3.6L TDV8 Intake / Valve Cover Gasket

[Mickd]

Oil leaks[bigsad], there's only so much you can tolerate and it was exceeding my underbody rust proofing requirements and I was getting some drips on the drive way.
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Oil was leaking out from where the injectors enter the valve cover. I had already removed the metal shields that cover the injectors at this stage. I had degreased the valve cover and went for a drive around the block. You can see the oil leaking from a short 5 min run.
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I am just going to make a few points from here on the process I took to do the job. Note: I'm not a pro, and this was done at home - so if you're going to follow this do at your own risk. Definitely for more advanced home mechanics.

RH = Drivers side (Australia/UK spec). Side of the ABS/brakes
LH = Passenger side. Battery etc



Remove air intake plenum. Top intercooler hoses. Unclip all the electrical connectors... There is a separate write up on removing components to get to the valley of the V8. You need to remove the top section of the inlet manifold



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The connector at the back of the LH bank I have always found a bit tricky as it's in an awkward place. Use a small flat screwdriver to push it open and apart
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Carefully separate the vacuum lines they are very brittle.
Top Intake is now off
RH bank
Metal shield comes off from above injectors. 1/4 drive with long extensions and wobble end. 10mm. Awkward to get out, but it comes out.
Maybe easier with the ABS unit unbolted so you can move it around. I didn't at this stage.
Remove injectors #1 and #2. 17mm spanner to undo the hard line from the common rail. No need to remove the hard line from injector.
Remove leak off pipe and clips. Use a small flat screwdriver or pick to start, I then used 90deg circlip pliers to remove the clip from the injector so it didn't ping off and get lost.
To remove injector, undo the two bolts either side. 8mm, 1/4 drive socket, wobble and extension. Free the injector by trying to turn it clockwise then counterclockwise until it starts to free up and then you can start to lift it out of the engine.
For injector #3 and #4 you need to undo the RH engine mount and tilt the engine to the passenger side with a jack.
Remove the under trays.
The engine mounts are cushioned with air and there is a little air hose that plugs in underneath. Best to pull the tube straight out so it doesn't pull out under tension when the engine is tilted.
There are two bolts on the bottom of the mounts and one on top. The RH side can only access the bottom bolts (16mm). Use a spanner on the front bolt from underneath. The rear one come in from top with a long 500mm+ extension bar with wobble end and 16mm crowsfoot spanner - I found this bolt awful.
Once bolts were undone completely, I used a block of wood on RH side of sump and trolley jack to ease the weight of the engine up.
Hardlines had to come off the #3 and #4 injectors as well as the common rail in order to extract them. Same process with the leak off pipes
Undo the many 10mm nuts and the cover. There was a small nut at the back lower corner of the cover that was holding a heat sheild, it was a little awkward.
Note that before I started all this I had cleaned up around the engine bay so as to avoid getting any dirt or foreign matter into the engine.
Remove the cam cover. Careful with the leak off piping at the back if you haven't already removed it from the ridge/clips in the back of the valve cover.
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Fairly obvious what to do next. I reused the rubber washers and bolts. Most of the washers remained stuck to the valve cover, only one or two came off - I figured better not to disturb the seal they had.
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Clean up the mating surface before reinstalling
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Torque the valve cover bolts back down to 10nm.
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Cleaned up the injector ports with a microfibre and acetone to get a clean and debris free surface
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Injectors got new copper washers. I think the ones I got were actually for a TDV6, basically the same. Some minor differences in the shape of the ID, bit overall same thickness and OD.
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Install the leak off pipe clip onto the injector, but then back it off so it's just balancing on the edge of the ridge so you can push the leak off pipe tube in.
Install injectors starting at the back E.g. #4. Be very careful not to bump the clip in any way as it might ping off somewhere. Put a bit of Vaseline or similar on the O ring of the leak off pipe before pushing back into injector so it doesn't pinch and then push the clip into place.
Ensure injector is snugged into place and torque 8mm bolts to 10nm.
Lower engine and reinstall bolts.
Move onto the LH. I find this side easier with more access room and there was no need to remove hard lines from any of the injectors.
Only needed to lift the engine to remove injector #8 at the back.
LH Engine mount, you can access the top bolt with a 1/2" extension, wobble and 18mm socket from the top.



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Will add more details as required...

I guess the next question I have is how long will the valve covers themselves last, they have been known to crack/split.. So I may be doing this again.

[Laurie]

Thanks Mick
Much appreciated, great write -up [thumbsupbig]

I'll check things out when the covers are removed and see where I go from there ! Working the weekend so won't be to early next week !

Laurie

[rar110]

Bloody hell, I’m glad I don’t have this oil leak. Great write up Mick. Fantastic when blokes like you, Laurie and Harlie join the L322 3.6 fold. [emoji106]

[Gillie]

Thanks Mick, This is such a great find for me! I am currently doing this right now. I have taken the passenger side fuel line shield off and degreased everything. The oil leak on the LHS appears to be coming from an injector, I was suspicious that maybe the Valve Cover (Should be called a Cam cover) might be cracked (apparently quiet common) but cannot confirm as any soapy water test doesn't show up anything.
My next plan of attack is to take off the RHS Fuel line shield and degrease that and take for a test drive. This (I am hoping) will show without doubt that the problem lies with the gaskets alone.

What then? order parts and fix it . Easy!.......

I tried to buy a descent 1/4 drive socket set for this the other day but the one I wanted was not in stock but think it will be super handy for this. I ran with a 1/2 inch drive socket set for years but had to get a 3/8 drive set when I did the turbo.

How much in the hole are you in it for? I assume only gaskets and washers? Did you use any sealant?

cheers
Gillie

[Mickd]

I think it's still early days yet, but it seems that just replacing the gaskets has worked for me so far. Gaskets were ~$160 each locally, injector washers $60. So just shy of $400 in parts. I didn't apply any sealant. There was no sealant on from factory. Reused the hard injector lines, workshop manual says to replace.

If you're in the doing the work and don't fancy having to revisit the leak off pipes again you should probably replace the O rings with new. Mine weren't leaking and I wasn't able to source any in the right size in the timeframe for me completing the job. So I still have the same O-rings in place. I have sourced some viton replacements that I'll keep on hand, 3.5x1.5 (ID x cross section in mm).

It is a lot of effort to go to just to do the gaskets. So I think you have to be prepared for the possibility you will need new covers - if not now, then perhaps even some point in the future. Apparently smoke test is the preferred diagnostic check to see if your manifold is cracked. I was reasonably confident that wasn't the issue with mine so took a punt and didn't get that check done as I don't have the equipment.

I priced new cam/intake manifolds (come with new gaskets) overseas and they were roughly $600 each, then add freight. Not sure what they cost locally.

I picked up a Kincrome 1/4" set at Bunnings a while back. Couldn't do without it on this engine.
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[Gillie]

I have started this job and will do it over the course of however long it takes. I have no motivation and have plenty of other jobs backing up. With lockdown we can get away with one vehicle so it’s no big deal and I also have the 130 in the shed if we need so now I think about we have three cars, but the Range Rover is so nice to drive. So far I have taken the plenum chamber off and started on the right hand side being the harder of the two. I have got 1 and 2 injectors out and undone the engine mounts ready to be jacked up. I don’t have a crows foot spanner and I don’t think you could get on the engine mount rear bolt with just a uni. I sent the call out but no one I knew had one either. So I ended up making one from a 5/8 spanner. It worked a treat. Aiming to have the right hand bank finished this weekend. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200912/b08d833341d46947a66a099c887cbe3e.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200912/0b73cfc4ace8c4c04e5b232824a16c50.jpg

[Gillie]

The biggest issue I am finding with this job and working on this car is trying to see. I need a torch and glasses and then a lot of bolts you can only see through a narrow field of view. Would I prefer to fix the turbo or the leaking gaskets? Both are challenging jobs and I would prefer to take it somewhere and get them to fix it!! I’ll just keep plodding away. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200912/4c036199d98f17548abb627f8504c90c.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200912/15e35f9f689e12d79df13c248939ef5d.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200912/7919bbd2efa8b92c4d1ac42faa99b152.jpg

[Laurie]

If the intake is cracked , you should/would get a error message when the car is cold; due to a slight drop in intake manifold pressure. The funny thing is usually that if you stop turn off and lock the car it will restart and continue on quite merrily. The only thing I can think of is that as the engine heats up the nylon expands temporarily closing the crack if small enough. Many threads from the UK stating that when the Limp Mode comes on it's in the same place when leaving home, it's a intake manifold crack; and a smoke test usually confirms this.

Laurie

[Laurie]

Just a word of warning, some of the Express Mail items that I ordered a while back from the UK took 4 + weeks to due the holdup with Covid, I also had 1 parcel go missing ; though they eventually fully reimbursed me for item and the postage. It might pay to check if ordering if needed urgently.

Laurie

[vbrab]

Just a word of warning, some of the Express Mail items that I ordered a while back from the UK took 4 + weeks to due the holdup with Covid, I also had 1 parcel go missing ; though they eventually fully reimbursed me for item and the postage. It might pay to check if ordering if needed urgently.

Laurie

Have been advised from UK sellers that DHL/Fed Ex are now all charging "priority" rates for all airfreight , effectively doubling cost of anything out of UK by air.
Bit like charging 1st Class for parcels, like airlines are doing for humans. The "greed is good" school of business I expect.

[PhilipA]

The biggest issue I am finding with this job and working on this car is trying to see
Get yourself a "dork torch"
Ie a headlamp like an expensive Petzl or like me a cheap Aldi one. You need one with the ability to hinge up or down so you can point it where you are looking. Then if you can see the bolt you can light it up.
Regards PhilipA

[Gillie]

Mick
Your mailbox is full and won’t accept any more messages. I am curious how you attacked the vertical bolt on the heat shield at the back of the right hand side bank. It looks to be 8mm where everything else is 10mm. Funnily enough the pipe blocking access to this bolt is the breather I had trouble with when doing the turbo! I am struggling to get a spanner or socket on it.

[Gillie]

I have completed the drivers side cover but still need to reinstall the injectors and Leak off pipes and engine mounts before moving on to the other side. Mick has done a marvelous job of writing up this procedure and when I look at the pics he has taken I can appreciate the effort to take them! A Couple of things I learnt Along the way to add to this write up.


There are only two engine mount bolts, the way I read the original post I thought there was three.
The bolt at the back of the Drivers side bank that I was struggling with is listed as a heat shield but is a bracket and has a 10mm nut on the valve cover and an 8mm bolt on the vertical. to get to this I must of been over thinking it
and I was able to reach in from the back and get it with a short 8mm spanner.
I could not get the Valve cover off and RAVE talks about taking the brake vacuum pump out. I didn't do this and tried to zoom in on some of the pics that is in the write up. I was able to release the vacuum hose from it and then
using two screwdrivers release the right angle connector from the pump which allowed me to get the cover out. I suspect Mick may of done the same.

The clips for the leak off pipes are a fair pain and you can only purchase them in a kit from landrover which includes the high pressure lines. I think they were around $160 or $180 or something ridiculous and when you need 8 of them is an expensive exercise. A bit of searching reveals that a Jag Clip might be the same. Once I get them from the Postoffice I will confirm the part number for future reference. The local diesel mechanic also had them in stock for around $4.00 ea. I have only so far got a 50% recovery rate of them as they do ping off into the unknown on release. I tried to catch them with a magnet but to no avail.
I will hopefully get back to it a few nights this week and finish the Drivers side ready to move onto the Passenger side. apparently the easier side to do.

[Gillie]

I can confirm that the jaguar clips are the same. Thank Mario @ Roverlord https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200921/09b4212fbecd19e95615bfceccb79096.jpg

[Gillie]

Nothing worse when reading a thread and the problem is not solved or they never come back to update the thread and tell everyone. So in the interest of not being that guy.

Got the L322 back on the road. It is not a particularly hard job but you do need to have some mechanical aptitude. It is however a big job to do with many nuts and bolts to remove as well as electrical connections.
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This was the best tool to own and allowed me to make other tools to help the make the job easier.
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The home made crows foot spanner worked a treat as did the spanners at different angles.
I broke this job down to 3 components, one being the plenum chamber and wiring harness, two being the RHS Valve cover and the three being the LHS valve cover. All up I probably spent three days on it, but spread over a few weeks.

The drivers side valve cover is definetley a bit harder for a number of reasons. The ABS module is in the way. Even if you undo the two bolts and one nut that holds the it in place you cannot move it much. It probably helped a little bit and I would probably do the same again. The two engine mount bolts on that side are not the easiest to get out or put back in. I found that I could use a screw driver from underneath to help move the engine mount to align the holes. Obviously with the weight of the engine sitting on the jack allowing the mount to move a bit. having to take off the hard lines from the injector to the fuel rail for number 3 and four injector was a pain and not the easiest to get the spanners on.

The Passenger side went by pretty quick with easy access to everything and was uneventful. NOTE, you only need to do undo one bolt on the engine mount which is the 18mm one Mick refers to in the original post and is easy to get to. There is also a sneaky 18th bolt on this cover just near the 5th injector
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I found the new seals to be tight to start on the injector and Mick confirmed that this would be the case. I renewed the Rubber washers on the leak down pipes and the clips. I thought this would be a frustrating task to put them back on but it was easy.

The plenum chamber even went on fairly simply with no major issues and connect not only the wiring harness and but also where they clip over rails, in holes etc.
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The vents and bulk heads back in and the cover and now we are starting to look pretty good.
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With the fuel lines being off the fuel pump was cycled a few times to prime it and it fired into life pretty quickly. I ran the OBD over it and cleared any faults.

I gave it a wash and a degrease and see how we go.
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I was going to put it all back together next weekend but my wife has to go to the dentist today in Melbourne and didn't want to take my car, so the pressure was on to finish it off. Not what I really wanted as I would of liked to keep it local for a whilst before a big trip just to check on it.
After doing about 60 km in it yesterday I had a good look for fuel leaks or oil leaks. It looks pretty good, until I got underneath it......... I suspect the oil return on the turbo is leaking and I was able to nip up the torque bolts in the short term. I will re-evaluate when/ If she gets back from town.

Big Thanks To Mick for the original write and being on call to answer any queries and thanks to Mario @ Roverlord for his help and expertise on parts. Glad this is behind me...... for now.

[rar110]

Well done. Big job. Thanks for the write up. I agree, a mig is a very handy tool to have.

[Gillie]

the Mig is super handy. I did make another tool with a shallow socket welded on the end of a long screwdriver but it didn't help. I didn't really want to cut up good tools to make other ones but seem to have an abundance of old odd tools which are perfect for cutting and shutting!! I've had the mig for about a year now and it is starting to pay its way around the place. Ive made a few shed heaters, welded up chains and gates, tools, garden edging, Hose clamps for the neighbors bobcat and trailer repairs. The other neighbors want me to weld up some front gates for their place. They always have people tearing through their property as Google says their driveway is the main road. Try getting google to change that!!

Well my wife came back from Melbourne last night. 7 hr return trip with no option to stay anywhere. I spoke to the Covid hotline and told them the story and asked if she could stay with my stepmother in town. They went away and had a natter and it would basically come down to if she got picked up it would depend how the copper interpreted the law and she would risk a $5K fine as well as the stepmother copping one as well. Sort of forces people to push themselves to drive tired. As far as we know the L322 performed faultlessly but I haven't checked it over yet. I suspect I will be replacing the oil return off the turbo but I will see. From memory I have to remove the starter motor and the Cat. Sounds like a nightmare but will be the easiest job I have ever done on this car if that is all it is!! I gotta say the wife was so happy to be travelling in style again! Fingers crossed

[rar110]

If you think the turbo drain pipe is restricted, you could try a oil flush like liquimoly

Liquid-Moly Engine Oil Flush Plus 300mL - Liquid-Moly | Repco Australia (https://www.repco.com.au/en/oils-fluids/additives/engine-additives/liquid-moly-engine-oil-flush-plus-300ml/p/A9389769)

[Laurie]

If you have agent nearby this stuff is fantastic, but expensive initially [bigwhistle] for the initial dose as you will have to use about 125ml $53 plus a complete oil change with a cheap oil ($70) and run for 30 mins, drain then replace filters and oil as normal. Then afterwards all you need is around 25ml $6 and run engine for 30 mins before your next oil change. It's eye opening how much gunk comes out, and yes the engine does run better.

Flushing Oil Concentrate - Cost Effective Maintenance (https://costeffective.com.au/product/flushing-oil-concentrate/)

Laurie

[Cmdigger]

Having read this thread I found it extremely useful as I’ve just completed mine (replaced egr valves while I was in there as well). Anyway I thought I might add you don’t need to undo engine mounts to get the back injectors out (I know some will say this is wrong but it all worked out for me). If you take out the retaining bolts in the injector and remove the fuel lines then wiggle the injector until it’s basically free and lifts out. Don’t lift it out though, replace the 2 retaining bolts finger tight and using a 25m spanner you can undo the top of the injector. You literally only need to crack it 1/2 a turn and you’ll be able to undo it by hand, then once undone you can remove the top of the injector (the electrical connector part) then take out the retaining bolts and your then able to remove the injectors closet to the firewall on both banks without having to undo engine mount. I’ll be honest I wasn’t sure if this would work as I was worried once I put the injector back together that it would leak or not work. So I had a stuff it moment and thought I’d give it bash. Well 600 miles later the car is running as sweet as ever no leaks etc. My old girl works for it’s living as it’s constantly towing diggers, dumpers and other machinery. 9 times out of 10 it’s dragging in excess of 3 tons. After taking a machine to a client 230 miles away then home again and just some running around town I decided to take the cover plates of again and check everything over and it’s nice and perfectly dry so happy days.
Again I’m not saying this is the correct process (as I’m guessing it really isn’t) but just thought I would share this as it worked ok for me.

[Gillie]

Well done cmdigger. Whatever works. They are so much nicer when they are not leaking oil everywhere. I have been monitoring the oil stains in the drive but with nothing fresh I haven’t bothered to lift the bonnet. I didn’t find the engine mounts to be the worse part of the job. Well done.

[Laurie]

If someone else has a leaking manifolf gasket, it might pay to do this in the first instance ! Mine had a hairline crack so it needed to be replaced

[B]This is a reply I had when talking to a German owner on Ffrr.

'I torqued the bolts to spec (25NM - didn't have a torque wrench that goes that low, so I estimated "finger-tight" + 90 degrees to do the job - that's at least how I torque down spark plugs in my old Merc.

Long story short: It seems like the problem has been solved. No more smoke, no oil in the driveway. Drove 400km Autobahn since...

Long-term fix to be validated. I will keep you updated.

Laurie

[haydent]

after noticing fresh oil stains under our 120km l320 tdv8 and taking the bottom panels off and degreasing it and still not being able to see where it was coming from, i thought what the heck ill google it, even though what could be more broad than, land rover oil leak... but i found this thread !

and what do you know it looks like i have the same problem on both sides, will try checking the torque and then order new seals.

thanks for all the comments everyone !

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[haydent]

but those damn "fuel line shields" have to pull everything off to get them off just to get a look at the actual engine.

what do you think they really do ?? issues with not using them ??

[haydent]

'I torqued the bolts to spec (25NM - didn't have a torque wrench that goes that low, so I estimated "finger-tight" + 90 degrees to do the job - that's at least how I torque down spark plugs in my old Merc.


Laurie

I believe it is only 10NM

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[haydent]

last post for the night, how the heck do you get and swing a torque wrench on these back bolt, i ground down a 10mm 1/4" socket and have a 1/4" torque wrench but no room to swing if i even can get it on as theres body covering it...

speaking of tools, i found repco sell a 1/4" 10mm long socket, which would be needed to get onto the bolts that double as attachment points for the heat shield.

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[Laurie]

3/8" flexible socket setup ! Just carefully check the intake manifold, as they are prone to cracking from age or high mileage. After the RH manifold cracked on mine I replaced both, not cheap during Covid, but worth the piece of mind, as it initially goes into restricted mode, you can reset it and it will run as long as you are gentle with the boost. We use our big girl for trips mainly, so in the end it was a no brainer. As you are finding out it is a bugger of a job and even more so if you get a stuck injector. On reassembly replace all fuel return line "O" rings, with Viton ones if available. You don't want finish the job just to find you have a minor leak [bigwhistle]

Laurie

[Gillie]

How did you go Haydent? I bought a 1/4 inch socket set from Repco to add to the 3/8 socket set from repco and the 1/2 inch socket set from Repco. Between three sets of socket sets and a mig welder I could make p something to fit a bolt. In relation to the fuel line shields I haven't bothered fitting them back on so I could get better visibility to the engine. Now that it is done and probably travelled another 50K I might get it done on a rainy day.............. maybe.

[haydent]

After the initial panick about the low oil level and amount on the engine, I topped it up and monitored it and its not loosing oil as fast as I first feared.

I have the parts from UK and bought a crowfoot spanner set on sale at sca

Just waiting for good time to do it and will post back here

[nuttysince74]

Bloody good work guys! I have just started on my tdv8 . Leaking oil and diesel all over the places everyone mentioned. Goes into limp/restricted mode same spot every morning, I noticed one of the O rings was missing from the egr pipe so hopping that’s the issue there not a cracked manifold! The engine mounts look like a nightmare so will definitely take the top of the injector and see how that goes:)

[pigeon_voyageur]

Good writeup guys. I am in the process of changing those gaskets. Engine is open, order placed for new gaskets.

Thanks for the advices. I found it really useful.

[haydent]

So finally decided to prioritise this job over any others after pulling over at the top of Dorrigo range after pulling our caravan up, and smoke coming out from under the bonnet as all the leaked oil started to burn off as the car was hotter than usual.

So far just the au drivers side done in one day, tomorrow the other side.

I made 2 modified 1/4" 10mm sockets to help with the tricky to get to lower bolts, one i had to drill the center out to 6mm so it would fit over the bolts that have a stud coming out of them, and the other a shortened 10mm, ground down to minimum height for bolt head size to allow maximum space for swivel.


I remembered there is a 'service mode' on the bonnet to open it higher.

When finally removing the cover, I found it easiest to just remove the fuel rail first.

I used 17mm crow foot spanner to torque the fuel lines back up.

My crow foot is a bit chunkier than a standard spanner, so for the other side I will try torque the fuel connections before adding the bled off pipes, though i found adding the clips was easier with the injector not bolted down and pulled out a little.

I replaced all clips, bleed off o-rings and injector copper washers.

I could tell the gasket must have been my problem with oil leaking as when pulling the injectors out they would be covered in oil, as the well they sit in had oil pooled in it.

Didnt have to do anything about the engine mounts so far, but that might change on the other side.


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[haydent]

Day 2, and finished the passenger side, and almost all the other bits back on. Had quite the hold up with 2 dropped sockets and a bolt that didnt fall through, having to take all the bottom panels off and a wheel arch liner. I would recommend taking at least the main bottom plate off first before starting, as youll likely drop something and it will need a good clean anyway due to oil.

Managed to work out a way to get Injector 8 out, past the AC line without disassembling it or an engine mount (likely just a l320 thing), there is a mounting clip near the join pictured, once this 10mm nut is removed the pipes can be moved around enough to get past. Not an easy nut to get to though.

Talking about hard to get to nuts the #4 on the passenger (and equivalent on drivers side) one is a real challenge as you just cant see it so have to operate blind.

I found the best thing to do this time around is get the leak of pipes out of the way first, and put them back on last, this way not in the way for getting the injector pipes on/off and no risk of breaking them. As I had enough new clips for all and had saved all the old ones from the first side which would be fine if needed, i just flicked them all out with a think flat head with no concern to catch them, quite quick.

Then when putting back on, as the injector is installed this time around its a little tighter access, so i found an easy way to do it is click in all the pipes, then grip the clip straight leg with a long pointy nose pliers, get it lined up and started in the hole, then use your finger to press it from the bent end to hold it in place, while you let go with the pliers and now squeeze the clip in by getting the clip and injector between the jaws and squeezing.

You can see the oil on end of injector
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Operating blind on the invisible nut, note you can pull these black wire boxes out if it helps you.
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the ac clip/bracket pictured, the nut is at the bottom of it, unfortunately there is a flange on the bracket that stops getting a spanner on it from the angle pictured, but you have to get a socket on it with extension from behind the engine, where there is surprisingly quite a bit of space.
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if it helps (particularly on the lowers) you can just pop out the bolts instead of wind them all the way out, though they can be left in as are captive:
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[haydent]

Day 3, all back together - had to take off the other wheel arch liner to get a bonnet strut clip that fell down.

Also big tip dont take the oil tube out, it was much harder than i anticipated to find the lower half of the tube to put it back in. You cant get visual on it any where, even with the wheel arch liner off. I had to use a mirror on rod tool to see where i was going, and because it reverses everything, quite hard to line up.

Problem im having now is it wont start, just rolls over. No errors in IID tool thankfully, and looking at live values it seems the fuel rail pressure is too low. It is better (1400) than it was when i first started cranking (900kpa), but still not enough, (my records show its normally 22,000 kpa) , and i tried about 20 times (push button start) battery not happy, and back on charge. No signs of fuel leaking, maybe just air in system ?

Ok, got it to start, just bled from the LP shraeder valve, there was some air. Thought it wouldnt be affected due to lp not being opened...

Time to fire up the pressure sprayer.[smilebigeye]

[pigeon_voyageur]

Hi guys,
Job done for me. Thanks for the writeup. I had to follow the steps and it went very smooth.

[haydent]

Mine is not leaking now which is a relief that it worked! No drops of oil on the cement. I did have to nip up the nuts on one of the injectors as there was a small weep that kept coming back from that one even after washing. I think I can happily put all the covers back on :)

Ive been also meaning to say that id consider the following tools esseintal:

1/4" socket set
1/4" extension bar set
1/4" universal joint
1/4" torque wrench
magnetic pickup tool

[jackiechan]

Hi, great thread helping me with the same issue.
I've managed to get my metal shield off RH side without taking plenum off 1st.
I retorqued everything to 10Nm but still going into limp mode and ****ing out oil.

Is it strictly necessary I remove plenum air intake thing at top? Was only going to do side I'm leaking from. I have new Chinese rocker cover and gasket.

It's a 2009 L320 btw. So I believe there's room to remove injectors without jacking engine up.
Thanks.

[haydent]

yeah you can get the shield off and pipes / injectors, but i think you'll find you cant get the cam cover off without removing plenum, it seems scary, but its pretty easy.

[jackiechan]

yeah you can get the shield off and pipes / injectors, but i think you'll find you cant get the cam cover off without removing plenum, it seems scary, but its pretty easy.

You're exactly right.
I've got plenum off ok now. There's a couple of cables going deep down to the front of engine somewhere which I was able to work around. Turbo actuator cables?

No problem taking driver side injectors out. On passenger side I've got the AC line and coolant hoses and heater matrix hoses going to little diesel heater thing to work around.

The gasket seems a bit weak where it meets actual rocker cover. I think I'm going to put a small amount of high temp sealant there, but not on cylinder head surface. Thoughts on this?

[jackiechan]

Got everything back together.
Turned ignition on and off a few times, bled air out of fuel lines at little valve on top of engine. Then attempted start up.
Engine turned over a few times then fired right up. Sounded great.

Got out to look and a huge amount of diesel is leaking from somewhere at the back of the engine.

It's possible I've damaged some pipe, but I don't think I did. Could some pipe have popped off with excess pressure or something? Or have I damaged something somehow?

Any help is much appreciated.
I'm really regretting buying this car right now.

[jackiechan]

Got it fixed.
Just knocked fuel return line off top of diesel cooler somehow.
Luckily didn't need to remove plenum. Just undid bolts and lifted it enough to push clip back on with screwdriver.

[loanrangie]

Got everything back together.
Turned ignition on and off a few times, bled air out of fuel lines at little valve on top of engine. Then attempted start up.
Engine turned over a few times then fired right up. Sounded great.

Got out to look and a huge amount of diesel is leaking from somewhere at the back of the engine.

It's possible I've damaged some pipe, but I don't think I did. Could some pipe have popped off with excess pressure or something? Or have I damaged something somehow?

Any help is much appreciated.
I'm really regretting buying this car right now.

Check all the fuel pipes to the injectors and any other connections in the fuel system.

[minesota]

After the initial panick about the low oil level and amount on the engine, I topped it up and monitored it and its not loosing oil as fast as I first feared.

I have the parts from UK and bought a crowfoot spanner set on sale at sca

Just waiting for good time to do it and will post back here

can I ask where did you get your intake covers ?
also aftermarket or LR ?

Anyone used aftermarket one - want some opinions form people who fit aftermarket

[haydent]

I actually just reused my covers, in hindsight ive had thoughts that i should have replaced them with all the work involved to take them off and on, but worried being cheap and putting aftermarket one on might be worse than what i had, I would have considered getting them off aliexpress,

I actually have an update to this thread. since doing this job, ive had a slowly worsening problem of diesel smell when stopping or slowly moving after driving for a while. I identified that it was coming out of the engine bay near the firewall and going into the cabin air intake at base of windscreen. When driving you dont smell it as it gets carried away too much.

I had put my injector pipe guards back on a few weeks after being happy with first doing the job, which made it hard to see what was going on, so just put it off, hoping it would go away.

Had a big tripped planned so thought better investigate, I had a leaking injector seal and about 4 of the bolts on the passenger valve cover were finger loose and you could hear the air escaping...

All this despite using new seals, and and for the valve cover bolts actually over torquing them to about 14n rather than 10n and checking them some weeks after the initial job.

As you do i was finding this all out the day before leaving.

Once I got the cover off the passenger side, (i could smell it worst on that side so started there) there was all this hard black gunk around one of the injectors, at first thought it might have been a cracked cover, but worked out is was the injector not sealing properly. I couldnt get it out though (i didnt have a puller, the lr factory one you can get off ebay china for like $40 turns out), i could turn it a bit but thats all, and was worried i could be just about to break something and make the car immobile.... so i just tightened it up hoping id reseated and torqued it enough to seal again.

So we left on trip with big caravan got about 10km and checked under bonnet, could hear loud air escaping noise in time with a cylinder, so now it had gotten worse, as could never hear the air escaping from the injector.

So turned back and had another go at removing the injector, this time with the extra heat and pressure of the caravan and me loosening it the day before and spraying wd40 around it, it must have loosened up all the gunk that was sticking it. I got it out , what a relief .

It was a mess, but no damage, dropped some tools and the seal washer a few times in the engine bay which is mandatory and takes up half the job time, but cleaned it all up with rotary tool wire brush, amazingly the copper washer looked fine despite being run for a year with combustion gasses leaking past it. Hand cleaned the hole and seat with the same wire brush but taped to a screw driver.

I put it all back together and its been fine so far, I tempted to never put those covers back on, as they really are a barrier to monitoring and diagnosing potential engine troubles early,

But why didnt it seal properly the first time ? I thought id done everything by the manual, but looking again at the steps to fix this one injector I may not have....

I will post my finding in the next post, just running out of time now

190501

[haydent]

Ok, so my first hints to this possibly cause was the when refitting the cleaned injector it just didnt feel like there was much tension on the injector. This made me notice the first step in the manual for refitting that id glossed over:

Install a new fuel injector clamp.

Not sure why I hadnt heard about this before, I guess because LR are often a bit overzealous when it comes to not reusing some parts which is nice and all when you have the replacements on the shelf, but when they have to come from england it make you rethink.

So looking at the clamp (the loose metal bracket on injector that the 2 bolts go through) I figured i could just take it off the injector, put it in the vice and give it a few taps with the hammer to increase the curve on it so more tension is applied to the injector when tensioned up.

The clamps are not listed individually in the LR parts cat, so likely you'd have to buy the LR002491 (part varies per cylinder) kit with injector pipe, clamp, washer and return clip, x8, its going to add up compared to just washers and a few spare clips which can be ordered separately.

Doing it again, I still wouldnt replace the clamps, but id have a closer look at the curve on each and compare them against each other, and maybe give each a little tap, as it would seem LR think they can straighten over time and loose the required tension intended, you can feel when doing up the bolts when it starts to apply the load on the injector, and when i noticed the problem with mine it seemed like there was barely any bolt thread left after this point, but after the bending it felt much better.