My td5 head replacement experiences and cost

[Chanoo]

Thought I'd give you all my experience and thoughts on a head replacement for the td5 defender
This all began with getting diesel in the coolant, so two possibilities 1. The fuel cooler 2. cracked warped head
After isolating the fuel cooler to eliminate that avenue, was still getting diesel in the coolant.
So I bit the bullet and took it in for a head replacement
New aftermarket head, all the gear to go with it gaskets, bolts, ect. Also got the starter motor reconditioned (it was stuffed).
6 days in the shop,
All put back together, had an issue of what they suspected was over fueling but turned out to be faulty connection for the air flow meter. So all is good now
The final cost was $4960.60
Once I had told the boss of the cost and let her cool down for a few days all sweet.
Although another major expense for the defender and it will be goodbye (the vehicle not the wife).

Was apprehensive in the lead up to getting the work done but once the decision was made to do the work, was feeling much better and made the correct decision.
Cheers

[87County]

Hmm... that is informative and thank you for posting.

It does, superficially, seem like a high cost for a new head replacement and the installation of a new starter motor. As a matter of interest, did you investigate the costs of replacing the engine with an alternative ?

[djam1]

Considering the cost of the head I think it’s pretty good
The last one I did cost me over $7000

[Chanoo]

I thought the total cost was pretty good the head alone was $2500.
Don't know if you'd get it
much cheaper

[big harold]

Considering the cost of the head I think it’s pretty good
The last one I did cost me over $7000
I don't feel so bad now about blowing up my Puma engine.
$5500 + $1000 to fit. Brand new long engine.
Mark

[djam1]

Yes wrong coolant in a TD5 is expensive

[strangy]

Thought I'd give you all my experience and thoughts on a head replacement for the td5 defender
This all began with getting diesel in the coolant, so two possibilities 1. The fuel cooler 2. cracked warped head
After isolating the fuel cooler to eliminate that avenue, was still getting diesel in the coolant.
So I bit the bullet and took it in for a head replacement
New aftermarket head, all the gear to go with it gaskets, bolts, ect. Also got the starter motor reconditioned (it was stuffed).
6 days in the shop,
All put back together, had an issue of what they suspected was over fueling but turned out to be faulty connection for the air flow meter. So all is good now
The final cost was $4960.60
Once I had told the boss of the cost and let her cool down for a few days all sweet.
Although another major expense for the defender and it will be goodbye (the vehicle not the wife).

Was apprehensive in the lead up to getting the work done but once the decision was made to do the work, was feeling much better and made the correct decision.
Cheers

So from another thread, is this the workshop that suggested diagnosis of open injectors and then decided it was the MAF?

[Chanoo]

So from another thread, is this the workshop that suggested diagnosis of open injectors and then decided it was the MAF?

Yes that's them, believe me I was concerned about some of the questions they asked me. But they did confess while they were mechanics and did head replacements and the like they were not experts in diesels.
All worked out good though