It’s LR Time have posted a few more video updates to the infamous Fabian’s D3 rebuild. No more theories on why the bearing failed, but Christian notes he is still researching this topic and plans to do a future video on this.
LR TIME - YouTube
Theories on the differences in oil spec between JLR and Citroen is an interesting area. On some LR forums people are adamant that you must use the low friction (low HT/HS) spec oil to avoid a spun bearing, whilst on the Citroen forums some people believe it is because LR specify a different oil that they have more failures, but then others will point out that even the Citroen was prone to spun bearings. So pick your own theory on this one.
I find it hard to believe that at temperature the oil friction has enough force to spin a crush fit bearing shell.
To spin a shell it is more likely there has been some metal on metal contact, and this risk is highest when doing a cold start and made worse after the vehicle has not been used for a few days (or is difficult to start).
Because of where the oil filter is located, the TDV6 takes longer to get the oil pressure up, and it sounds like Fabian’s D3 was difficult to start needing extensive cranking before it would fire up. Christian believes this was a fuel pump issue, but I would not rule out a leaking injector (or the injector washers). He plans to get the injectors tested and replace the washers so will see if it is still hard to start after the rebuild.
On the SA forum, one member is adamant that the TDV6 needs a PTFE oil treatment to protect the bearings during a cold start. Others believe you should always replace the oil pump every 120-160K, and change the oil and filter every 10K.
Of course these theories all relates to the spun bearing related failures (which can break the crank if not detected), and not the harmonic related crank failures.
Will be watching with interest to hear Christian’s theory at some point - and how many OMG’s this gets from Vera.