D1 TDi Big End bearings

[Mikems]

Due to my ignorance, & acting from imformation in the Landrover hand book, I only changed the engine oil & filter at 10,000km intervals, since new. The vehicle has now done 190,000ks & I'm concerned about wear of the bearings. The engine doesn't use, or burn any oil between changes so hopfully the bores are OK.
I am planing about a 5,000k trip next year, towing a small van so I am trying to anticipate any problems.
For this reason, I am thinking of replacing the big end bearings & would appreciate your opinion. Looking in the Haines Manual, the job appears straight forward enough, provided the sump comes off OK. The plastigauge tolorance in the my manual says 0.0250-0.0750mm. Is this right? I note the bearings are coded so I won't have to find my scraper.
Provided the consensus is to do the job, are there any particular Landrover idosyncrasies I should know about?
I look forward to hearing from that wealth of experience out there. Thanks.
Michael.

[incisor]

i wouldnt be worried about it at 200k, myself, unless there is evidence of low or late oil pressure or of abuse.

[Reads90]

As the saying goes
If it ain't broke don't fix it.

They should be fine and have alot more life in them yet

Anyway you did a service every 10,000 k's which in miles is 6000 miles which is the dealer service intervals for a discovery Tdi anyway. So you have serviced it at the right intervals anyway

[Disco_owner]

Hi mate;

If you are worried your BigEnd Bearing failing half way thru your BigTrip next year then your are worrying uneccessarily , a lot of other things will let go B4 your big end bearing will , as Someone said earlier , don't try and fix something that isn't Broken , Haynes manual might tell you to replace the Bearing at 200K but all depends on your service intervals / how you drive your Vehicle? a lot of other factors involved?Here is the thing , for piece of Mind , 1-2months before your BIG TRIP book your car into either Graeme Cooper in sydney / ATV at Strathfield / or Bruce Davies ( if you're in Sydney ) to prepare your Vehicle for your Trip,They will do a Full Spanner check , Oil change , Tx Fluid check/Change and all the neccessary checks to Prepare you for the Trip.

all the best.

[Pierre]

But if you decide to do it, the bearings are cheap and the job is easy, though a bit messy with oil drips.

<$200 for big end and mains, and even for a clot like me, about 90 minute job, not including the sump.

Good luck with the journey.

Pete

[sclarke]

I replaced mine at 320k they did not even need doing, but while i had the caps off i did it.

The hard part is getting the sump off....

My car is an unknown for alot of its life, Ex PMG vehicle, then tradesman car, then private owner who looked after it, then myself.

So 320k with an unknown history and still ok, tells me your car at 200k will be fine...

just make sure your timing belt is done...

Steve

[langy]

Here's a pic of #4 main from my TDi at 325k's - just like Mr Clarke's.

Concentrate on the timing belt, crank seal, woodruff keys and crank bolt - They can really ruin your day ( and I say this from experience). Then invest in a RAVE CD from here - way better than Haynes.

[emerald]

You can always send a sample of your engine oil for analysis and that will tell you if you have worn bearings. It is cheaper than a tear down. keep changing the engine oil and filter and as others said, keep an eye on oil pressure.


Emerald

[rick130]

Mike, a lot of people are obsessed with 5000km oil changes, and in most cases all it does is lighten their pockets.

Use a good oil, reasonable filter, and most importantly for engine wear, use a genuine or genuine spec air filter and don't change it too often. Even 20,000km on a lot of air filters is too early. The book says 10,000 km oil cahnges with a fairly ordinary spec oil. If you use the best oil you can afford, you haven't done anything wrong with your service regime.

[PAT303]

Changeing your oil at 5,000k's instead of 10 is not going to do squat for engine life.Engines wear through lack of oil at start-up,that is why taxi's do a million k's and privately owned ones do a third of that.People who think their engines will last longer are kidding themselves.OK bring it on. Pat

[Pierre]

I exercise my hard won right to ignore the invitation to fight! There you go, Pat. And I probably even agree - depends on the usage regime of the engine.

Pete

[Mikems]

Gentlemen, thanks for your replys. It seems my concerns were unwarranted. I'll just fit an oil pressure guage.
By the way, I hit the thanks button, but nothing seemed to happen. What's the story with this?
Thanks again all who replied.
Michael

[sclarke]

Changeing your oil at 5,000k's instead of 10 is not going to do squat for engine life.Engines wear through lack of oil at start-up,that is why taxi's do a million k's and privately owned ones do a third of that.People who think their engines will last longer are kidding themselves.OK bring it on. Pat

I do agree, but taxi's last longer as they never cool down... so the expansion contraction rate is less... less wear..
i change my oils and filters at 5k as my LR dont get used daily, its a bust toy and the enviroment tells me i have to be more carefull...

As for the Volvo's i used to own and drive daily.... 10k changes and 500k with no engine work was not uncommon for a few of my cars..