Thread: D3 Diesel Front Timing Cover Explosion

Originally Posted by AnD3rew

Should I go and get the pump proactively changed and how big a job is that without doing the timing belt etc.

As far as I am aware the oil pump housing failure does not occur on engines that have not had the timing belt change - it results as mentioned due to weak castings but this only comes into play when the area is disturbed for the timing belt changed and everything torqued back up.

So - as far as I am aware - if you have not had the timing belt changed there is no need to do a pre-emptive strike. Change the timing belt and all bets are off - get the new oil pump housing.

Garry

Garry apparently the failures do happen whether you've had the belt done or not - check out the UK forums on that - it's only a small portion of these pumps it happens to, but the cost-benefit of not changing it is surely outweighed by the cost of the engine should something go wrong. FWIW mine is an 08MY and my original casing has no sign of fractures/impending death.


Pump design changed somewhere in 09 and all 2.7 D4's have the updated pump. So the the Ford should as well, considering the engines are all made at the same plant whether they are for LR, Ford, Jag or PSA applications. The pumps are pretty easy to distinguish - much beefier around the timing belt tensioner mounting.


As for changing them, as a preventative I would definitely do it, as they are known to let go at any mileage. If you are somewhat mechanically minded and are comfortable doing V6 timing belts it is not too hard a job to do yourself. You MUST lock the flywheel/flex plate to do it - to do that you need to insert a special tool (easy to acquire) into a hole above where the starter sits. From there you use a large breaker (mine was 1200mm) to undo the front crank bolt and remove the pulley. From there it's easy - uninstall/reinstall the pump (no special tricks here), install new front main seal, reinstall the pulley (not keyed to the crank, which is why you need to lock the flywheel) with a new bolt, tighten to 100nm then another 90deg, install new rollers/pulleys (tighten large rollers to 45nm, tensioner bolt only loosely, install new belt, load up tensioner so that arrow lines up with window on tensioner, tighten the tensioner bolt to 24nm. Remove all locking tools, turn the engine by hand a few times then recheck that all marks line up again. Triple check all torques! Reinstall starter/starter bracket/fuel cooler if you have an 07MY+, reinstall all the other crap you took off for the timing cover. Enjoy not worrying about your engine blowing up!


My timing belt kit cost about $165, then $50 each for the large rollers, $90 for the pump from UK, about $25 for bolts and seals, $100 for the locking tools, and the whole job was about 6 hours I think.

Originally Posted by BusinessConnected

I'm not the original owner, and only purchased the Vehicle about 2 months ago... so I don't fancy my luck with Land Rover.

That's a shocker. What year and mileage?

I would push land rover for at least a part of the cost.

Originally Posted by AnD3rew

So my D3 is an MY09 5 years old with only 80,000k's. I plan to keep it another 5 years but at the rate I am going I won't get to the timing belt change for some time but I do do a bit of remote touring. Should I go and get the pump proactively changed and how big a job is that without doing the timing belt etc.

I was told by a Brisbane LR specialist the new housing started in 2008. Sheerluck's 2007 D3 project vehicle had the old housing. See his post below:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...ect-d3-10.html

Also, I was told the problem with the old housing occurs because the housing bolts are over tightened when the timing belt gets changed.

Originally Posted by BusinessConnected

I'm not the original owner, and only purchased the Vehicle about 2 months ago... so I don't fancy my luck with Land Rover.

Did you buy off a dealer? Under 160,000kms and 7 year old cars have a 3 month statutory warranty which covers engine failure.

Also, as it is a known issue you may at least get a cheaper engine off Landrover rather than pay retail price.

Originally Posted by BusinessConnected

Yeah... doesn't sound to bad... just have to work out how much it'll cost to get fitted....

Sounds like a good price !!!, when all done can you give us some us feed back on the project and outcome . Thanks Al.

Originally Posted by rar110

I was told by a Brisbane LR specialist the new housing started in 2008. Sheerluck's 2007 D3 project vehicle had the old housing. See his post below:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...ect-d3-10.html

Also, I was told the problem with the old housing occurs because the housing bolts are over tightened when the timing belt gets changed.

Might've started being made in 2008 but the MY08s still have the old casing. Can't comment on MY09.

Originally Posted by rar110

I was told by a Brisbane LR specialist the new housing started in 2008. Sheerluck's 2007 D3 project vehicle had the old housing. See his post below:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/d3-d4-rrs/...ect-d3-10.html

Also, I was told the problem with the old housing occurs because the housing bolts are over tightened when the timing belt gets changed.

Yes, mine was the old version, but didn't show any sign of any cracking, even though it had been through a belt change on time (mileage wise). I changed the belt again because I wanted to change the oil pump housing, plus it should never need changing again in my ownership.