Desparate and ROVER less..

[Rabrover]

Hi to all the members! I'm a new member desperately seeking HELP.
This is my story.... After many years of admiring and loving Land Rovers I finally had the chance to purchase one myself. It a 1998 Dual Cab Defender, ideal for work and play. I know the full history of the car...originally SES then and older couple who serviced the car meticulously. We bought the car with 90,000KM on the clock. Living out bush the car has been well used but also well maintained - oil change and filters every 5,000KM etc.. Had a few minor issues to be expected.
At 140,000KM replaced the clutch (fair enough). But only 4,000KM (144,000KM) later it dropped a valve and has since been parked up. NEED ANY HELPFUL INFORMATION AS TO WHY THIS MAY HAVE HAPPENED? IS IT WORTH REPAIRING THE SAME ENGINE? OR SHOULD I REPLACE IT WITH A LATER MODEL ENGINE? Any information would be grateful and much appreciated! As a family we love our Land Rover and will have no other. We miss our Land Rover especially the kids. It too sad to see it just sitting there:(

[rangieman]

Im guessing its a 300 Tdi diesel ,These motors are easily sourced at good prices:D

The motors are a robust engine ,ive not heard of them dropping vavles this could be a result of too much right foot ;)

Have you removed the head of the engine to inspect the internal damage from said vavle:D

[87County]

I guess you haven't investigated why this happened and what other damage(if any) was done, but...

the 300tdi is a desirable motor and repairing it usually economically justified

alternatively....:)if you want to sell it as is:) ... just pm me (and probably heaps of other members on this site would join the queue)

[Rabrover]

No I don't know why it happened cause the car is well maintained and is not driven harshly. It is driven in the country and cruises on open roads. It has been looked at by a mechanic and they could only tell me it was Valve 3 that was dropped. And is not for sale. Thanks for your feedback...any more would be appreciated.

[Blknight.aus]

the only common cause I know of for tdis dropping valves (and I say this in the way that common is used to refer to blue moons) is worn collets or incorrect installation of the collets combined with a bad valve grind or recession.

similar but not the same is if its done a timing belt and Mr. Dodgo mechanic has just whacked a new belt on removed the valve train and pushrods then either straightened or replaced the rods without pulling the head to check the damage to the valves + pots.

assuming that it doesnt run at all it might have even done the timing belt.

whats making you think that its dropped a valve?

[87County]

well firstly you need to know find out what damage has been done and to do this the head and front cover will need to come off....

and while you are doing that you will also replace ancilliaries such as water pump, idler bearings etc

while this is relatively straightforward to do yourself with standard and some special self made tools - but you do need to be realistic about your capabilities, your interest and your time availabilty ......

you'll need manual (pc disks available on this site very cheaply) and other resource advice which members can point you towards....

its worth running site searches here on subjects like "300tdi timing belt" to see what others have experienced..........

the parts are all readily available and IMHO relatively cheap......

you will really get to know your engine which is a good thing.........

the other way to go about it is to get it trucked to a trustworthy repairer (at a cost of say $300-$400 to western sydney) and pay them to do basically the same

is this the kind of advice you were looking for???????????????

[Rabrover]

It sounds like from the information I'm receiving I'm going to have to strip the engine down and go from there. The timing belt was replaced at 80,000Km by the previous owner plus the Mechanic said it was a dropped valve. Which doesn't necessarily mean it is??? Thanks for the info.

[Rabrover]

87County - that's really useful information and exactly what I was hoping for. The day is looking brighter already... What area do I look in this site for the CD mentioned?

[87County]

87County - that's really useful information and exactly what I was hoping for. The day is looking brighter already... What area do I look in this site for the CD mentioned?


"markets" section on top of this page

[87County]

It sounds like from the information I'm receiving I'm going to have to strip the engine down and go from there. The timing belt was replaced at 80,000Km by the previous owner plus the Mechanic said it was a dropped valve. Which doesn't necessarily mean it is??? Thanks for the info.


the term "dropped valve" is a bit indeterminate....

you really need to have a look .... this does not mean a total strip down - can be done with the engine in the car and without removing the fuel distributor pump, lift pump & vacuum pump

but the term "dropped valve" conjures up images of other damage which hopefully is not the case

[rovercare]

I guess you haven't investigated why this happened and what other damage(if any) was done, but...

the 300tdi is a desirable motor and repairing it usually economically justified

alternatively....:)if you want to sell it as is:) ... just pm me (and probably heaps of other members on this site would join the queue)

I'll join that queue:D

[87County]

I'll join that queue:D

he said is wasn't for sale :)

[loanrangie]

I'll join that queue:D

Vulture !

[87County]

Vulture !


no, it's a magpie:)

[CraigE]

You will have to have a little look. Does it run?? It may be a stuck valve or something else. As long as it has not done any other damage is not a big deal. The head will probablly need to come off but is not a huge drama with these. More time consuming.
And sorry to disagree, but if it was an ex SES vehicle it would have been driven fairly hard. Have seen it first hand. They are looked after well but just driven hard and loaded up.
Cheers
CraigE

[rovercare]

Vulture !

Finished that ute yet?:p

[Rabrover]

Finished that ute yet?:p
Not quite... Waiting on the CD mentioned. Ordered it yesterday online, so I will start a little before it arrives.

[loanrangie]

Not quite... Waiting on the CD mentioned. Ordered it yesterday online, so I will start a little before it arrives.

He was just having a dig , his favourite pastime :wasntme:

[rovercare]

Not quite... Waiting on the CD mentioned. Ordered it yesterday online, so I will start a little before it arrives.

Sorry mate, I meant Loanrangie:)

[rovercare]

He was just having a dig , his favourite pastime :wasntme:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you called me a vulture, but I'm having a dig:confused: