Engine flush yes or no ????

We have a defender with the 300tdi from a Discovery in, so unsure of the accurate mileage of the engine, and its service history (easily over 100k miles though).
I am just about to give it an oil and filter change (and drop the sump to try and re-seal it), and was wondering peoples views on running some engine flush in it before the change.
Am I just going to block things up internally, or cause it to let oil past the rings, etc?

Thanks

Andy

If you are unsure of the motors history then a cam belt change is most important.
If you have an oil leak around the back of the sump but not out of the clutch bell housing drain hole then the problem may be with the T seals in the main bearing block at the rear of motor. Just resealing the sump will not fix this problem.

tottot said:

If you are unsure of the motors history then a cam belt change is most important.
If you have an oil leak around the back of the sump but not out of the clutch bell housing drain hole then the problem may be with the T seals in the main bearing block at the rear of motor. Just resealing the sump will not fix this problem.

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Thanks for that. I shall degrease around the area so I can see where the drips are coming from. You may have saved me a job!!
You are spot on regarding the cambelt change. I'll look into what parts I need to get hold of for when I have some more time.

Order discovery parts and not defender parts as they are different, at least the 200tdi parts are.

I did an engine flush on my old Honda HRV last year, changed the oil and filter and had plumes of oil out of the exhaust, ended up doing piston rings and stem seals.

UKAndyB said:

We have a defender with the 300tdi from a Discovery in, so unsure of the accurate mileage of the engine, and its service history (easily over 100k miles though).
I am just about to give it an oil and filter change (and drop the sump to try and re-seal it), and was wondering peoples views on running some engine flush in it before the change.
Am I just going to block things up internally, or cause it to let oil past the rings, etc?

Thanks

Andy

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Complete waste of time and money. If in severe doubt, change as normal, run it about 1k, and then change again as normal. Otherwise, just use the right oil and filter.

ivancrx said:

I did an engine flush on my old Honda HRV last year, changed the oil and filter and had plumes of oil out of the exhaust, ended up doing piston rings and stem seals.

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Which brand flush did you use

Ive always said no and wouldnt use it on my cars, but we did have one very large customer at work who reqd a flush before each oil change as they had so many engines expire, but the reason they all died was down to oil change intervals being way way to long, do as said above change it and drain after 1k then back to the normal 5/6k interval.

Gmacz said:

Order discovery parts and not defender parts as they are different, at least the 200tdi parts are.

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I think a 300 is a 300 regardless of what car it came from.

I use it on mine - no ill effects. Its worth taking the oil cooler pipes off and flushing that independently - I had lots of sludge in there....

Discodevon said:

Which brand flush did you use

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Wynns

I use flush in my cars, but not the Defender....any muck in there is likely sealing leaks !

Never ever use an engine flush...........car manufacturers actually forbid it...........the higher the mileage the worse the effects of useing can be

Spent a while today degreasing and jet washing the area at the back of the sump (where the engine connects to the bellhousing) to remove old traces of gunge. Looks like the sump has been off in the past, and the leak is coming from the sump to block.

NOT going to flush it before dropping the oil and removing the sump tomorrow. I should have started draining it this evening to be honest to save some time.
The area cleaned up better than I thought it would. As soon as the job is done, I'll spray a little something over the area to stop rust, etc.
Thanks for your input people.
Andy

I put a 300tdi in my 110, it came out of a Discovery that had been used around a fishing lake for five years and had not had an oil change in this period. Apart from changing the timing belt I just dropped the sump to make sure there weren't any horror stories in there.
As a precaution I did an early oil change after a few weeks, which is a bit like a flushing oil, but I have never really trusted proper flushing oil its self and I'm dubious regarding the amount of crud it can shift for the short time flushing oil is in an engine.
I think that as long as the oil strainer in the sump is clean and clear of sludge and the oil feed pipe to the turbo is clear, you are half way there.

Job completed today.
Warmed up engine, dropped oil, undone sump bolts, sump fell straight off!! The face sealing product was was not bonding sump to block AT ALL, and there was I expecting to bash with soft hammers and blocks of wood to split them! There was the slightest hint of instant rubber gasket in places though, so suspect sump has been incorrectly fitted in the past.
Sump was very clean with nothing horrible inside, VERY good condition to be honest.. Oil was not sludgy, no horrible mess looking up into the block. Well chuffed.
Cleaned to mating surfaces well, and applied some sealant as per instructions. Changed the oil filter, annealed the sump plug washer, fitted sump plug, topped the oil, and ran it up.
Didnt have time to run up to full temp, but hopefully do it in a few days.
Looking at the state of things, I didnt need to do a flush on it anyways.
Thanks for th input though people.

Andy

UKAndyB said:

The face sealing product was was not bonding sump to block AT ALL,

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Was there a full rubber gasket in there?


Cheers

neilly said:

Was there a full rubber gasket in there?

Cheers

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The 300tdi does not have a gasket between the sump and the block.
Andy

UKAndyB said:

The 300tdi does not have a gasket between the sump and the block.
Andy

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I am aware it is not std to have one fitted, I was asking if yours had one fitted? as a heath robinson affair, as you said there was a hint of instant gasket..... If no gasket, was it leaking?

Cheers

neilly said:

I am aware it is not std to have one fitted, I was asking if yours had one fitted? as a heath robinson affair, as you said there was a hint of instant gasket..... If no gasket, was it leaking?

Cheers

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Ahh, sorry.
I had a slight leak (enough to mess our block paved drive a little) from the area by the bellhousing (as per earlier photos).
It looked like there was the remains of the the old sealant material which was hard and brittle as I was chipping/scraping it off, and when I was degreasing the block surface, noticed small areas of 'rubber' type material sticking mainly to the front aluminium section.