Thread: D3 ENGINE FAILURE!!!!

Now that's a Bitch ........... PM Jamo for details of redress procedure.
You've got nothing to lose.

Perhaps this may help
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Regards Philip A

Originally Posted by FOMOCO

Long story short I've been told the oil level is high,

Was there too much oil in it?

Hi Formoco, there is a few places to try for landrover parts.
Linn rover, they are specialist rover dismantlers and
triumph rover spares in adelaide, i think, i know they are in south australia somewhere.
It's true Kevin will probably know someone who can help if not try discovery automotive in wangara.
Good luck mate , seems like you are due some.

Originally Posted by FOMOCO

Scouse, unfortunately you were right, I wish it had been a head gasket....but it's dropped a valve, put a hole in the piston and damaged the block and head....arrrrrr! on a 72k km engine, I can't believe it. What would cause the valve to drop?

Now I'll have fork out for a new motor (quote growing arms and legs as usual), hunt around for a salvaged engine or sell the rolling shell and find a high cliff. Maybe I could go down the Fred Flinstone route and put a small animal in the engine bay!

Would a 4.4 motor be an easy swap if I found a one?

Does anyone out there know of anyone breaking a D3 in Perth?

I feel very sorry about your issue. At first I thought it was the TdV6, of which I 've heard about 7 failures in different engines in LR club of Spain, all them with number 6 piston melted, some with 20k km (lowest) and the highest at 135K.
And there are no pistons for that particular engine.

Yours is the Ford cologne so it's another story.
If I were you I would do the following
1st.- Ring ASAP to LR australia telling them your issue
They will ask you to send them a fax (no email, please) with all service records
2nd.- The same fax, letter and bills for different services, and copy of the service portfolio in your LR, send them by post to them, explaining in a very polite manner your issue and concerns, and do tell them that maybe it's not an isolated case. Forget rude words and telling them their product is rubbish. And mention ANY other LRs you have in your "fleet" if there are some more

3rd. Call your dealer to stop work now.
Maybe your car is out of warranty.. BUT... sometimes, (very seldom) they have something called "commercial attention" in which the cost of the repair is covered in part by the dealer and LR. So it's nice you have a friendly dealer nearby and that communication with LR Oz and your dealer is fluent

I went through smething similar but much much simpler as my rear diff is now in the process of being replaced. LR will honour the cost of the part and I will only be paying for labour. My warranty expired in dec.2009. So not all is lost

4th, if that is lost, search for a good rebuild quote
5th.- If that fails, search an Exploder engine and perform the swap.
6th.- if that fails, automotive comp in the UK had secured a batch of 4.4 engines at a huge discount price they will be converting into v8 4.0s for racing. Maybe they have a batch of 4.0 v6s as well.

Rover V8 Engine - V8 Performance Engines - Land Rover Engines - Jaguar engine Off road racing

7th.- GOOD LUCK! and tell us how it turns up

Regards from the other side of the Globe
Robert

Just curious. Why the designation LR3. Is this an self- imported Disco?

Again thanks to all for you replies folks, you've all been a great help

The original owner bought the car from Southern; I'm the second owner, I bought the car 9 months ago from a Mitsubishi garage; I've wanted a Land Rover since I was a kid; unfortunately I don't have all the service receipts; I do have the log book which is fully stamped mainly by LR dealers, Southern, Barbagallo, Karratha and I had it serviced at Ultratune in Perth in November last year...I'm wondering if this is where the problem started? wrong oil perhaps?

I'm being told that the head gasket went causing water to pass into the cylinders, I'm told the tops of the pistons are "polished"; this then bent a valve on No 5 cylinder and put a hole in the piston, somehow the block has been damaged too but I won't be able to get to see the car for myself until Tomorrow. I've asked them to keep some of the oil for analysis to see if it's the correct specification, don't know if you can tell once its mixed with coolant.

There were no tell tale signs of head gasket fault, temp gauge was steady and normal, no miss fire, no mayonnaise on the filler cap, oil level normal etc ...and hats off to my wife for pulling over quickly and knocking the engine off!

I'm obtaining quotes for engines. We called Land Rover Australia but they weren't in the slightest bit interested, not even as a learning experience for possible issues...We will be sending them a fax as suggested but the response will be a slow process I'm sure. We've been in contact with one of the local the dealers who is interested in seeing the car...probably more for the work than out of interest, but they have been helpful so far.

I'm wondering if I have any comeback with RAC; the patrol guy started the engine, and it was misfiring but no real knocking that I remember; now this is where I need help; he started the car a second time and blipped the throttle which is when we got a smell of sulphur from the engine bay and you could hear knocking/rattling at the higher revolution; was it this second starting and revving that caused the damage?! could the problem have been diagnosed and caught before the valve bent? how would I be able to prove this? what comeback do I have it it was his mistake which lead to this?

I'll be taking some photos tomorrow so you can hopefully all have a good gawp over the weekend. There'll be a case of beer in it for anyone who can diagnose the root cause that leads to a successful prosecution

Hi FOMOCO,
I recommend that ALL the engine oil be retained (make sure that it is discharged into and collected in clean containers). This way, the amount of water/coolant can be measured, once it has been separated from the oil (being allowed to stand undisturbed should be sufficient). It can also be determined how much oil was in the engine and whether the volume (and grade?) of oil is correct.

These measures will help point you towards whoever did the most recent service (Ultratune?), or others.

Best of Luck,
Peter
PS: I wouldn't try to "go" the RAC, as their rep didn't have much alternative in trying to assess the issue.