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A very strange problem (pantelis)

People Hi,

I just want to share a very strange and at least according to the Greek mechanics a very rare (actually they have never seen it happening before) problem that struck my 1993 evented ex CT Discovery 200Tdi.

The vehicle has been low on performance and had increased fuel consumption over the last 6 months or so with the operating temperature going up when the engine was pushed (full throttle or goind uphill)

Fuel injectors and fuel pump were removed, checked, cleaned and adjusted but the problem persisted.

In order to check the integrity of the large full frontal upgraded intercooler I have removed it and replaced it with the standard factory one. The larger intercooler was cleaned and pressure tested revealing no leaks.

But right on the same day when I was ready to fit it the engine started ticking when idling.

The very next day the ticking became louder and expanded to up to 1000 rpm.

And then suddenly the engine stopped and it would not start.

Not wishing to create more problems I called the flatbed and sent the car to one of my mechanics.

Removal of the cylinder head revealed 6 (out of eight) bent pushrods. Thanks God the pistons and valves were NOT bent or cracked. The cylinder head is OK and the cylinder head gasket was 100% OK also.

And the problem was finally traced on a completely worn woodruff key. It appears that the bolt securing the camshaft pulley (the one that turns by the cambelt) onto the cam has not been properly torqued by the factory. The engine has around 110.000 km on it which by Tdi standards is extremely low. The bolt bears no traces of any type of threadlocking compound and this is somewhat strange.

Good thing is that this gave us the opportunity to run a full test on the engine and its internal bits, change the liftpump, check and adjust the timing again, remove, clean, check and adjust the injector and fuel pump once more and finally repair a damaged inlet manifold stud's thread which was the culprit for a very annoying hissing coming from the engine when the turbo was at full operating pressure (and it is adjusted to 0.95 bars since

1996). The turbocharger was also checked and amazingly after 12 years of operation it is still well within the tolerances (it is a hybrid unit one of the very first that became available for 200Tdi units back then)

My mechanic has just called to confirm that the engine is now fully assembled and most probably the car will be ready to pick it up from him next Monday. New coil springs are also fitted (custom ordered ones from SR in order to accomodate to the additional weight of the full rollcage, husky winch etc on the one hand but the removal of the extremely heavy roofrack on the other hand.

I hope this engine "checkup" and repair and the fitment of the new coils springs will bring it back to life....

Take care Pantelis

Reply to
Pantelis Giamarellos
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So far as the failure to torque down the crankshaft pulley and use locktite to ensure it stays that way, you are not alone my own Kato also a 200TDi Disco started making rattley noises a month or so after I bought it loose pulley no trace of locktite.The car had a bottom end inspection and cambelt six months prior so I guess the monkey involved didn't bother . While I was searching for a suitable landy (pre Kato)I saw two 200TDi with the same problem on one the loosened woodruff key had cracked out the keyway effectively rendering the engine scrap ( OK I know it would have been possible to have another keyway cut on the opposite side ). I would have expected the factory team to have done the job properly unless a post CT monkey had been involved in a belt change.

Derek

Reply to
Derek

Loctite might help as a safety measure, but if a bolted assembly relies on it for integrity there is something wrong. If the thread direction is against the cam rotation it might make a difference to hold the pulley not the shaft when tightening.

Reply to
jg

Derek Hi,

the funny thing is that on my car's case the problem was NOT related to the crankshaft pulley but the camshaft one.

Problems with crankshaft pulley coming undone and rattling are extremely well known and almost frequent especially after changing the cambelt and the "monkey" not tightening the bolt at the right torque and bothering to add a few drops of Loctite on it.

But the camshaft pulley is NOT removed when you change the cambelt. This bolt has never been tampered and I can attest to that since I have the car in my hands since it had less than 2.500 km on the clock.

It was used as the Marshal 1 vehicle in the 1993 event, then as a training car in the 1994 final selections in Instambul and then I got it from the Camel Trophy people (WBI actually) back in 1995 so as to use it for the selection and training of the Greek CT teams.

Since then we have changed the cambelt once and I was there when the job was done. Nobody had touched the camshaft pulley since the belt can be fitted without having to remove it.

Take care Pantelis

Reply to
Pantelis Giamarellos

required procedure per LR workshop manual as the pulley/damper assembly does not have a tab washer to lock it in place locktite 242 is specified. Derek

Reply to
Derek

Reply to
Derek

Derek Hi,

CT vehicles were standard production models with the addition of the visible extras. Only specific part specially made for the CT vehicles were the rear helper springs. They were made by Carmichael and were a special made item.

Some rumours say though that they are in fact the same helper springs used on the Range Rover Classic (6X4 or 6X6 fire engines)

Take care Pantelis

Reply to
Pantelis Giamarellos

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