LT77 / LT230 repairs

In article , Austin Shackles writes

2) yes you need a very deep puller to get the spacer off the mainshaft

4) no! But seriously most of the gaskets you come across are liquid. or can be replaced by liquid. when it comes to seals if you touch it replace it the same can be said for the bearings too, saves you doing it again next week.

Best advice is get it done by a trusted pro.

Hope this helps

On or around Mon, 4 Oct 2004 20:21:18 +0100, marc enlightened us thusly:

sort of. makes the crappy disco I know about with a sound gearbox more attractive. Now all I have to do is convince the guy that it's a good idea to have me swap the decent 200 TDi from that to the Rangie he's got with a shagged 2.4 VM in it, and pay me by donating said gearbox :-)

actually, if they were my vehicles that's exactly what I'd do - the rangie is sound bodywork-wise, but has a tired engine. The disco is seriously rusty and has various bodywork problems, but has a nice sound 200 TDi in it.

In article , Austin Shackles writes

Sorry to wee on your fireworks.

I think he will be better off fitting the gearbox too. I know that the bell housings are different between tdi and VM not sure about the length of the input shaft etc.

Thankfully I have little to do with VM classics. I know lee D will say different but they are s**te. My neighbour had one from new and I used to hide every time he came into the workshop with it. Give it it's due though when it wasn't blowing up it did pull ok.

You might end up with a free transfer box though ;-)

On or around Mon, 4 Oct 2004 22:18:59 +0100, marc enlightened us thusly:

this one is a conversion to a V8, though. dunno if it brought its own gearbox with it, or if it still has the original.

Well from a point of maintainance and parts availability then the TDI has got to be the better option given the short production run of VM engined Rangies. The fact they also had 2.4 VM's and 2.5 VM's makes the parts swapping process that little bit more tricky. I can throughly recommend

I forget the exact figures but on paper the VM is the better engine.

Main issue has always been the heads.. or head gaskets. I've said before and will no doubt again I'm convinced it problems stem from lack of proper maintainance such as re tightening the head bolts every 40000 miles I think it was.

Like all the other engines they have there weak spot. V8's Cams, Tdi's Timing belts etc etc.

If I were to go out now knowing what I know would I buy another VM engined Rangie... No, purely from the point of spares in the long term.

If she blows again then I think I'll be looking to a 300tdi.

Some boys and girls on the lre forum have plonked V8's in VM engined motors.. the gearing needed sorting but I'm sure there posts will work in reversal i.e. V8 box to VM engine IYSWIM.

Lee D

The six centre head bolts by a certain angle twelve thousand miles from new and twelve thousand miles after the heads had been removed and replaced. Main dealers, the inept shower that they generally are, seldom bothered with this essential one-off maintenance. Heads were a problem for this reason and indirectly because the cooling system was iffy. The header tank was low set in some versions and also radiators commonly leaked slowly at the ends resulting in overheating. This meant death to alloy heads which became soft and distorted after overheating.

Well maintained, these engines last well. They were never the most refined or the most torquey of engines. In fact they were plain underspecified for Range Rover and never should have been used in a premium heavy-weight product. Although one has to allow for the passing of time and remember this was a previous generation. In fact the VM was first used in RR in 1986, which is 18 years ago. Diesel engines have leapt forward in quality and refinment since those days.

Huw

Not *too* bad - but you will need a lomg puller and/or soemthing to apply heat - the "old" RRC Haynes book gives info on how to do the job.

Puller and heat - the puller shold be hireable from HSS or whatever, or you could get someone to to do that bit for you.

Correct - if the gear needs changing then the shaft needs doing to.

Main shaft - 82.95 inc VAT, T'box gear 36.42 inc VAT, LT77 Gasket/Seal Set 6.98 inc VAT, Oil Flinger (probably needed due to knackering it getting it off) 14.91 inc VAT, Oil seal collar 3.14 inc VAT, LT230 Gasket/Seal Set 10.57 inc VAT.

Unless the the boxes have been run without oil or you are unlucky, the bearings will be ok.

Cheers Richard

On or around Tue, 5 Oct 2004 08:13:45 +0000 (UTC), beamendsltd enlightened us thusly:

it all runs and changes gear OK.

However, I may look at getting a second hand one to put in either instead or as well as fixing this one. Very limited time for fixing things on that scale - the vehicle has to be on the road all week every week, bar for school holidays. swapping the box would allow time to fix this one nicely and have it ready to put back.