2.4 VM, is it that bad

i have a 2.4 vm in my range rover everyone says its ****, nobody will say why, its just ****. it has plenty of power and does more mpg than my 2004 1.6 petrol vauxhall zafira, its just a bit noisier but that may be because its 20 years old and engines were noisier 20 years ago (thats my excuse) i have owned it 12 months and havnt had any problems, (im touching the biggest lump of wood youve EVER seen). so whats likely to go wrong and what should i look for.

head gasket problems usually, if you start getting problems, rip it out and fit a tdi

Dont knock the VM, okay it was original designed as a merine engine but the one which was fitted in a range rover I owned was faultless. okay on tickover it did sound like it wanted to escape from the engine bay. but it was a real pleasure to drive and had loads of pulling power. Clutch dust is right in saying the head gaskets are a issue but thats about it.

B.

ffs dont mention head gaskets old k seal **** will be all over yer like a cheap suit

P38 Owner said:

the head gaskets are a issue but thats about it.

B.

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what do you mean, thats about it, its one of the major faults in an engine ffs

Blimey - leave it alone, it will blow up eventually, as do all engines.

Enjoy it now - use your energy to think about nicer things like curvy ladies and beer.

yella disco said:

ffs dont mention head gaskets old k seal **** will be all over yer like a cheap suit

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Such a way with words - nearly spilt me booze ! (mind you,someone had to say it)

he he, thanks eight, glad yer appreciate it

I ran a 1999 2.5 VM for over 7 years. It is on sale on Ebay at the moment with 114,500 miles on it. Never had any trouble and its a far better engine than the 200TDI. It was designed as a marine engine with separate heads and was prone to head problems, but the usual cause of that is overheating when the radiator becomes less efficient through blockage or fins corroding away. If the radiator is replaced when it starts to deteriorate (as I did) you will probably be trouble free. It has a narrow power band than the 200TDI and needs to be kept on the turbo to get the best out of it but its far quieter. Personally I would not touch an engine with a cab-belt with a bargepole.

The last Vm I put spanners on had trashed its timing gears and put enough swarf around the engine that it needed a complete rebuild,what a long drawn out affair that was - all four rocker pillar post threads pulled out as I was torquing them down.
From a technical,cost,perfomance,reliability,resale,ease of working on,the TDI LR is light years ahead.

rrdiver said:

Personally I would not touch an engine with a cab-belt with a bargepole.

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Did you mean cam-belt?

My VM has run for 203,000 miles and is still going strong. It rattles and below 200rpm the power is crap but it has outlasted many a TDi and TD5. If anyone out there want to scarp a VM them let me know as it would come in handy for spares.
Thanks
Mike

I should mention that my VM Engine is the later 2.5 Turbo version and I am looking for the same.