Thread: Catastrophic engine failure on a TD5

Originally Posted by Rayor

On the last oil change I did note an increase in volume but I figured I hadn't let it cool down enough before checking. I wasn't aware that this was a known issue. My guess is confirmed by some of the posts here that it was a slow leak from the injectors with an unfortunate surge at the end. However the amount of wear to the engine was disproportionate to it's menial 72,000kms so I figure I would still have had to replace all of the items anyway regardless that it burned itself out for all of 30 seconds.

The comment about LR's post warranty service is very true. They were great for the first three years but the LR dealer's only two suggestions after this incident were;

1. replace the injectors at a cost of $7,000 and "see if that fixes it" or
2. rebuild the engine for about $22,000 which is the cars current market value.

At no point did they suggest testing it. The diesel specialist I sent it to simply charged $200 to run it through the mill with compression tests and sending cameras in to assess the actual damage. Why would LR not make this offer and keep me as a lifelong customer? And $7,000 for five injectors? I bought Delphi injectors from the UK at $1,375 for a set.

This was a very real and serious danger as I was close to the edge of a menacing drop off when it happened. My priority was to secure the car and get out of it pronto. TD5 owners please check your oil levels weekly as I would not wish this on anyone.

p.s. Thanks again for all the posts. These forums are akin to group therapy and very useful

When the repairs done you should do this Mod. This come from LR Tech support after I had a 03 disco doing the same thing but without the total engine failure but took LR tech some time to come to this. They wanted injectors changed, no change. New head with another set of injectors, No change. Long motor with another set of injectors, No change. Then they wanted this mod done, it still leaked from the plungers of the injectors but had dramatically reduced, Had fuel pump running for 12hrs and the injector tops were damp. before the head was full of fuel. So I highly recommend it.

On the fuel filter housing, the front pipe closest to chassis, remove the fitting from housing.
On the end of the fitting there is a rubber check valve. remove the check valve from fitting and then separate rubber tip from plastic end.
You will notice the hole through the plastic reduces drill this out to the same size. I think from memory it is a 1/8 but check.
Reassemble Job done
This is the return line from the engine and reduces the return line pressure. It slows the diesel ingress into engine.
I check oil level on TD5's before servicing and it is surprising how many fill the sump. Its more common on the later Td5's with green injectors.

Hi,

get the head checked for porosity, especially around the fuel pressure regulator. i suspect that the head is porous and feeding diesel into the sump where it is thinning the oil, and raising the level of the oil in the sump to the point were it is able to be forced past the pistons and then ignited in the combustion chambers. This is called "runaway" as the engine runs un-governed on the oil/diesel mix, and almost always ends in total engine failure.
I believe that porous heads were a known problem on early Td5's and there is a Spanish company that makes a direct replacement because of this.
If this is the problem you run the risk of doing the same to the rebuilt engine if you reuse the head.

Did you notice if the oil level was excessively high when you took the engine out?