Serious coolant (Water) leak

[MILLOY]

My 2000 Chimaera 4L has sprung a serious water leak at the front of engine block gasket. The one between the block and the timing chain housing. This will result in removal of the exhaust, water pump, timing pulleys and chain, and god knows what else. expensive to replace a cheap gasket. Anybody had this problem and what if anything causes it?

[sparkythecat]

Milloy, I had this gasket failure last year on my way home from Le Mans and had to be brought from Dover to Lancaster on the back of an RAC lorry all for the sake of a gasket costing £3.45 + VAT !
This job although time consuming is not as complicated as you think and requires no specialist tools. It can easily be undertaken by a reasonably competant home mechanic. Neither the exhaust nor the timing pulleys and chain need to be removed and the water pump can be left attached to the timing cover. Get yourself a copy of the Haines Range Rover manual and follow the instruction for the job in there. The job took me about 5 hours in total. As well as the timing cover gasket you will need to budget for fresh oil and coolant as well. They cannot be reused as they may have been contaminated either as the result of the gasket failure, or during the dismantling process itself. Just one note of caution however, there is at least one and possibly two bolts which secure the sump pan onto the bottom of the timing cover. So in order to remove the timing cover you have to loosen those sump bolts. This is why the engine oil must be drained. If you are very lucky you may then be able to seperate the timing cover from the sump pan without damaging the sump gasket and need only use a dab of sealant to reseal the sump gasket on reassembly. If however the sump gasket is damaged as you remove the timing cover (very likely!) then that gasket will also have to be renewed
You could of course entrust the job to your local TVR dealer, but with labour rates quoted on this site 4 to 5 hours labour will make it an expensive job. ( look for a previous thread entitled Am I being ripped off?)
As I live in Lancashire, I have my car serviced at the TVR factory. At my most recent service I mentioned to them my gasket failure experience. I was informed that this is an acknowledged problem in the rover engines. Apparently there is a weakspot at the top right hand corner where the gasket is particularly narrow , so much so that the factory no longer pressure test the cooling system on these cars for fear of rupturing that gasket!
So either get out your spanners or your wallet and good luck.

[tvrgaas]

Just to bring this to the top.

My Griffith failed last week, just collected from Racing Green. Ouch!
Fortunatley I turned off the engine when the temp gauge went into the red, so it's not a double ouch.
Interestingly the oil warning light was coming on dimly - prehaps due to the water leak. (I suspected oil and added some oil!)
Finger crossed it's now okay!

[radzoule]

Thanks for the replies Guys - having done a bit more digging I think that Sparky is probably right and the timing cover gasket has gone where the top rh waterway is. The water pump spindle is dry underneath - I will probably replace anyhow though.

In addition to the water punmp, whilst I have everything apart does anyone think it would also be a good idea to change the timing gear? The engine has done 45,000 miles. If so, how much more time would this involve?

Finally, does anyone have any recommendations for obtaining a replacement water pump and the sump/timing cover gaskets?

Cheers

[mongoose]

I'd speak to a rv8 specialist like V8D or J Eales about the Gaskets and timing gear,they will have come accross this many times in the number of years experience they share.I wonder if it might be an idea to smear a little RTV on the new gasket before re-fitting?