Disco 4 Crossover pipe blowing

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phills1003

Member
Posts
10
Hi all.

I wonder whether anyone may be able to give me some info/advice.

Having had my disco 4 3.0 v6 looked at by 2 different garages recently. One of them replaced steering column as Ujs had seized. The column had soot on it like exhaust had been blowing on it.
My engine performance has dropped, the mpg has dropped and its making a hissing noise when you put your foot on the accelerator.
The car is now going into limp mode almost every time I drive it.
On a separate note, the viscous fan seems to be running much more than it used to be, even when cold and it seems to rev up in line with the engine revs. It is a new fan and so shouldn't be the fan itself - not sure whether this is related or not but I suspect it could be.
I think I am also getting an exhaust smell when the car is stationary and the heater is on in the cab.

Ive been told that it is the crossover pipe that is leaking exhaust.

I'm told that to get to the crossover pipe that the body has to come off for access to change the part. Its in a very awkward place to get to.
My question: Labour is obviously going to be the killer on the cost here, and so I was wondering whether any of you can recommend someone to do the job or know of someone that has done it before and therefore perhaps save me some money on the labour element of the cost to replace the part?
I'm probably going to get a quote from landrover themselves as you would imagine that they would know how to get to the part to replace!
The problem is that the car has done 140,000 miles and is probably only worth £8k at best if its working.
Any info or help much appreciated!
Thanks
 
The body doesn't have to come off, a lot of places want to take the body off to make it easier for themselves at your expense.
We always used to take the transmission out, the whole job is easily do-able in one day by one tech.
Don't worry too much about the fan for now, get the crossover pipe replaced first.
If you want a recommendation, you need to tell us which part of the country you're in.
 
Hi all.

I wonder whether anyone may be able to give me some info/advice.

Having had my disco 4 3.0 v6 looked at by 2 different garages recently. One of them replaced steering column as Ujs had seized. The column had soot on it like exhaust had been blowing on it.
My engine performance has dropped, the mpg has dropped and its making a hissing noise when you put your foot on the accelerator.
The car is now going into limp mode almost every time I drive it.
On a separate note, the viscous fan seems to be running much more than it used to be, even when cold and it seems to rev up in line with the engine revs. It is a new fan and so shouldn't be the fan itself - not sure whether this is related or not but I suspect it could be.
I think I am also getting an exhaust smell when the car is stationary and the heater is on in the cab.

Ive been told that it is the crossover pipe that is leaking exhaust.

I'm told that to get to the crossover pipe that the body has to come off for access to change the part. Its in a very awkward place to get to.
My question: Labour is obviously going to be the killer on the cost here, and so I was wondering whether any of you can recommend someone to do the job or know of someone that has done it before and therefore perhaps save me some money on the labour element of the cost to replace the part?
I'm probably going to get a quote from landrover themselves as you would imagine that they would know how to get to the part to replace!
The problem is that the car has done 140,000 miles and is probably only worth £8k at best if its working.
Any info or help much appreciated!
Thanks
Welcome to the forum!
You might like to go onto the "Introduce yourself" section at some point.
Isn't the crossover pipe a part of the exhaust, if so does this mean that the engine has to come out to replace the exhaust?
Not familiar with the engine but I do know that some V8s had a crossover pipe.
Lots of articles on it here:
and @gstuart may be able to help. He'll come on soonish now I have tagged him.

Best of luck!
 
The crossover pipe is a separate part that connects the two exhaust manifolds together, they usually fail in the corrugated flex, either due to the number of heat/cool cycles eventually allowing a crack to start with the harmonic vibration, or occasionally (mainly on manual transmission 2.7TDV6's) because the support bracket wasn't refitted after clutch replacement. Given the age & mileage, I'd say it's just metal fatigue taking it's toll. I'd also say you're better off with a genuine part, there are some ropey bits of tat being sold, usually with a 'Britpart' label on them... you'll also want to replace all the exhaust studs, nuts and gaskets.

 
The body doesn't have to come off, a lot of places want to take the body off to make it easier for themselves at your expense.
We always used to take the transmission out, the whole job is easily do-able in one day by one tech.
Don't worry too much about the fan for now, get the crossover pipe replaced first.
If you want a recommendation, you need to tell us which part of the country you're in.
Hi Graculus

Thanks so much for your info.
This is good to hear that it is do able. I am south of Bedford so fairly central and willing to drive if its going to save some cost!
Noted re the aftermarket parts, i think in this situation it would be good to replace with genuine for peace of mind and longevity.
Any recs on mechanics that might be able to do this for me would be welcomed with open arms!
 
The crossover pipe is a separate part that connects the two exhaust manifolds together, they usually fail in the corrugated flex, either due to the number of heat/cool cycles eventually allowing a crack to start with the harmonic vibration, or occasionally (mainly on manual transmission 2.7TDV6's) because the support bracket wasn't refitted after clutch replacement. Given the age & mileage, I'd say it's just metal fatigue taking it's toll. I'd also say you're better off with a genuine part, there are some ropey bits of tat being sold, usually with a 'Britpart' label on them... you'll also want to replace all the exhaust studs, nuts and gaskets.

after some further investigations i have found that the blowing is coming from the egr pipe from exhaust manifold near the steering column. Do you have any knowledge on whether this can be replaced from the drivers side wheel arch? or is it another gearbox out jon? it looks like you can get to one end but not sure about the exhaust manifold end which is further in by the looks of it?

thanks!
 
From your description, it sounds like the EGR cooler inlet, which is definitely do-able without removal of any major components, it is easier if you release the OS engine mount (and remove the engine cooling fan to prevent damage) and lift the engine slightly on that side. The battery tray on that side also needs to come out. Its a bit of a fiddly job but no more than 3.5 hours from memory.
 
From your description, it sounds like the EGR cooler inlet, which is definitely do-able without removal of any major components, it is easier if you release the OS engine mount (and remove the engine cooling fan to prevent damage) and lift the engine slightly on that side. The battery tray on that side also needs to come out. Its a bit of a fiddly job but no more than 3.5 hours from memory.
It's this bit here. Is that what you mean?
 

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If the description you gave is correct, then yes thats the part - or the gasket between that and the ex. manifold where the leak will be...
 
Other than the sheared off bolt, what was the issue? ex. manifold gasket leaking?
EGR pipe leaking. Bolt snapped when removing resulting in body off job. The metal pipe has a crimped sleeve fitted. Had rotted through at the crimp. Could hear the whoosh from it on drivers side.
 

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That's odd, I've changed a few due to the gasket leaking and being left long enough for a venturi to cut through the face of the pipe, I guess short journeys can lead to condensation build-up in conjunction with NOx which will start the corrosion from the inside out...

you could probably just about get a portable spark eroder in there without lifting the body, but that's next-level s**t!
 
Bit of an update!
Decided to tackle the disco today through the drivers side wheel arch.
managed to get the three heat shields off.
I moved one cable next to the brake line to the side and what looks like a sensor arm. I also disconnected the top end of the steering column and pushed it down out of the way to get a bit more room.
After one hell of a lot of effing and geoffing and extremely fiddly work with 1/4inch drive sockets, extensions, adapters, bent spanners, wd40, I managed to get the egr pipe off and have one coming tomorrow morning to a nearby LR parts place.
I really struggled with the allen head bolt at the back of the egr pipe nearest the valve, but eventually realised that if i undid the other three first, i could then roatate the whole pipe downwards, which gave the extra 5mm needed to get the fine increment socket on the bolt at the top.

The hex bolts on the manifold end required a fair bit of force but both cracked open in the end without breaking. I made sure to keep good pressure on the socket so i didn't round them or put unnecessary stress on the bolts.
Now just have to do the same in reverse but hopefully it shouldn't be quite as tricky!

The part had blown through on the bend just next to/under the crimp piece that holds the insulation type material onto the part.
I believe this is where they tend to go from my research.
Relieved to have made some progress!
 
Well done - welcome to the daily fun of a LR tech.! - I think you'll find the 'allen head bolt' is actually a Torx 30 ;)
Give the bolts a clean up with a wire wheel if you have one, don't be tempted to put copperslip on them though!
Hopefully you also ordered new gaskets, if not, ceramic exhaust paste can be used to seal, but in either case, clean everything thoroughly - Scotchbrite or the non-metallic pan scrubbers are ideal.
 
Well to be honest I was expecting a torx bolt but I'm also certain they were hex socket screws as I wanted to be sure that the bit was a nice snug fit before trying to undo it! I'll double check tomorrow but I did take this photo from my phone so that I could see better before just trying to undo it.
Yep I'm told the gaskets will be coming with the new one!
Thanks for your help it's given me the confidence to have a crack at it and probably saved a few quids if I can put it all back together!
 

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No, you're right - they do look like hex keys! I'm possibly thinking of the 2.7...
You've done the hard part, just don't be tempted to force things, check the fasteners are going in straight and as above, clean, clean, clean... an airline will help get any rust flakes out of the tapped holes and if you need to hold a fastener in a socket, use a small piece of a nitrile glove over the head of the bolt - it'll hold it steady but won't leave your socket on the bolt when you pull the extension away!
A small amount of transmission oil or release spray on the threads will help corroded fasteners go back in without making them 'slippy' enough that you'll be able to overtorque them with time-consuming results....
 
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