for this condition. Either one of the ABS speed sensors in the wheel hub is malfunctioning or the ABS modulator device is having issues. I had the local dealer read the fault codes in the unlikely hope it was a speed sensor. Unfortunately it was the modulator, which costs about $5,000 to replace or $1,500 to repair with a 50/50 chance of success.
Loss of the ABS braking and the Hill Decent Control is not much of a big deal.. There are many cars on the road without these two features. Loss of the Traction control is a little more problematic. The Land Rover Discovery II is not a regular 4wd and does not have any way to lock the diffs instead relying on electronics called Traction Control. Effectively the ABS modulator will apply brake pressure to a spinning wheel to force the slip diff to transfer power to the opposite wheel. This is what improves the vehicles 4 wheel drive capability. And while we can probably live with out this, having a more effective 4 wheel drive capable vehicle is quite desirable.
New Shock Absorbers
We proactively replaced the original shock absorbers with new and similar shock absorbers. Going with a product from Blisten. The ride has certainly improved with the new shock absorbers and the hope is that these new ones are less likely to fail (as they as newer), but who really knows. The cost of the new shocks fitted was $1,060. Again the fitting was performed by our trusty indy mechanic.
New Rotors and Brake Pads
The front and rear now have new brake pads and rotors which should be good for another 40,000 miles or so. This repair cost $1,600.
Summary
We have undertaken some necessary and maybe some not so necessary repairs to Sterlin. The total cost of these repairs exceeds the market value of the vehicle. Repairs = $7,000 and car value is $4,000. The plan was always to do this trip in a Land Rover Discovery, so spending large sums of money on an aging vehicle still felt like the right thing. The true test of this decision will be made on the road.
