D2 TD5 Engine Problem

**Hardynice** · 26th November 2013, 07:36 PM

Came down from Toowoomba this afternoon, car ran like a dream. Stopped at Rocklea for 10 minutes and the normal turn the key and instant fire up didn't happen. I turned the motor over for about 30 seconds and it finally caught but spluttered and eventually cleared it self. Drove around the corner to another location and the same thing happened.
I rang my Landrover mechanic man and took it to his workshop.
He says that it is a cracked head between the valves that lets water in and that the rings will be buggered and the engine will require an engine rebuild. While I believe that this may be true, I am seeking cheaper ways around this problem.

Has anybody else come up against this situations ?, will new rings and get the crack in the head welded / reconditioned fix the problem ?, maybe a second-hand engine ? take it to the auctions and unload it and cut my loss's ?.

The D2 has been good to me, never missed a beat, always started first time every time the only problem has been the rear door having a mind of its own, but that just annoying.

What's a recon head worth? What is a set of rings and gaskets worth?

Ideas please !!!!!

**ramblingboy42** · 26th November 2013, 07:43 PM

anyone know what a 2nd hand head might be worth? I have my eye on one.....

**gavinwibrow** · 26th November 2013, 07:58 PM

Bummer. I got a 2nd hand TD5 (40K km ex Army from a rear ended and written off Defender a couple of days after mine carked it) for $5.5K ex Brisbane to Perth about 18 months ago. Yes I know, triple the mileage for army use. 20K later, she's running sweet as (touch wood) and murphy's asleep.

**Hardynice** · 27th November 2013, 05:58 PM

After the first diagnosis from my local Landrover mechanic that the motor was stuffed "the head is cracked and that has let water into the cylinders and that will stuff the rings and you need an engine rebuild".
I picked my D2 up and was told once again that the engine was unserviceable, that it was running extremely rough and his young apprentice chipped in with "when you (the mechanic) took off down the street there was smoke coming out of the exhaust "everywhere".
I decided to take my D2 to my normal mechanic that works on SWMBO vehicle.
I took him for a drive and he agreed that there was a problem but that it cleared itself after 50 metres or so.
I left the vehicle with him.
He rang me about 2 hours later to say that there was petrol in the fuel. He said that his mechanic had walked behind the vehicle when it was running and said "that's a really strong smell of petrol" then they realised that it was a TD5.
I had stopped at Blacksoil on the way home from work, pulled up at the usual bowser and had put $20 dollars in the previous day. I always use the same bowser and the diesel is the pump on the right. From this I can only conclude that somebody has hung up the pump handle in the wrong spot.
This is no excuse, as being a driver of trucks I should have smelled the petrol going into the tank by the vapour coming out.
Anyway $385 later, the tank is cleaned out, new fuel filter fitted, 40 litres of CLEAN diesel in the tank and it is mobile again and I think it runs better for the clean out with petrol.

As for the Landrover mechanics diagnosis, it was way of the mark and personally feel that he was only interested doing a rebuild for the $$$ and not trying to sort out the root cause of the problem. I goes to prove that it pays to get a second or if need be a third opinion before opening your wallet and spending large amounts of money.

Now to the ongoing problem, SWMBO will not stop giving me heaps for putting petrol in a diesel vehicle, but I guess I just have to live with that