[JMC08]

Hello fellow owners,

I have researched and read as many timing chain threads on here as I can find and have enjoyed the information that has been contributed by everyone. However, instead of high jacking another thread with my specific questions/experience, I thought it may be best to start fresh with my own.

I have owned four Land Rovers with the 5.0 V8. Two naturally aspirated, two supercharged. I love the engine. It is probably my all time favorite motor. However, I am paranoid of the timing chain issue.

Back in 2013, Land Rover performed the timing chain job on my 2011 Range Rover. They did this for me under warranty. I don't recall having much thought on the job at the time, as I did not yet fully understand the depth of concern this issue would turn into for Land Rover owners over the years of 5.0 production. I experienced timing chain clatter as common, and the car had perhaps around 25-30k on the odometer.

As years have passed, I have gained a much better understanding of the issue, as we all have here. I had purchased a 2013 Range Rover Sport HSE Luxury (5.0 n/a) brand new, that is an absolute keeper for me. I love it and plan to keep it indefinitely. At the same time, I have a 2014 Range Rover long wheelbase Autobiography with the same motor but supercharged that I also wish to keep long term. I had a 17 Range Rover Sport Autobiography that we ordered new, but I sold it after one year as we were not using it often enough to warrant keeping it

Last year (2022) I had decided that it was urgent that I have both my 13 RRS (60k) and 14 RR (63k) brought in to the dealer to have the large timing chain jobs performed as preventative work as an effort on my part to hopefully avoid any catastrophic damage down the road at some point. I had the job performed on my 2013 Range Rover Sport last summer and the same basic job (plus a few supercharger related items) addressed on my 2014 Range Rover just this week.

This latest time, I had asked the technician to save all of the original parts for me to go through and assess back at home before throwing them out. I was a bit discouraged when I got through the last parts and did not see any plastic/aluminum timing chain guides or blades. I thought those were the main parts that warranted the job to begin with. I am not sure if I should be upset or not. I contacted the dealer yesterday. The reply I got directly from the technician who worked on my 14 Range Rover (and last year also did the job on my 13 Range Rover Sport) was that my car has the "gen 2" motor, and therefore has the updated parts which do not require replacement. My understanding by everyone here is that regardless of model year, this is an issue with all 5.0 V8s whether they have or do not have the "update" tensioners/blades.

Also, it appears as if only two timing chains were replaced, not the smaller third one. The technician did say there was a bit of slack with the timing chain (don't know which), but overall there were no signs of wear and tear and that the motor was in excellent condition.

Both of my vehicles have a slight clatter when the engine is idling I notice. The Range Rover does seem better when I compare videos I took before and now after the job, but nonetheless, their is still an engine clatter.

My 13 Range Rover Sport clatters more on cold start than my 14 Range Rover.

What advise to some of you experienced guys have on here for me? Should I go back and have all of those plastic tensioners/blades replaced, or take their word for it and assume the engines on both are strong and in excellent condition?

I will note that there were two square shaped metal tensioners replaced (LR095472).

With these being such an expense, I just want to be certain that I did my vehicles justice and that I can feel confident that they are durable and reliable for the long haul. The Range Rover Sport I retired form daily duties a few years ago, and the Range Rover I plan to late this year/next year as well. However, I still wish to enjoy them on occasion years from now.

I have attached the invoice I received yesterday from the job being done on my 14 Range Rover. The 13 Range Rover Sport is similar. Also is a photo with parts that I realized were not replaced, circled in red.

Thank you for all input in advance!

 

[Mrmerlin]

the chain guides I would have thought they would replace since the chains run on them,
and the plastic does get brittle over time.

Best thing for you to do is oil changes every 5K miles not the suggested 15K .
this will prolong the life the valve train components, and the cam phasers and the tensioners
put a bottle of Techron in and do short drives before each oil change,
to keep the injectors clean.
Consider to have the intake valves cleaned every 90K miles, this involves supercharger removal, then the valves are scraped clean the crud vacuumed out then a scrub with brake clean and a tooth brush to clean the intake ports ,
and it might be wise to swap in a new water pump and rear water bridge.

 

[EvanK]

There is no need to do the timing chain, tensioner, and guides replacement as preventative maintenance! Those parts might well outlast the rest of the vehicle if a proper oil change schedule is kept. If the noise is really bothersome, and especially if crank/cam timing correlation codes have appeared then it should be addressed.

Mind blowing that your dealer would do all that work to replace the chains and tensioners but not the guides while they're in there. I suppose they could have inspected the guides and deemed them in good shape, but compared to the other ~6k in parts, what's another ~$100?

 

[JMC08]

Thank you both for your replies. I was told on my Range Rover that the tensioners were in good shape, but yes, it is annoying that they did not replace them while the motor was already torn apart.
It is what it is I guess. I keep up with annual oil changes that equate to about 1,000 miles on my Range Rover Sport and about 5-7,000 on my Range Rover. Hopefully I’m good to go.