3.6 TDI V8 engine overheated best option rebuild or (try) to find replacement engine

[justinthorpe]

Hi
the 230km old 3.6 8 has overheated and now has exhaust gas in the coolant and pressurizing the coolant overflow bottle. No oil in coolant or coolant in the oil.
Engine starts and idles smoothly, just cant drive it far!
Local Landrover garages not keen on the repair and recommended replacing the engine, however cant find one for love or money.
Has anybody gone down the rebuild route with one of these engines?
Cheers
Justin
New Zealand

[shack]

Hi
the 230km old 3.6 8 has overheated and now has exhaust gas in the coolant and pressurizing the coolant overflow bottle. No oil in coolant or coolant in the oil.
Engine starts and idles smoothly, just cant drive it far!
Local Landrover garages not keen on the repair and recommended replacing the engine, however cant find one for love or money.
Has anybody gone down the rebuild route with one of these engines?
Cheers
Justin
New ZealandI know nothing of this motor, but on most motors those symptoms are likely to mean at least a blown head gasket.

Next is a blown head gasket and cracked/warped heads.

Finally, both of those and some sort of bottom end problem.

I'd be pulling the heads myself and taking a look, it will be a lot cheaper to repair if it's only head gaskets, you could take the heads to get tested, then go from there.

Of course i do all my own work, so labour may get you on the repair vs replacement scenario.

[Graeme]

It will be a body off job to remove the heads from the 3.6 in the L320. A brother recently removed the body from his to fix a leaking exhaust manifold gasket.

[haydent]

however cant find one for love or money.

very popular engine and not as common compared with the problems associated in the other variants, worth investigating a repair.

how come body off ? because of turbos ?

Im very interested in the cooking event, as ive installed an engine temp alarm on my old d2, but wasnt sure if needed on tdv8. I would have expected the car would give a warning if getting too hot.

Was there any warning, can you please give a run down on the event and what you were aware was happening at the time and how it all came about ??

[Graeme]

Body off because of no access to the exhaust manifold nuts.

[haydent]

Such a pita and shame, hopefully never have to do it though I've seen its not as scary or big job as one might think it's mainly that you need a hoist, though that hasn't stopped me from trying to dream up ways to do it without one...

[justinthorpe]

very popular engine and not as common compared with the problems associated in the other variants, worth investigating a repair.

how come body off ? because of turbos ?

Im very interested in the cooking event, as ive installed an engine temp alarm on my old d2, but wasnt sure if needed on tdv8. I would have expected the car would give a warning if getting too hot.

Was there any warning, can you please give a run down on the event and what you were aware was happening at the time and how it all came about ??

Hi
My wife was towing a horse float with horse and all the associated gear, probably towing around 2.5-2.7 Tons.
Driving through road works, going up hill going 20-25km/hr when vehicle lost power monetarily, then approx 300m again lost power but temp gauge had shot up and red warning light came on in the tem gauge. Had to drive a further 300m (very slowly) before she was able to pull off the road safely,
I came out with my trusty 380000km D2 V8, swapped tow vehicles and so wife, trailer and horse carried on.
The coolant bottle was empty, so refilled and bled the system and thought if was going to be ok. I started to drive back home and went for about 8km, started heading up hill and did the same thing so stopped and got a tow home.
Had the coolant system tested and exhaust gas was identified in the coolant.....

Found a second hand engine, the quote I got was for $21000 to swap the second hand engine in and the engine supplier wants the old engine in exchange as well. The engine by its self was $12075 rest mics gaskets etc and labour which is $7900.

Safe to say I am not going ahead with this, ca buy a perfectly (touch wood) running L320 / L322 for less then this.

I think I will have a go at this, just need to work out how to lift the body safely as I don't have a list at home.

The 3.6TDI towed the horse trailer like it was not even there,

[haydent]

Hi
My wife was towing a horse float with horse and all the associated gear, probably towing around 2.5-2.7 Tons.
Driving through road works, going up hill going 20-25km/hr when vehicle lost power monetarily, then approx 300m again lost power but temp gauge had shot up and red warning light came on in the tem gauge. Had to drive a further 300m (very slowly) before she was able to pull off the road safely,
I came out with my trusty 380000km D2 V8, swapped tow vehicles and so wife, trailer and horse carried on.
The coolant bottle was empty, so refilled and bled the system and thought if was going to be ok. I started to drive back home and went for about 8km, started heading up hill and did the same thing so stopped and got a tow home.
Had the coolant system tested and exhaust gas was identified in the coolant.....

Found a second hand engine, the quote I got was for $21000 to swap the second hand engine in and the engine supplier wants the old engine in exchange as well. The engine by its self was $12075 rest mics gaskets etc and labour which is $7900.

Safe to say I am not going ahead with this, ca buy a perfectly (touch wood) running L320 / L322 for less then this.

I think I will have a go at this, just need to work out how to lift the body safely as I don't have a list at home.

The 3.6TDI towed the horse trailer like it was not even there,

its quite the dilemma, if only there was an easier way,

but you know I found out lifts are surprisingly not that expensive (and even cheaper used) when my neighbour installed one himself in his shed, (though you got to have suitable thickness slab or footings.

defs not worth paying that for an engine only and all that labour, better off buying another, and just parting out the old one.

what year is yours ?

Quite sobering that there wasnt better warning, maybe it was sudden coolant loss or boiling from lack of coolant that triggered overheat.

Did you find any coolant leak when you filled it back up ? Maybe it already had a head/gasket leak that was causing it to consume coolant. Did you ever check it and notice it was low ? as mine never changes.

[haydent]

actually you possibly could get away with putting a hoist on standard slab as you arent lifting a 3 ton car with it, just the cab...

[Graeme]

You don't want a post to fall over. The leverage on the footing of the body up in the air, not just the weight needs to be considered.

[haydent]

.

[haydent]

I wonder if you could lift just the front ? Lifting body to remove rear dynamic sway bar (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l320-range-rover-sport/293339-lifting-body-remove-rear-dynamic-sway-bar.html)

[justinthorpe]

Hi
On speaking to a Range Rover mechanic, he suggested that the EGR cooler may of failed, as this gives similar symptoms as a blown head gasket, pressurising the coolant overflow bottle and white smoke out the exhaust.
So for a few hours labour, this will be my next move.... fingers and toes crossed!!

[haydent]

oh that would be a possibility of how it consumed the coolant too

[Tins]

you need a hoist, though that hasn't stopped me from trying to dream up ways to do it without one...

4 high lift jacks and lots of blocks of wood....:BigThumb:

[Tins]

actually you possibly could get away with putting a hoist on standard slab as you arent lifting a 3 ton car with it, just the cab...

Trouble with that is that sometime in the future someone who was unaware could die.

[haydent]

Trouble with that is that sometime in the future someone who was unaware could die.

for sure i thought if this, and you would need to take it down if you ever moved, and possibly put a sign on it warning of this if you unexpectedly died and someone else found it.

[haydent]

4 high lift jacks and lots of blocks of wood....:BigThumb:

well they can move/lift houses with just bottle jacks and lumber

[haydent]

182321

182322

for reference, here's the egr coolers. i would expect if one was cracked and leaking coolant into the exhaust intake an inspection of the inside could show evidence similar to how a spark plug in a cylinder with a blown head gasket will be steam cleaned.

one could likely also pressure test the coolant/water jacket

[eddy]

If you are exceptionally lucky you may have a DIY workshop with hoist close by!

[Tins]

well they can move/lift houses with just bottle jacks and lumber

They sure can, although I think there might be a lorry involved somewhere.

[big harold]

Very common for EGR coolers to fail.
You should be able to remove coolant hoses from the coolers and bypass to test if problem still exists.
I have also connected a regulator and tap to the coolant side and pressure tested in situ.
Mark

[rar110]

Removing the plenum gives you reasonable access to further back in the top of the engine. Removal is not too big a job and you can push AC hoses aside.

I’m fairly sure the EGR cooler should be accessible.

[justinthorpe]

If you are exceptionally lucky you may have a DIY workshop with hoist close by!

Haha, don't think luck and I go together very well...
I have seen those workshops but certainly don't have one within 4-5 hours drive.

[justinthorpe]

182321

182322

for reference, here's the egr coolers. i would expect if one was cracked and leaking coolant into the exhaust intake an inspection of the inside could show evidence similar to how a spark plug in a cylinder with a blown head gasket will be steam cleaned.

one could likely also pressure test the coolant/water jacket

Great, thanks for this. Where did this diagram come from? I will be looking for a workshop manual with torque specs etc, any suggestions?
Cheers

[justinthorpe]

Very common for EGR coolers to fail.
You should be able to remove coolant hoses from the coolers and bypass to test if problem still exists.
I have also connected a regulator and tap to the coolant side and pressure tested in situ.
Mark

Hi

Right, thank for this, if the coolers are faulty, is there an issues with just bypassing the coolers and delete the EGR system?

[haydent]

RRS Handbooks and Workshop Manuals (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/l320-range-rover-sport/269044-rrs-handbooks-workshop-manuals.html)

i use the Range Rover Sport2005-2009.pdf one mostly

bypass should be fine, you can get a egr delete patch from bell auto service, thats what i have only.

[rar110]

Hi

Right, thank for this, if the coolers are faulty, is there an issues with just bypassing the coolers and delete the EGR system?

BigJon did this on his L322 years ago.

[rar110]

Removing the plenum gives you reasonable access to further back in the top of the engine. Removal is not too big a job and you can push AC hoses aside.

I’m fairly sure the EGR cooler should be accessible.

The first part of Mick’s post shows how to remove the plenum on a L322.

3.6L TDV8 Intake / Valve Cover Gasket
3.6L TDV8 Intake / Valve Cover Gasket (https://r.tapatalk.com/shareLink/topic'share_fid=669&share_tid=280589&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Eaulro%2Ecom%2Fafvb%2Fshowt hread%2Ephp%3Ft%3D280589&share_type=t&link_source=app)

[KBarlow]

I just replaced both turbos on my TDV8 but only had to lift body around 150mm to gain good clearance. I suspect the same access would allow for manifold access and head removal. Lifting the 150mm was done with a couple of jacks and 8 jack stands (4 for chassis and 4 for body) if you leave the wheels on you only need 4. Much as I would like a lift I dont have the space. Lifting the body was surprisingly easy. I couldn't justify the $13K quote to replace the turbos.

[haydent]

this is really good to know ! good on you for giving it a go, and sharing the outcome.