On my way to work last week my TDv8 Sport "died". No fuss, no bang, no smoke - the engine just lost power and then stopped. Car recovered by the AA to local Independent LR specialist who are still investigating one week later. They started with the fuel system and confirmed that is all fine. They then found "metal on the wrong side of the air filter". The car is now waiting to get on the the "special ramp" so they can remove the body to check the Turbos. They suspect possible engine damage

For a 75k miles vehicle that is out of warranty this is all sounding very worrying. Should I be worried about the car or the garage or the bank manager or all of the above ? RRS TDv8 HSE Rimini
Disco 4 TDv6 HSE Ipanema
Defender 90, 200tdi CSW

Last edited by Smarticus on Fri Jun 10 2011 4:19pm. Edited 1 time in total

Ouch, it's cases like this which cement the fact these cars should not be driven without a warranty........................

Oh dear! Fingers crossed. 2005 Zambezi TDV6 - Gone but not forgotten
2009 Alaska TDV8 - Gone and much missed.



WINNER - 2009 �Idler Of The Year� Award
Runner Up - 2009 �Just Doing What It�s Designed To Do� Award


DO NOT CLICK HERE!

Well if that makes you feel better, if I was you I'd be worried about all of what you mentioned.
Sorry to hear that bud, let's hope it all turns out something minor and inexpensive. Vadim A.

Actually, I just remembered someone had a similar situation on here a year ago or so. The same, car jut died for no reason. What happened was that he ran out of petrol... and he was not getting any messages on the dashboard. Vadim A.

Smarticus wrote:

On my way to work last week my TDv8 Sport "died". No fuss, no bang, no smoke - the engine just lost power and then stopped. Car recovered by the AA to local Independent LR specialist who are still investigating one week later. They started with the fuel system and confirmed that is all fine. They then found "metal on the wrong side of the air filter". The car is now waiting to get on the the "special ramp" so they can remove the body to check the Turbos. They suspect possible engine damage

For a 75k miles vehicle that is out of warranty this is all sounding very worrying. Should I be worried about the car or the garage or the bank manager or all of the above ?

timcom0 wrote:

Smarticus wrote:

On my way to work last week my TDv8 Sport "died". No fuss, no bang, no smoke - the engine just lost power and then stopped. Car recovered by the AA to local Independent LR specialist who are still investigating one week later. They started with the fuel system and confirmed that is all fine. They then found "metal on the wrong side of the air filter". The car is now waiting to get on the the "special ramp" so they can remove the body to check the Turbos. They suspect possible engine damage

For a 75k miles vehicle that is out of warranty this is all sounding very worrying. Should I be worried about the car or the garage or the bank manager or all of the above ?

ouch sounds like the problem I had search and check my fiasco, but finished up with a new engine at LR expense, good luck matey

Ouch , hope that you get sorted !!! 

Any news on your engine yet?

The news is good, bad and confusing. Advice on this seriously appreciated.

The garage has had the car for over 2 weeks now. After 1 week they found one of the turbos had failed and suspected that the engine had inhaled metal. So they decided to remove the cylinder heads to look for damage. The good news is they have found no metal damage in the engine at all. But the bad news is that they found rust inside one of the cylinder bores. They now advise that I need a new engine at a cost of £4,500 plus vat and fitting They say this rust has nothing to do with the turbo failure or break down at all. It is a complete ly unrelated fault that would not have been identified without having removed the heads.

I am no mechanic but I know a bit about engines. the only time I have seen a rusty bore is in an engine from a series 2 that had sat in an open field with the cylinder head off for 5 years. My vehicle is used every day and has never given any engine trouble at all before the turbo failed. So how has this rust occurred and why on earth does the garage think this warrants a new engine. I have asked then to simply r line the damaged bore and check the head gasket ( the usual cause of water in an engine ). they say that LR don't provide bore linings so this would not be possible and so still advise I need a new engine. Sounds like possibly suspect advice to me. I am going to inspect tomorrow (Friday) but would really appreciate advice on this one. RRS TDv8 HSE Rimini
Disco 4 TDv6 HSE Ipanema
Defender 90, 200tdi CSW

non-mechanic view point:

Will the engine run with new turbos?
What evidence is there that the rust damage is 'not normal' (for engine / age)?
With turbos replaced, what is the impact of running the engine with the rust damage identified?


If it will run with new turbos, and no evidence this s significantly worse than normal, and impact of running engine is that it may just fail *anyway*, then I would reject the proposal to replace and run then engine until its natural end....  L405 P400e Autobiography (MY2020)... Silicon Silver / Espresso
RRS TDV6 HSE Lux (MY2011)... Nara Bronze / Arabica - now gone!

The garage has never heard of a rusty bore problem with these engines before. But they are reluctant to simply put the thing back together and give it to me. I suspect they are worried if the engine did fail in future that I would blame them. Or they are worried that they have racked up a load of cost over the last 2 weeks and really only replaced a single turbo which should never have cost anything like the current bill ( although I don't know what that is ). I have asked them to speak to LR about the problem and the cost. But they say very unlikely LR will make a goodwill payment as the vehicle is well beyond warranty and 75k plus miles. Despite the fact I have been a life long LR owner. RRS TDv8 HSE Rimini
Disco 4 TDv6 HSE Ipanema
Defender 90, 200tdi CSW

what terms are being used to inspect the vehicle - are you paying an hourly labour rate for the time they have been inspecting it?

If they cannot show with evidence that the rust state of the engine contributed to THIS failure the finding is fairly irrelevant. May be any bore would go a bit rusty (like a brake disc( if it's not used and it opened up to the atmosphere. If all the engine needs is a new turbo to get life going again then do that - will be a lot less than 4.5 and in any case if that contributes to engine failure then you are still in the same position. I mean lose power and then stop: that's either no fuel, a seize up, or an electronics thing surely. If component goes than could cause the electronics to say "computer says NO".

The rust condition they describe so far sounds like a relatively typical scenario which is: guess what, your X-year old engine is does not look brand new any more from the inside... until they can articulate why it contributed to engine damage. Is yours a one-off that it rusted to failure after X-miles?

Be curious, suspicious even: At the very least I would pay for an independent assessment before ordering a new engine if their evidence is not conclusive. L405 P400e Autobiography (MY2020)... Silicon Silver / Espresso
RRS TDV6 HSE Lux (MY2011)... Nara Bronze / Arabica - now gone!

I'd get an independent assessment done - AA maybe. As you say the garage does seem nervous about putting the engine back together and bearing in mind your likely outlay I think a report on the state of the engine now is essential. FF 4.4 V8 Soooo looking forward to this bad boy
Ex 2006 RRS SC - garbage
Ex 2016 135i M Sport - dream car
Ex 2003 RS6 Avant - piece of cr*p
Ex 2014 320d X Drive, M Sport Touring - ok I guess
Ex 2007 RRS TDV8 - bloody loved it
EX 2007 FL2 XS - not so bad

Would look on it as to what you are likley to be doing with the car in the future.
If looking at replacement soon then a new engine is just money down the drain.

Would definatley get a second or even third opion, have you looked at second hand engines from someone like Equipicar