'05 Range Rover 4.4 Coolant Leak turned into oil burning

[Munzie]

New to forum... and need advice on my next step...bought my '05 RR used two years ago no issues until waranty expired... 85Ks now... took it to garage for regular service was going through O2 sensors like underwear (had a one drip-per-day coolant leak from day one) they recommended doing the valley pan and gaskets etc because the leak was fouling the o2 sensors. Got the work done and later that day a misfire with a "James Bond style" cloud white smoke out the back. Took it back in the am couldnt replicate the problem...they sugested monitoring the problem and returning if it gets worse. Small puff of white smoke every third or forth start-up went out one day on the highway and started misfiring under load up hills and the engine light came on was flashing. Had it towed to the dealer this time they diag coolant in the tranny?? They drained and flushed twice charged alot and off I went. Still getting puffs of smoke stopped driving it.. was checking the coolant every over the two weeks of this adventure it didnt go down but when I filled up with gas checked the oil and was down almost two quarts!!
So now I have heard head gasket (20 hours labor) and maybe cracked block, garage claims oil usage not related to coolant leak repair, not sure why dealership thought it was a tranny prob. Not sure what my next step is Any comments are welcome.
Thanks in advance.

[Takemynamedamit]

Now don't quote me, but as I was reading your problem I thought to myself it was a head gasket...till I read about fluids in the tranny, which sounds like it may (may) be a cracked block.

Did they run a pressure test? I had the stealership tell me I needed new head gasket, but they couldn't tell me why and didn't run any tests. 10,000 miles later and I'm not down a drop of coolant.

[Munzie]

they did'nt do a pressure test.. they were just speculating at the garage on what would cause the white smoke, would a pressure test confirm a head gasket problem and how do you confirm a cracked block? If it is just a head gasket is it possible to be burning oil also?

[Mrmerlin]

if you can pull the spark plug and examine the tips they should all be a similar tan/gray color, any of the tips that look like fresh metal or with rusted tips are burning coolant, it steam cleans the plug tips. you could also get a block checker at NAPA and test for Hydrocarbons in the coolant.
If the trans got coolant in it then the only way for that is a bad radiator end tank

[Nomad09]

Munzie,
To me white smoke when I was a boy was brake fluid, I'm not sure about the mechanics of this, but to be coming out of the exhaust this has to be coming out of the combustion chamber, which would indicate a leak on the induction side of the engine, a water problem like a gasket gone usually is evident in the water system because the combustion pressure is greater than the coolant system pressure. Additionally when a gasket goes it doesn't usually fix itself, broken is broken. Just thinking about this logically, intermittent fault is something that caused randomly, leaks are usually consistent from gaskets and cracks, taking out the thermal cycling issues of course.
Not sure if this helps at all..... Good luck will be good to know what was wrong when you find out.

[Munzie]

Thanks guys for the resposes it sounds as if I have more than one issue to deal with. The spark plugs were changed recently and looking at the plug in cylender 8 it is tan colored and others are clean. The garage tells me that the code shows a miss-fire on cylinder 8. So there must be something getting into the firing chamber, is it possible for coolant and oil to get into the chamber? I have booked it into the dealer for next week to diagnose the problem...wish me luck, I will ask about the radiator end tank and the hydrocarbons in the coolant.
Cheers

[Nomad09]

Munzie,
Are you able to do a compression test before you take it in? This would give you an idea.

[NIM]

Hi there is this shop in Markham called NV Customs Auto Service that the head technician was with rover for 20 years as a master tech call Trevor at 905 554 4530 and they will be able to give you a proper diagnosis .

[Munzie]

Dealer is saying oil separator needs replacing. Any thoughts??

[Nomad09]

Munzie,
I've had a look at the GTR site and this seems to be a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Looking at the part it doesn't look cheap so I would be prepared for the worst. What is the dealer basing his judgement on? Seen this before or he has some left in the store room? Interested to know the price.

[Munzie]

Marty,
Hopefully that will cure it, I will find out today, looking at the bimmerfest.com forums it seems to be a common prob with that engine, short trips and cold climate (wife-driven and live in Calgary Canada) makes sense. $1200 CAN is the estimate.

[Munzie]

Retrieved the truck yesterday, no smoke runs well, so far so good!!
Collapsed oil separator hose was replaced along with the oil separator assembly. Seems to have solved the issue....although it has only been one day. Sure beats a cracked block.

[Rovin4life]

I never do the coolant repair without replacing the separator and hoses.