New engine for 2007 SE TDV6 D3

[Steve Jillett]

I have a 2007 SE TDV6 D3 that has been a fantastic vehicle. Late last year the wife was driving upto Darwin from Katherine to pick me up when she noticed lots of smoke (not sure what colour) coming out of the exhaust and a severe loss of power. She pulled over and called Landrover assist. Landrover assist recovered the vehicle to Darwin LR where they did some checks and said one cylinder was down on compression. :(

End result is a brand new TDV6 motor as the car was just inside warranty (93,500 kms and 2 yrs 8 mths old) courtesy of Landrover. :D
Both Landrover Australia and the Darwin Landrover dealership have been fantastic with the repairs, all is good now and everything seems to be running well, only time will tell I suppose.

A have some questions for all the gurus out there:

- has any one else had any engine failures?? is this happening regularly

- I can't get an aftermarket warranty extension as Darwin LR deal with Swan insurance and Swan doesn't cover Landrovers. I contacted Allianz directly but they informed me that they only deal direct with dealerships and because Darwin LR don't deal with them they can't cover me. As the car is a lease car with just over 2 years left on the lease I am a bit concerned about reliability issues. Does anyone know how to get extended warranties outside of a dealer network.

- Up here in the Territory the speed limit is 130 kmh. I regularly do the trip to Darwin and cruise at around 130 kmh, is this sort of constant speed harmful for the engine/gearbox. It does it easily with the engine sitting at 2300 RPM. Most of the 93,000 km have been done on the highway up here in the Territory.

- I know the transmission is supposedly a sealed unit that doesn't require servicing, unless used a lot for 4WD or high speeds. Should I be getting it serviced before warranty runs out.

I definately have the LR bug as despite the drama with the engine I think I will get a new D4 or RRS. They are fantastic vehicles both on and off road despite a few minor (major) issues with the D3. Thank you for any future replies, this site has been a great help providing a huge amount of information over the last couple of years.

Cheers

Steve

[Blknight.aus]

thats the first landrover tdv6 failure that Ive heard of but then the d3 scene isnt one that I do a lot with, I work on the sheds.

landrover offers an extended warrenty providing your vehicle qualifies.


nope once everythings settles in you can wind it up and let it run. no harm till things start cooking or you let the oil go off.

yep the transmission needs to be serviced. Its sealed but its servicable.

[stig0000]

same,, thats the first tdv6 iv herd of,, 1 tdv8, few superchaged, ,, and countless puma's,

[big guy]

European cars are made to sit on way more than the 100km/h average we have here in Australia.
try getting into a Taxi in Frankfurt, on the wrong side(LHD there), doing 160km/h on the autobahn and constantly having to move over to the right to let cars pass you.
Our rental, a 2.7L twin turbo diesel jaguar sat beutifully on 180km/h.
I was still being overtaken and yes many landrovers and Range rovers.

So by doing the 130km/h you be doing the car a favour.
Good to hear land Rover stood by you.
Must be their new way of dealing with problems, good on them.

[mowog]

In the D4 owners manual it talks about the car lowering more at speeds above 160. So I assume 130 isn't that fast even for a D3.

[Jamo]

Those Greek dudes travelling around the world had a TDV6 break on them and LR replaced it. That's the only one I've heard of.

As to the tranny. It's not 'sealed' per se, any more than any other tranny is sealed. It has a removeable pan (held on with 10(?) torx bolts) with an integral filter. There's a mob in Melbourne who make a replacement pan with a separate filter. Search the forum and you'll find a thread about it.

Mine needed a flush from about 130,000 on but I had a lot of extra weight with bars and wheels and stuff.

[John58]

I had my TDV6 serviced by Darwin LR last year. They used Valvoline 15W40 oil!:twisted: Land Rover strongly recomends castrol 5W30!!! When queried, they said that this is what is recommended in the LR Service Manual for tropical use. I strongly suspect that this is bull****. They are also a Mitsubishi and Volvo dealer, so I reckon the real reason they use this oil is because they bulk-buy it for servicing Pajeros, etc., which they would sell / service more than Land Rovers. The much thicker oil may explain the engine failure.

[John58]

Further to my last post, thicker oil in a new technology engine is like increasing the blood pressure in a human - if you then run hard (or drive at 130 km+) something is likely to give - heart attack in a human or posssibly engine failure in a Land Rover. I found that running a thinner oil (as specified by LR - it's even stamped on the oil filler cap) makes the engine run much better - smoother, more power, less fuel, etc. Basically the engine doesn't have to work as hard pushing thinner oil around.

[Blknight.aus]

Id have guessed at a 10/30 or a 5/40 for darwin use. 10/30 for stop start and 5/40 for highway.

15/40? thats old school engine oil.

[scarry]

Id have guessed at a 10/30 or a 5/40 for darwin use. 10/30 for stop start and 5/40 for highway.

15/40? thats old school engine oil.


And if it's not fully synthetic,it's definitely not for a D3 TDV6,or a D2 TD5 for that matter:(

[CaverD3]

I would write to LR Cuctomer Care and question what oil is reccomended by them for the tropics. If Darwin LR are wrong tell LR what they are using.

Allianz can be bought through other LR dealers does not have to be your local or regular dealer. Ask the Alice dealer about it also i would suggest you get the service done there if you can.

[Dingmark Jim]

Most of WA is at least as hot as Darwin (just not humid) and the dealer here uses 5W30. With synthetic oils they don't lose their viscosity when warm (like old mineral oils did) and I can't imagine that anything other than specification oil should be used for the engine.

You might also think of changing the transfer case oil while doing the transmission. At 60k, mine smelled of dead fish when I had it changed. This oil is at least as expensive as the transmission fluid, but at least it didn't need a double-flush. May also want to make sure front and rear diff oils are good.

[Steve Jillett]

Thanks for all the excellent replies. I have just got confirmation from Darwin LR that they use valvoline 15W40. I am yet to get an answer back from LR Australia on which oil they recommend. Darwin LR have been good to me, however, I might now look at the independant LR service guy that is working out at Palmerston. I don't want to have a second engine go caput just because of the wrong oil.

Alice Springs LR are good, I got the car serviced there once on our way up to Katherine but it is a 2500km round trip from Katherine which makes it a bit prohibitive just for a service. I might do a trip specially for the transmission flush and check out the big rock during the same trip.

I will keep everyone informed of the transmission service and replacement of the plastic pan with the steel pan.

[scarry]

Valvoline 5w/40 Synpower is the one that MR use here.

[ADMIRAL]

Castrol is recommended for the D4 2.7litre, but is hard to buy over here in anything other than retail packs, or 100 litre drums. Can be an expensive proposition buying oil.

[Tote]

The owners manual is VERY specific about the oil to use and it aint 15w40 :o
It will be interesting to hear what LR aust have to say on the matter...

Regards,
Tote

[CaverD3]

If they have put the wrong oil in your new engine I would be wanting another new one. ;)

[rick130]

FWIW Castrol recommend Edge Sport 0W-40 for that engine.

Believe it or not, but a 15W-40 will be running almost identical viscosity when cold to a 0W-40 at any temp Darwin is ever likely to see, but I doubt that a Valvoline 15W-40 diesel oil will have the right approvals for a TDV6 ;)

I think this discussion has happened before, I'll have a search....

[edit]
Ok, found this (and yes it's weird, I'm quoting myself... :rolleyes: )

In the UK Shell recommend Helix F 5W-30 for all models.
Shell Australia recommend Helix Ultra 5W-40 or Helix Plus 10W-40

Castrol UK recommend Edge Turbo Diesel 0W-30 or Magnatec 5W-30 for all models.
Castrol Australia recommend Edge Sport 5W-30 or Edge Sport 0W-40 for '05-'07 models and
Edge Sport 0W-40 for '07-'09 models.

Caltex Australia recommends Havoline Synthetic 5W-40 for '05-'07 and Havoline Synthetic C3 5W-30 for '07-'09.
Can't find out what Texaco UK recommend ATM.

Mobil Australia recommend Mobil 1 0W-40 or Mobil Super FE Special 5W-30 for '05-'06 and
Mobil Super FE Special 5W-30 for '07-'09 models.

The Super FE SPecial had me intrigued, here is the PDS Mobil Super FE Special 5W-30 (http://www.mobil.com/Australia-English/Lubes/PDS/GLXXENPVLMOMobil_Super_FE_Special_5W-30.asp)
It's formulated especially to meet Ford WSS-M2C913-A andM2C913-B specifications.

It looks like the TDV6 engine is designed around an xW-30 oil, but an xW-40 would be OK too.
I have little faith in workshops when it comes to lubricant selection, they really don't know that much whereas the factory spends untold thousands of hours testing in the greatest extremes imaginable.

I'd use either with confidence, the xW-30's will give slightly better fuel economy without any loss of protection.
Oil temperature should never really be an issue as long as coolant temps are OK. I'm guessing the TDV6 uses an oil/water heat exchanger like most diesels so the oil temp should be stable, regardless of ambient or load.

from here http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-zone/73365-shell-helix-ultra.html
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[olbod]

Steve, if you are happy with the service people you have been using, stay with them but consider supplying the oil of your choice, for them to refill it with ?

[Steve Jillett]

Thats what I think I will do soon. I can't fault Darwin LR in regard to helpfullness, they have done everything asked of them and more. Firstly I will speak with Darwin LR to find out why they don't use the recommended oil and then hopefully have them replace it, otherwise the only other option is to buy the oil and get them to do it. The car is still in warranty, albeit only for another 6 weeks, so there isn't much more I can do.

I still haven't heard back from LR Aust reference oil, I will ring them direct next week and see what they have to say.

I spoke with the new independant LR service guy that is setting up shop in Darwin today and they were very helpful, unfortunately they don't have the Discovery 3 servicing computer system that identifies and resolves any errors. He is looking at acquiring the computer by about late Mar.

Thankyou once again to everyone, your replies have been extremely helpful. :)