I’ve always said, these vehciles bad reputation comes from piss poor maintenance and morons working on them, cutting cormers to save money and / or using substandard parts and a combination. My take, once you get a decent vehicle sorted, and maintaned, they are reliable. But, find a sold mechanic that knows what they are doing.

 

Then we find out the work was done at a Land Rover dealer. Honestly though, that looks like a total Polish mechanic job. You didn’t get this from Gniezno, Poland, did you?

 

Honestly though, that looks like a total Polish mechanic job. You didn’t get this from Gniezno, Poland, did you?

It seems like some garages here in SA are twinned with some Polish garages. But lets be fair - you can find these clowns in most countries and you dont have to look very hard either.

So….. what happened to the missing piston?

The missing piston is in the sump. I can see debris when I peer through the gloom into the sump. Once I recover the pieces, I will glue or weld them back together and use it in my next rebuild. I am sure our favourite mechanic would do it so why cant I...

Its also sad to consider that it might have been running perfectly and the owner thought he was updating the t-chain tensioners to eliminate a potential problem. But hired the wrong guy. It will be interesting to see how the guides look and wear from the original and the updated tensioner.

I am sure you are correct - the poor owner was probably doing preventive maintenance and got badly burned.

The engine is coming out over the next couple of days and I will update this thread with photos once I open it up. I am half hoping the block is not too badly damaged so I can use it again but I very much doubt it will be. But if I am lucky it will join the other 3 engines waiting for rebuilds.

 

WOW !!!!
Not sure what it must have cost new but when you buy something like that and it packs in after 35k it’s gonna leave a very nasty taste.
I don’t care how much money you’ve got.

 

Ouch, Ghur.

At least someone who knows what they’re doing is finally fixing it correctly

Sounds like it’ll make a terrific comeback!

Happy new year.

Cheers, Rob

 

So….. what happened to the missing piston?


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Its also sad to consider that it might have been running perfectly and the owner thought he was updating the t-chain tensioners to eliminate a potential problem. But hired the wrong guy. It will be interesting to see how the guides look and wear from the original and the updated tensioner.

 

Welded the pulley to the crank…..Ghhhh….muppet!!!!
Who does this!!!


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Probably a relative of the person who painted every single part of a Range Rover Classic then siliconed it all together. Oh the swear words I was uttering while stripping all the paint and silicone off every mating surface so I could install the proper seals and gaskets. Then the engine in it that had 2mm of play between the crank and con rods so the pistons could slightly rotate in the cylinders. Plus half the valves were adjusted too tight, two too lose and two just right.

Like this car, somebody made a lot of money for a terrible job and the owner just blames it on being a Land Rover.

 

That is great detective work, though... kudos for figuring it all out.

 

No, not at all hard to find, they seem to like the words “expert” and “professional” in their titles as well. When I hear these words in Poland now I cringe and walk away.

You want to keep the blown engine around as a “How not to fix something” memento, but I imagine you’d end up with a building full of stuff in about a month.

 

If the engine is not repairable, repurpose it.

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That motor would make an excellent conversation piece!

Is the thought that the new adjusters wore enough into the old guides where the chain skipped and the piston ended up meeting the valves? If the mechanic was that bad, is it possible they didn't release the adjusters properly after installing and just pulled the pin before putting it back together. From comparisons between old and new style guides, the only difference appears to be the metal button attached to the old style guides in the same place as the cutout, I've never had both in my hands to do actual measurements. I'm shocked that nobody has manufactured a button or shim that can be permanently adhered to retrofit the old guides and save lots of time/$$ only having to remove the lower timing cover to retrofit as this mechanic attempted to do. From everything I've seen, the guides being removed when upgrading have always appeared to be in good shape and it's a lot of work for something that amounts to a metal disk. Personally I'm dreading having to do this on my wife's truck, I know it will only be a matter of time and I have begun researching - Your zip tie method seems to be the best thus far. Maybe by the time I have to do the job you would have perfected the button method

 

The updated tensioners and guides are noticeably different when compared side by side with the old style. I have attached a couple of photos that I have just found on Google search and it shows the different angles between the new and old style tensioners and guides. (ignore the arrows).

I am sure one could do a Mcgyver on the old style with a button but for the sake of a couple of extra hours of work to remove the upper timing covers to fit new guides, I would rather just fit the new parts. I am sure there is a bit of science involved with the different angles and although the difference in mechanical advantage is quite small, there may be more than meets the eye.

Initially the job to change to the new style may seem quite daunting but its very straight forward. The hardest part is removing the pulley and then the crazy tightening torque of the new bolt. Provided one follows the Land Rover procedure there is zero risk of the chain jumping a tooth because the cams are positioned so there is no tension on any of the lobes.

I did check the tensioners fitted to my broken engine and they had been set correctly by the previous mechanic so that's one thing he did not screw up. Did not make any difference to the outcome though.

 

I could make a very unusual table using all my broken engine parts which would definitely make a very interesting conversation piece.

The photos below are from a Jaguar XJ 5.0 SC that I bought a while ago. The photo of the sump is not a set up - that's exactly what I found when I removed it.

 

I could make a very unusual table using all my broken engine parts which would definitely make a very interesting conversation piece.

The photos below are from a Jaguar XJ 5.0 SC that I bought a while ago. The photo of the sump is not a set up - that's exactly what I found when I removed it.

That damage is incredible...

I could see the potential for the buyer of what you're resurrecting into a beautiful & reliable RR with a long life ahead of it, to enjoy some artistically abstract assembly (table or otherwise) of the scrapped parts and even see some additional value - that is a buyer that holds the saved RR's value at more than just another cheap chance at a luxury mode of transportation; the sort of owner that would not cut corners on parts, service or repair facilities.

If it can find itself in the hands of a custodian that respects and values it and LR RR's in general half as much as you do, it will be in service a long time.

 

Have to salute the creativity and hanging in there. Weld-on is one heck of a workaround to that disaster. Must have worn the brunt of it.

That's quite the change in angle, too bad the guides weren't done. Might have gone a few more miles.

 

this is wild. It does not suprise me however. If you are ever near the South Bay or Fresno dealerships take a look at the "technicians" that are performing work like this on these units. The USA is unrecognizable.

 

That’s cause the USA has deemed trade jobs unviable and pushed everyone to go in debt getting worthless degrees in the arts. So there’s a shortage of trade workers and shops have to nearly base their hiring requirements on the candidate’s ability to fog up a mirror.

 

I found the piston. Or rather I found 2 pistons in the sump in pieces. I did not check all the bores with my endoscope when I was troubleshooting the the non start issue when I first bought the car and today when I pulled the heads off, I found number one was also missing. However both conrods were there - complete with piston pin. Both cylinder bores are broken and number 2 has punched a small hole in the side of the block. So the block is finished. Coffee table time.

I had to satisfy my curiosity so removed the sump and when I saw the mess inside, I sat back on my haunches and laughed out loud. I have never seen such a mess. The strange thing is earlier today I was reading some stuff on the asteroid crater in Arizona and there are images of the remains of the meteorite. Well some of the pieces in the sump looked like small meteorites with their dimpled appearance. This engine must have run for quite some time after it broke because the piston pins are totally loose in the elongated small end which could only have happened from continual battering.

Interestingly the original timing chain guides which were not replaced when the new style tensioners were fitted, were not in bad shape. There was an additional mark caused by the changed angle of the tensioner but it was minor. This confirms my estimation that the motor did very little mileage after the mechanic did his magic on the engine. I did however find that there had been a lot more work done at the same time as the timing chain mess. It took an hour just to remove the cam covers because they had also been glued on with some industrial type adhesive. The heat shroud around both exhaust manifolds was missing as were many bolts used for securing pipes and cables and stuff.

 

Hello first time posting, I have a shop and acquired a 2012 Jag XFR supercharged and needs internal engine parts. Is there an affordable place to by these

 

What a bunch of goulash....must be a very strong sump to put up with the smashed piston's
Is that a photo of the new style timing chain adjusters in the 2nd photo 1st engine?

 

That's nasty, must have been some impressive noises when all came loose. Wonder what the failure mode was, up top with timing or did the welding on the crank throw the bottom end off? Maybe impossible to know now.
Looking at the front of the engine with the lower timing cover off, it sure seems like it should be possible to swap chain tensioners and guides with only that cover removed. A zip tie method chain to chain to keep it tight. But I suppose its not the case or that's how it would be directed to do.

 

I will inspect everything later today and try to figure out what failed first. The bottom end of the chain/tensioner/guide setup was all intact in spite of having mismatched parts and I did notice some bent valves so I am fairly sure it let go up top. What confuses me is the supercharger must have been removed in order to remove the cam covers but it does not look like anything has been done to the cams or sprockets. The upper timing covers were also covered in that heavy duty adhesive as was every other part that used gaskets or O rings and the bolts securing the guides were finger tight so the guy must have been in there for something. Perhaps he was attempting a zip tie method but the chains jumped some teeth so he had to pull it to pieces to sort it out but who knows.

What is glaringly obvious though is the quality of workmanship. He had removed and refitted the coolant crossover pipe across the back of the heads and used enough of his favourite glue to almost block the one orifice which would have restricted coolant flow. Additionally the oil spray jets which are angled to lube the chains and sprockets were bent out of shape and I doubt it was done by the flying "meteorites" but the chains and sprockets look ok. There were smears of the adhesive all over the place so I could track him down using the finger print evidence he left everywhere - set in the adhesive for ever.

One of my pet hates is people who dont use the correct nuts and bolts when assembling. Our friend had an amazing mixture of torx bolts and normal hex bolts in almost every component and must have lost a bunch of fasteners because there were at least 10 to 15 non Land Rover, hardware shop type bolts in various places. I have added a couple more photos to show his modification to the water pump plus to show how he managed to use 3 different bolts to secure a bracket holding one of the idler pulleys. This is one of those jobs that gets worse the more you look at it but after my initial shock and anger I am actually finding it quite funny now. One can either laugh or cry and laughter is the best medicine for this.

Regarding the zip tie method, you have to remove the upper timing covers to access the single bolt securing the guides so all 3 covers have to come off. You dont even need to keep the chain particularly tight provide the crank position is set correctly to remove any tension on the cam lobes. In fact one could most likely do the job without even using anything to secure the chains but to be safe the zip ties or even pieces of string should be used.

 

Interesting writeup and good work. I see "FoMoCo" stamped on parts all over that engine. Ford has historically had many problems with the timing chains, tensioners, and cam phasers on a variety of their engines including the 3-valve Triton engines, the EcoBoost V6 engines, and even some naturally aspirated V6 engines. Ironically, though, Ford's 5.0L "Coyote" engine (unrelated to this engine) has been quite reliable and does not suffer from these troubles despite being an all-aluminum, DOHC V8 with timing chains and VVT on both intake and exhaust sides, and making 400HP.
I, for one, am glad that your Range Rover will be back on the road again with a smooth running engine in fairly short order.

 

That small plastic pipe on the water pump certainly demands some patience to remove and refit correctly.

Or just some JB Weld

Rob

 

Who needs patience when one can use JB Weld, duct tape, WD40 and a big hammer.

 

Geez, ghur, that is an absolute dogs breakfast of workmanship. I am glad to see such a low mileage unit in the hands of someone who can bring it back to life.

 

Bless your heart. Please post some pics of her all together when finished.

 

The car is up and running beautifully. I had very few issues with the replacement engine installation apart from finding that the in tank fuel pump was toast. The only new pump option was from the agent and at a crazy price so I was planning on pulling the pump out of my 5.0 Range Rover Sport parts car and then trying to modify it to fit the L322 but lost the enthusiasm - did not feel like grovelling in the dirt to remove the tank etc. so I bit the bullet and went new.

So the old fuel was drained and tank cleaned and new pump fitted plus fresh fuel. I purged the fuel supply pipes to get rid of the old fuel and spun the engine for a while to get the oil circulating before the first start. After refitting the fuel pump fuse, the engine fired up after a slightly longer than normal crank and settled into a smooth steady idle which was surprising. On previous engines where the fuel rails and injectors have been disturbed, I always found that the initial idle is always a bit lumpy while air pockets work their was out even after preforming the SDD Fuel Prime Routine.

I have now done around 100 miles and everything is perfect so far which makes me a very happy man.

 

Well done man...she is an awesome looking vehicle.
Did you use the aluminium crossover pipe ? what about the rear cross over?