Motor blew. Options?

[TriPolar]

My motor blew up tonight. Pretty sure of that.. knock knock knock, smoke, dies and ****es oil out everywhere.

So i have $1500 currently. A rebuild or replace?

[sheerluck]

300tdi or V8?

[TriPolar]

Sorry, its a v8.

[Mick_Marsh]

$1500 would be a replace. It would cost four times that or more to have a rebuild.

[sheerluck]

Mick just got there before me, but $1500 would buy a second hand motor from someone like British Off Road. Or you can take your chances with a $600 eBay bargain.

[TriPolar]

Im giving them a call tomorrow. Drop the 3.9 in? I remember people mentioning a 4.0?

[sheerluck]

Im giving them a call tomorrow. Drop the 3.9 in? I remember people mentioning a 4.0?

If you can get a 4.6, that'd be good!

Someone who knows more than me will confirm or deny, but I believe the 4.0 is not quite a drop in replacement due to the extra electronics, inlet manifold, and other bits. You'd need to do a bit of mixing and matching between old bits and new.

[TriPolar]

So i want a direct drop in. So i should go with the 3.9 or will this 4.6 go straight in?

[bee utey]

So i want a direct drop in. So i should go with the 3.9 or will this 4.6 go straight in?
No. The 4.6 (unless converted already) has an entirely different cam, front cover and pulley set up and you'd have nowhere to install your distributor. For $1500 a wreckers may sell you a used 3.9 engine with a 3 month warranty, and you'd still have to pay for installation to get the warranty. Your best bet is to put up a wanted advert and keep your eye out on the markets, ebay or gumtree for another engine. You might be able to find a much cheaper 3.5 engine so long as your disco has the vee belt front cover. If it has the serpentine front cover you need a matching 3.9, or find a 4.6 and fit all of the needed components off your broken 3.9. That's if any of it is salvageable after the blow up. None of this is cheap unless you are good at mechanicking yourself.

[TriPolar]

Just had a good look around for a motor. Nothing close by. Its my daily (since it rains every day at the moment) so im trying to get it back on the road asap.

Seems to have happened at the worst time as well..

[pop058]

Auto or manual ?? If a manual, which one ??

[TriPolar]

Managed to get it started again and drove it up the drive way. It did not want to run at all. Smoke still coming out the oil cap and no water in the over flow. Perhaps cooked it and blown a gasket.
Its a auto.

[Blknight.aus]

with that budget, you're limited to the 3.9..

before I start making suggestions....

hows your tooling and skills on the tools?

(if your budget is a total of $1500 you are going to be very hard pressed to pull it off if you dont do a heap of the prep work, $1500 for the motor alone isnt too bad)

[loanrangie]

If you can do the spanner work you should be able to get the short rebuilt and just have your heads checked, ground and new gasket set for your budget.
Would most likely need a new cam/lifters/chain set as well.
Of course this all depends on condition of the block and sleeves.

[TriPolar]

I had a sleep on it. Im going to tear the heads off and have a gander. I think im over reacting and its just a blown head gasket, possible warped head. As both water and oil are coming from the areas i think i may be on the money there.

WOrst case is that i tear it down and im wrong and still need another motor.

[clubagreenie]

Is there water in the oil? (loosen the drain and see what come out first).

I'm in the middle of doing HG's on my 4.6. For $100-more than the cost of a new cam here i got;

Cam, new retaining plate and bolts.
Lifters
Timing gears and chain
Pushrods
Steel rockers & posts and shafts
Shim kit for rockers
All gaskets and water pump.

Turner Engineering is great for quality supply, shipping on everything was 70 punds via DHL and it was here in 3 days. It was going to take longer to get the cam to sydney via genuine supply.

The liners should be fine as it shouldn't suffer like the 4.0/4.6. Take your time, get the heads checked professionally and also hardness tested. They can go soft (as can the block) if it gets too hot. For what they charge I don't deal with heads anymore save for seat cutting, that I don't trust to anyone.

[TriPolar]

I'll be checking it out tomorrow. I ordered a Vrs kit and head bolts. Already have a timing kit and water pump here. Now would be a perfect time to do a cam but I'm worried that after I do the Vrs kit I may discover something else to be damaged. But I'll see how I go.

[clubagreenie]

If you do cam you'll also need to do lifters as well. Cancel the bolts PLEASE buy ARP studs.

[sheerluck]

I had a sleep on it. Im going to tear the heads off and have a gander. I think im over reacting and its just a blown head gasket, possible warped head. As both water and oil are coming from the areas i think i may be on the money there.

WOrst case is that i tear it down and im wrong and still need another motor.

Make sure you drop the sump and have a squizz at the contents, and also have a look at the big ends.

[dadsDisco1]

I'll give you a 96 3.9 for $400,(If you help get it out!) 250k on it, I drove it home from Nambour to brissie no probs (excluding the ABS shudder under brakes) and was going to use it while I rebuild mine but sounds like you need to do the same a little sooner...

[TriPolar]

Ill send you a pm.

[TriPolar]

I drained the oil and found no water. But i now know why there is no water..
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

So im still going ahead with the VRS kit as i have blown a seal somewhere to **** oil out. Im still leaning towards head gaskets as thats where it seems to be wet.
Still worried about that faint knocking noise i heard a few mins from home aswell. But still nothing but oil came out of the sump which is a plus.

Just had a look on evilbay and only found the top and bottom for $200. Any ideas where i can get a full kit?

[101RRS]

Shows why all engines should have an engine saver alarm fitted.

In a 3.9 a knocking sound after an overheat can often indicate a slipped liner.

May not be obvious with the heads off - look for what looks like a steam cleaned combustion chamber but is far from conclusive.

[TriPolar]

Iv added that part to the list of stuff to buy. Its put to the top of the list currently. So far has ordered VRS kit (once heads are off ill take to the shop for some love) and a complete hose kit.
One thing i am not happy about is that the valley bolts and exhaust bolts are hand tight and that they used the exhaust bolt locking tabs too which is making my job so much harder as some i just cant reach.

[Boony73]

Iv added that part to the list of stuff to buy. Its put to the top of the list currently. So far has ordered VRS kit (once heads are off ill take to the shop for some love) and a complete hose kit.
One thing i am not happy about is that the valley bolts and exhaust bolts are hand tight and that they used the exhaust bolt locking tabs too which is making my job so much harder as some i just cant reach.

I noticed the same thing with my valley and exhaust bolts when I did my head gaskets just before Christmas, we must have had the same guy on a Friday afternoon assembling our engines. As for the locking tabs I feel your pain I used a combination of hammers, screw drivers, a air hammer with a chisel bit and a good dose of foul language.

[sheerluck]

The loose valley bolts is a regular turn up. They were barely finger tight on my '98 V8.

[TriPolar]

I noticed the same thing with my valley and exhaust bolts when I did my head gaskets just before Christmas, we must have had the same guy on a Friday afternoon assembling our engines. As for the locking tabs I feel your pain I used a combination of hammers, screw drivers, a air hammer with a chisel bit and a good dose of foul language.

I got 3 out and called it quits for the day.



The loose valley bolts is a regular turn up. They were barely finger tight on my '98 V8.

Perhaps thread locker is in order. And lots of it. Lol.

[bee utey]

To bend back the lock tabs I use a stumpy flat screw driver and a small hammer, you get at all the lock tabs eventually. At least all your bolts are still there, without the lock tabs they tend to rattle out. D2s have a different system where the bolts are longer and have little steel tubes under them to retain the bolt tension through the heating and cooling cycles.

[Tassie]

tried Gumtree ? maybe get somethig like this and wreck the rest ?
Loading... | Cars, Vans & Utes | Gumtree Australia Gold Coast North - Willow Vale | 1037364191 (http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/willow-vale/cars-vans-utes/loading-/1037364191)

[TriPolar]

I dont have the space nor the tools required to lift the motor out. Heads have been dropped into the machine shop. Might aswell do a re ring and check bearings. Block is still bolted in the car with tranny bolted to it so crank bearings wont be done (as long as their good).