The Range Rover naturally aspirated V8 the super charged V8 come in Range Rovers, Range rover sport and some Discovery 4 models. These engines all use the same engine block and are known for developing cooling system problems.
These engines are susceptible to overheating issues and once they warm up beyond manufacturers specifications or even overheat they will have the symptoms of a blown headgasket. The engines in question are the 5.0 N/A the 5.0 Super charged and the 3.0 Supercharged.
The five Litre V8 and the three litre V8 use the same engine block. This is why the fault is applicable to multiple engine capacities.
Do not attempt to replace the head gaskets. The Engine block used in these motors have a poor coolant gallery design and warp. The walls to the block and combustion chambers are too small to dissipate the heat generated and can twist, contort and in some cases even crack. Referencing the image below you can see how the coolant jacket is huge allowing maximum cooling around the cylinder walls however the “sleeve” Type cylinder wall leaves no room for forgiveness if air enters the cooling system. The heat transferred from combustion into the cylinder walls has no where to go and metal fails.
After forking out a cylinder head gasket replacement you will discover the engine still overheats and you will have paid for the gasket replacement and still have a faulty engine.
Once these motors overheat, unfortunately they are a throw away item. A second hand unit will be required or if still available, a new block.
IF you have further interest in this motor, how it works and a tear down of it, below is a Youtube video of a chap who has pulled one down. The one in the video had not overheated but has a suspect oil pressure to timing chain issue. This may have caused the timing to jump teeth or to be very noisy whilst running due to timing chain rattle.
