Crankshaft... or Engine Death on the M6 North.

Hi All,

2003 Defender td5

A new thread but related to yesterdays shenanigans where I broke down near Carlisle on a long journey north...

Got home at midnight after 4 relays over 10 hours and the LR is currently sitting outside a friends garage. I'm trying to understand the problem so I though if I described it someone might be able to offer suggestions..

After a 300 mile drive from Salisbury and a night of wild camping in the lakes I filled up and got on to the M6. Suddenly the engine started to vibrate, very gently at first, then more violently (over the course of a few seconds). The engine kept running and nothing locked or seized, there were no warning lights and luckily I was a few hundred yards from Junction 44 so I was able to get off the motorway.

Thankfully I had a bag of tools with me so I was able to take off the cowling and fan and have a look. I could see the belt was still on but was starting to shred. I got a socket on the tensioner to see if one of the pulleys had seized but I could instantly see the crank pulley was moving so I turned my attention to that and could see it was loose.

Now that said, it does not look like the tensioner had gone (I know they rubbers can go) but it seemed like the whole end of the crank shaft was moving (see vid) and there was a small drip of oil coming from it (no more than an egg cup full lost all together).



So what is the problem?

• If it were the pulley, shurly the outside would flap about, not the whole thing?
• If it were a broken crankshaft surly the thing would have seized and the effect be more catastrophic (you can actually start the thing!)

Any idea or insights gratefully received

Tim

looks like you need a new crank pulley , its a damper and has and inner and outer held together by rubber

That would be nice because I know I have a spare in the back... but would the 'whole' thing move though? If the rubber was gone wouldn't the just the outer move?

Not the damper apparently.. the damper is off and the camshaft is loose.. they will investing further tomorrow.

That would imply that the crank has somehow sheared on the nose..... that seems a very odd failure!

Timus said:

Not the damper apparently.. the damper is off and the camshaft is loose.. they will investing further tomorrow.

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not a snapped crank but more like a fractured crank you can see the harmonic balancer being pushed away from the engine as if it had no thrust bearings on the crank considering the centre bolt that has a steal boss should be solid to the crank
hopefully she hasn't spun a bearing and the block is saved

leading to a Brocken crank is that the harmonic may not of been doing its job

Thanks Ozzy. Everyone is puzzled.. The engine has never skipped a beat before. Thing is it starts! It's in excellent condition, regularly serviced, no silly engine mods, never thrashed...

Timus said:

Thanks Ozzy. Everyone is puzzled.. The engine has never skipped a beat before. Thing is it starts! It's in excellent condition, regularly serviced, no silly engine mods, never thrashed...

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how do you mean every one is puzzled ?
first off remove the harmonic then reinstall the bolt with a spacer and tighten (doesn't need to be tight tight for tests ) does the crank still have end float if so time to remove the sump and some main bearings
as it for starting
the direction of the engine with engine inertia normally the fracture allows the crank shaft to fit like a jigsaw ...engine loads might be to much for the jigsaw piece to match

unsure if yours is Manuel or auto because this also affects the harmonics

Puzzled because crank failure seems rare. Sump was coming off today. Not heard anything yet.

Timus said:

Puzzled because crank failure seems rare. Sump was coming off today. Not heard anything yet.

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unsure if yours is Manuel or auto so possible causes is still unknown
but if it still has the duel mas flywheel this also acts as a damper similar to the harmonic on the front ...torque convertors them self's also act as a damper (viscous damper )

other possibilities would be injector compensation check ..if the any injectors are compensating

Sorry - meant to say. Its a Manuel, P15, 130K on the clock, well serviced, never thrashed. No noticeable symptoms. Damper replaced a year ago as it had started squeaking slightly.

I like the fact that she almost got you out of Englandshire before failing .... bless ....

Timus said:

Sorry - meant to say. Its a Manuel, P15, 130K on the clock, well serviced, never thrashed. No noticeable symptoms. Damper replaced a year ago as it had started squeaking slightly.

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Que?

MJI said:

Que?

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Well it does sound a bit Fawlty!

There you go...

Timus said:

There you go...

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Bugging 'eck .... that's deffo broked ...

Timus said:

There you go...

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So why did you do that then???

Cheers

Jesus ,thats a hell of a failure that, looks expensive, there was a disco near me for sale with a rebuilt td5 for 600 quid a couple of weeks back
be a bit to far for you though and it may be gone, was in leighton buzzard

Oh ****, that is nasty, not seen a broken crank since a Beetle in the early 70s.

Unfortunately engine required, but what about front main bearing?

Suitable for parts, is block OK, head parts (rocker shafts) usable.

Good luck!

New engine (well, used) on route to the garage as I write. They will have a look at the clutch at the same time. No sign of oil starvation, or a sump full of nuts and bolts. Looks like a plain old stress fracture.