Has this happened to you?

[antvc]

Driving past Kybra just past Eromanga and heading towards Birdsville last week the engine stops and the alternator light comes on.
After some checking it seems that the fuel pump is not working. hmmm what to do.
Just then another landrover comes along. It is the guy with his wife and young son in a county with camper trailer whom I had meet the day before in the Quilipe caravan park.( they are on a 2 year trip around Australia) Sorry, but i forget his name but he was able to give me a lift back towards Eromanga where we meet a man working on the road who is able to tow me back to Eromanga where further investigation reveals that the timing belt is broken.

Thanks to M.R. automotive who send parts up for me I am able to fix the car after getting it towed to Quiipe.
John"Jack" from John Crawley Motors helps me do the repair where we discover that the bolt has come out form the back of the timing case , got caught in the gear and so wrecked the timing belt.

(John wants to retire and is very interested in selling his business including a house. He has the RACQ agency as well if anyone is interested)

Also, I broke a rocker and when I went to replace it found that there was 3 bent push rods as well. I was going to have M.R. send them up but John straightened the old ones and we put everything back together and started the engine. It ran well so was able to drive it home .
The repair was not too difficult to do and I suprised myself that i could do it with a little help from John.
I had a shortened trip but meet some great people like Bill "kiwi" , malcom and others at Eromanga and several people in Quilipe.
Thanks to all for your assistance.
The country is a great place to visit and I plan to go back some time.

So, has anyone ever had a bolt ever come out from the back of the timing case and got caught in the timing belt?

Anthony

[harry]

ooh, i hope i don't have that happen.
do you know which bolt migrated out?
and thank you for an informative report and thanking your helpers.

[Blknight.aus]

no but I have had a part of the tensioner in a series petrol do the same thing to the timing chain and gears... I got away without the rod damage tho...

Id say that your pistons met your valves to do the damage, If youd like (and loc/time permits) I'll bring the endo scope home from work and we can pull your injectors/glowplugs and eyeball for piston damage.

[antvc]

There is a bolt almost directly above the crank to the right of the idler wheel that was missing.
Thanks blknight maybe i will take you up on that offer and it would be good to meet you but the people at M.R. Automotive say that normally the valves and pistons are not damaged when the timing belt breaks.
We did a basic test on the cylinders by putting air into each cylinder through the heater plug hole (after removing the heater plug ) and couldn't hear any air escaping through the valves so was fairly sure the valves were sealing and the piston was ok The engine is a 300Tdi.
I think I will replace the pushrods and maybe the rockers just to make sure there are no hairline cracks there

[antvc]

It is amusing to hear the comments from some people out there about their or their friends bad experience with landrovers and then they go on to tell what troubles they had had with tojos or nissans or some other make and so showing that all vehicles have problems and maybe landrovers aren't so bad after all.

[Blknight.aus]

"Wont normally be damaged" Normally is the key word there.....

its less than an hours work to scope 4 bores and if it interests you fit up the diesel compression tester just to make sure all is well in the world....

rockers and pushrods are a good idea to start with but while you have them out check out the Cam lobs and the rocker shaft for damage...

[Killer]

Sorry to hear about your problems Anthony, I hope it didn't ruin your trip too much. How far did you get, and where is the photos?

Cheers, Mick.

[weeds]

when i did my simpson trip M R set me up with a spare parts box at not cost, not even a credit card swipe and backed themselves to get parts to anywhere in aus quickly

[antvc]

Blknight
What is involved with a diesel compression test?
Similar to a petrol engine or because of higher compression in the diesel something else?
How would i go about checking the cam lobes?

Sorry , not many pictures. i had some on the digital camera but they seem to have disappeared but I have some on the film camera which i will get developed soon

[Blknight.aus]

simple same as a petrol but with a higher rated pressure gauge, Just dont try a wet compression test, ESP on a warm engine, watched a pressure gauge go through a fibro roof once because of that........

Remove all glows/injectors (FIIK if im going to try that on a td5) thread in appropriate comp gauge into the hole and crank for at least 5 turns per cyl to get an average+ max read.

to check the cam lobes just look down the holes the rods go in when you havethem out and bar the engine over by hand 2 turns per lob. The damage your looking for will be like a pock mark somewhere on the lobe wher the piston has hit the valve used the rocker as a hammer and smashed the rod into the lobe.

a light set of "tracks" on the lobe is normal provided they dont look like grooves.

[antvc]

Thanks for the info Blknight. I will have a look at the cam when i change the push rods
Any chance of meeting up to use the endo scope ?

[Blknight.aus]

If youd gotten back to me sooner yeah, but Im now on leave. If you can wait till I get back sure, not a problem but Im booked solid right up until I leave now.

[antvc]

Sure, no problem for me
Enjoy your time off see you when you come back