Thread: Pinning a slipped liner in a D2 V8 - Thoughts?

The noise as you describe it definately sounds like a slipped liner, but I'm surprised you don't have any other symptoms.
It's usually accompanied by a blown head gasket (or equivalent) symptoms such as:
- slow loss of coolant over time,
- a pressurised cooling system well after the engine has cooled down,
- rough running on startup in the morning or after a long period of being switched off
- by the tiome it starts running rough in the moringins, you should be able to pick which cylinder it is by looking at the sparkplugs / cylinder top through the spark plug hole. The slipped liner ones should be much cleaner than the rest. Maybe you've detected it at the onset of the problem.

I haven't heard of pinning the liners and would be keen to know more if you go ahead (price, effectiveness etc).

First of all however, I would wait for at least some other symptoms to develop to confirm the diagnosis. While waiting, I'd also install an engine temperature monitoring system (something like engine watchdog TM2 or similar) to make sure you don't accidentally cook the engine and do further damage if symptoms do develop.

If you have a slipped liner though, it often means its been overheated and the alloy block has softened, which makes the rest of your liners susceptable to slipping as well. You should get the workshop to hardness test your block.

If it has softened, the fix I thought usually involves block hardening and relining the cylinders. - This is costly, but if you do go down this route, I'd recommend getting top hat liners put in - it prevents them slipping in the future.

Good luck with it.

My thoughts are
With a problem of slipped liner ... you have only 2 choices

The method as you described ... which sounds as tho it will just "buy you some time"
... or a recon short motor

Hi There

This is quite common on teh later V8 engines and there a few directions in which you can take.

The first one is to have the liner pinned, but i would get them all done as it is always the way in six months time the same will happen to another.

The second is to have the liners top hatted which will cure this problem for ever, but you will need to get a good machine shop to do this for you and means removing the engine. In england this cost approximately 600 pounds.

The third is to buy a new short engine although the same could happen again.

My preference would be to have the engine top hatted and then you never have to worry.

Cheers Nick

If it is a slipped liner it would be wise to have it pinned now before any other symptoms like blown head gasket or water in the bore, occur.
I once had an engine that I swore had a crank bearing knock (which would sound similar to yours) and I am a Mechanic. I sold the vehicle real cheap because of this knock, I started the engine to show the new owner, I noticed a lump on the inside of one of the drive belts and the "knock" happened everytime this lump went around the crank pulley, turned out to be some fibre from the belt had come adrift and formed a lump. So for a $5 dollar belt the new buyer got a good buy.
Before you go pulling the engine down make sure it IS the liner, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by NickSuzy

...The second is to have the liners top hatted which will cure this problem for ever, but you will need to get a good machine shop to do this for you and means removing the engine. In england this cost approximately 600 pounds...

... My preference would be to have the engine top hatted and then you never have to worry.

Cheers Nick

Nick

I have never heard your term "top hatted" although I assume it is what we call a stepped liner. Yes it is a big job and in fact a complete engine re-build.
I had stepped liners when I was sick of the problems of the Rockhampton 5 litre development of the 4.4 P76 engine. We had stepped liners which took Holden 186 pistons (instead of the Holden 202 pistons of the 5 litre) machined into the block which gave about 4.7 litre displacement. Unfortunately one of the new liners was not fully seated before they decked the block and that resulted in a slipped and rotated liner with overheating and blown head gasket issues. Yes stepped liners are good but only if done correctly.

Another option is to insert liners using brake fluid as a lubricant. This initiates some electrolysis between the liner and the alloy block essentially fusing the two together.

Diana

Hello, I recently purchased a '93 Range Rover with a 3.9 engine. It makes a loud knocking when warmed up and I'm also suspecting a slipped liner.

I have never heard of "pinning" a slipped liner. Does anyone have any more details as to how this is done? Is it as simple as it sounds: putting bolts or pins directly below the bottom of the liner into the block to prevent it from sliding down? Sounds like a repair that may not require a machine shop.

Thanks!

Omer Khan

Pinning will not stop coolant travelling up between the liner and the block into the combustion chamber. Cracked blocks are normally the reason liners drop.

Top hat liners are said to fix the problem permanently. So too are new crate Coscast blocks from the UK. Are any of the local LR specialists bringing these into Oz yet?

if youve got no other symptoms check the lifters and cam first.

top hattings the best answer I know of. which is just a case of maching a small lip in the top of the block and then installing the liners with the matching protrusion.

get the thing checkd over with a good tacho and crow, if the spikes match exactly to crank RPM its a liner if its half RPM its a liner or rocker.