Posted by Bob at Notts on May 25, 2004 at 10:15:24:

In Reply to: Vehicle using water… Possible engine replacement needed! posted by Stuart Hogg on May 25, 2004 at 03:09:16:

I reckon your dealer is just being cautious. If you have oil in the water then I can't see how this can be from a fault in the liners. This would put water in the oil.

The symptoms you describe are typical of head gasket problems. The oil seeps across the gasket where the feed to the valve gear goes across the joint between head and block and ends up in the cooling system. It appears as a scum at the cap.
Incidentally it is important with these engines to make sure the coolant is correct to spec. (i.e. 50% antifreeze)and changed frequently. In common with a lot of all alloy engines, corrosion goes for the steel gasket if the inhibitors are not up to strength.

As your respondent to your previous posting says, there are a lot of K series engines about, the head gasket weakness is known about but they seem to fix ok provided they haven't been boiled dry. (Sometimes they do leak out the coolant, but it sounds like your's hasn't, although your title worries me.)

Can you try another dealer? Too far away? I don't like the idea of giving him carte blanche to charge you what he likes. In fact why not try emailing LR UK to see what they say?
It is important that you get someone familiar with these engines to do the job. The engine must not be rotated without the head in place (this can move the liners) and new head bolts may be necessary.

Good Luck