Hi all
Firstly I'd just like to say - LZ, what a great forum. Great people, quality advice, friendly and helpful. Thank you guys, I've come to depend on you over the years! especially over the last few weeks....
So quick bio then, had Land Rovers for coming on 10 years now, pretty 200 and a 300Tdi disco, (now gone) and presently got a 200Tdi 90, V8 RRC Vogue, and a TD5 D2, which I'm about to pour my little heart out all about. I'm not afraid of a spanner or 5 (haynes manual, pah - so what, I've got more than 5 spanners in my toolbox, how difficult can this job be?) as I've done just about any job on a Landy including welding, and am presently building a BMW-based kit car as well as all this.
So, next year I'm getting married, and me and the missus are planning to roof tent around Europe, particularly over the Pyrenees, and take in some awesome sights and a little offroading.
Our 300Tdi disco auto was a lovely machine, but I managed to convince her we ought to upgrade to something a little newer, smoother, and more reliable. (oh, famous last words)
So we spied a 1999 TD5 auto, ES, with 120kmiles on, just up the road in Exeter. Lovely I thought. A snip at £3995, and especially when we beat him down to £3500 for a few niggly little faults. Ideal!
So we went back a week later to collect it, and straight away the problems began. On the drive home (literally had the car about 20mins) when she began to struggle BIG TIME up a fairly gentle hill. Then the alternator light came on. Ideal I thought, fan belt has packed in. oh no, much worse. Then the temp went up and the red light came on. Uh-oh, time to pull over, so ditched it on the side of the A38. In the pitch black, couldn't see anything, except steam, boiled coolant and a shredded belt. Recovered back to Plymouth on the back of a tow truck. (Recovery no.1!)
Upon inspection the next day, I discovered the pulley on the ACE pump had sheared off (pics... will post them). OK, random, not used to this ACE as I've never come across it before. Much reading, much talking to the guys at Brookwells (handy having them close!) and managed to source all the parts - the dealer was fairly OK about it all, and readily handed over £328 via his credit card at brookwells to buy a new ACE pump, fluids, gaskets, pulleys and belt. Right then, so we're onto some lovely TD5 motoring then? no.
After doing all that, I noticed it leaving substantial puddles of PAS fluid everywhere (yes I know, I deliberately put ATF in there for this very reason and not stupidly expensive cold climate amber nectar for a million pounds a gallon, but I defy you to tell the difference) and thus discovered that the rear ACE pipes were shot through with rust. Hence the system run dry, and hence the pulley sheared off. Ah, I understand now. Perhaps this will be the end of the problems? not a chance. £200 for some ACE pipes later, and the dealer refusing to pay for them... but hey ho, stil a cheap TD5 eh. Well, it was at this point.
So then a week after doing all this, I takes her out for a gentle spin up the A38 for some diesel. At 50mph with the cruise on, suddenly the oil light comes on, and a massive belch of oily smoggy gas hit the rear window. Once again, and this time fearing the worst, ditched it on the side of the road. This time, called the missus as I was closer to home (and not sure if the AA limit your recoveries) went back and got my 90, dragged it back to the workshop. (2nd recovery!) Upon closer inspection, found the turbo was exhibiting some substantial play... e.g. you could pick the rotor up and wiggle it a good 4-5mm... one dead turbo. *sigh*. £450 later for the guys at turbocentreuk (excellent people, really helpful) I had a fully remanufactured unit posted back to me within 24hrs. Great service, good product. So, fitted that (dealer stopped returning my calls shortly after this point) and all seemed well. Oh, to add a bit - I also took the sump off and replaced the oil bolt - I (wrongly) assumed that the low oil pressure was pointing towards that bolt snapping...
THEN... next weekend, went for a short drive, all seemed well; so took it up to the workshop, to address yet another of its problems (bonnet cable snapped, oh how I love this car) and noticed it was leaving great puddles of diesel everywhere. And not just a little bit, a fair old slick every couple of yards. Once again, trudged back to brookwells and sourced an FPR (gen. LR, £130) - once again, all the write ups give it that remedy for the symptoms visible. Only this time, didn't cure it. And within hours it got much, much worse. Once I cleaned the block off I found it wasn't leaking from the FPR, but bubbling out of the dipstick tube. And when I took the tube off, it was spitting diesel out of the dipstick. So I put the dipstick back in, and after having just done an oil change for the new turbo, was horrified to find there wasn't any oil in the sump, but it was halfway up the dipstick tube with diesel
The swear words that were uttered at this point... I didn't know I knew language so colourful!!
So back on the forums, desperately searching. Chatted to some D2 owners on PORC and people I knew - all pointed towards the injector seals.
So I set about changing the seals. Genuine LR seals, in case britpart rubber quality was less, but britpart copper washers, because a copper washer is after all, a copper washer, and the difference in price was ridiculous.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, someone had had the injector rocker shaft off before, and, I presume, hadn't been introduced to a torque wrench before; hence 3 of the 6 bolts were so tight they snapped off with a 1/4" ratchet trying to undo them. Marvellous.
At this point I was about overhaul the car with a can of petrol and a box of matches... but I resisted that urge and soldiered on...
What worried me, when I got the injectors out, the o-rings looked OK - no splits, tears, rubber still pliant etc. Guess it wouldn't be too far a stretch to assume it'd had a head gasket once before (lots of spanner rash on the bolts, and weird red paint dots presumably to indicated "tightened" although without a torque wrench, who knows how tight?)
Then managed to salvage the ally threads, with a clever tool made by the boys in the machine shop (thanks boys, tin of biscuits is not enough for the grief you have saved me!) basically a guide to keep an M8 tapping drill super straight and drill out the snapped bolts, and then some extra extra looooong M8 taps. New seals, untwisted and helped in with a bit of vaseline, and re-fitted.
Great thing is, it started first time on the key. (after the obligatory run the electric fuel pump for 5mins whilst having a cuppa) and actually started easier than before. I took the breathers off with the engine running, and it didn't seem to "breath" as heavily... hopefully an indication that the crankcase pressure was indeed too high before thanks to 4bar diesel being forced into the crankcase, and now no oil being spat out of the dipstick tube.
I did realise at this point that I'd actually got a bit keen and overfilled the oil upon the rebuild - overegged it too much for the filter. Thus I tried to let a bit out. Have you ever let a bit out? Not an easy task. Try screwing a sump plug back in when oil is p****ing out at full pressure. Suffice it to say, I got an oily shower that day!
So, dear friends, that takes us up to today. I took the car to work this morning, and after beign parked for 4 hours... 2 massive rainbow puddles underneath However, they were in a different position this time, front and nearside of the vehicle, I'm hoping that was just the residue that showered both myself and the underside of the chassis. moved it at lunchtime 6 ft back, and after another 4 hrs, no leaks this time . I did take the opportunity to borrow the works clever-gadgety-oily-sucky-thing (that's it's proper title) as the oil level was still too high, wanted to get it just on the full notch so I can properly monitor it.
Good news is that so far the oil doesn't smell of diesel, I've taken a sample of it, and on the dipstick because it's brand spanking new oil (5W30 at that) It's runny and difficult to see. But when it cooled, the little jar of oil on my desk got a bit thicker and blacker, hopefully no diesel...
The worrying thing is, if this hasn't sorted it, the only thing that's left is a cracked head. And the missus, through all of this, has been quite patient and understanding... but if any more money has to be thrown at this car, she might throw me instead! Unfortunately due to time and money the kit car has basically been put on hold, and if I see that car in my workshop one more time I might just flip out :bowl:
So the plan now is to just gently put some miles on it. Monitor the fuel economy, oil level/colour, and drips/smells and leaks.
And if all that goes to plan, we can then start looking into the other "usual" problems including occasional sluggish/loss of power (MAF? EGR?) faulty back door, annoying heat shield rattling under passenger, and sorting out how to play music (WTF is a "cassette player" :lol
Thanks for reading!!
Firstly I'd just like to say - LZ, what a great forum. Great people, quality advice, friendly and helpful. Thank you guys, I've come to depend on you over the years! especially over the last few weeks....
So quick bio then, had Land Rovers for coming on 10 years now, pretty 200 and a 300Tdi disco, (now gone) and presently got a 200Tdi 90, V8 RRC Vogue, and a TD5 D2, which I'm about to pour my little heart out all about. I'm not afraid of a spanner or 5 (haynes manual, pah - so what, I've got more than 5 spanners in my toolbox, how difficult can this job be?) as I've done just about any job on a Landy including welding, and am presently building a BMW-based kit car as well as all this.
So, next year I'm getting married, and me and the missus are planning to roof tent around Europe, particularly over the Pyrenees, and take in some awesome sights and a little offroading.
Our 300Tdi disco auto was a lovely machine, but I managed to convince her we ought to upgrade to something a little newer, smoother, and more reliable. (oh, famous last words)
So we spied a 1999 TD5 auto, ES, with 120kmiles on, just up the road in Exeter. Lovely I thought. A snip at £3995, and especially when we beat him down to £3500 for a few niggly little faults. Ideal!
So we went back a week later to collect it, and straight away the problems began. On the drive home (literally had the car about 20mins) when she began to struggle BIG TIME up a fairly gentle hill. Then the alternator light came on. Ideal I thought, fan belt has packed in. oh no, much worse. Then the temp went up and the red light came on. Uh-oh, time to pull over, so ditched it on the side of the A38. In the pitch black, couldn't see anything, except steam, boiled coolant and a shredded belt. Recovered back to Plymouth on the back of a tow truck. (Recovery no.1!)
Upon inspection the next day, I discovered the pulley on the ACE pump had sheared off (pics... will post them). OK, random, not used to this ACE as I've never come across it before. Much reading, much talking to the guys at Brookwells (handy having them close!) and managed to source all the parts - the dealer was fairly OK about it all, and readily handed over £328 via his credit card at brookwells to buy a new ACE pump, fluids, gaskets, pulleys and belt. Right then, so we're onto some lovely TD5 motoring then? no.
After doing all that, I noticed it leaving substantial puddles of PAS fluid everywhere (yes I know, I deliberately put ATF in there for this very reason and not stupidly expensive cold climate amber nectar for a million pounds a gallon, but I defy you to tell the difference) and thus discovered that the rear ACE pipes were shot through with rust. Hence the system run dry, and hence the pulley sheared off. Ah, I understand now. Perhaps this will be the end of the problems? not a chance. £200 for some ACE pipes later, and the dealer refusing to pay for them... but hey ho, stil a cheap TD5 eh. Well, it was at this point.
So then a week after doing all this, I takes her out for a gentle spin up the A38 for some diesel. At 50mph with the cruise on, suddenly the oil light comes on, and a massive belch of oily smoggy gas hit the rear window. Once again, and this time fearing the worst, ditched it on the side of the road. This time, called the missus as I was closer to home (and not sure if the AA limit your recoveries) went back and got my 90, dragged it back to the workshop. (2nd recovery!) Upon closer inspection, found the turbo was exhibiting some substantial play... e.g. you could pick the rotor up and wiggle it a good 4-5mm... one dead turbo. *sigh*. £450 later for the guys at turbocentreuk (excellent people, really helpful) I had a fully remanufactured unit posted back to me within 24hrs. Great service, good product. So, fitted that (dealer stopped returning my calls shortly after this point) and all seemed well. Oh, to add a bit - I also took the sump off and replaced the oil bolt - I (wrongly) assumed that the low oil pressure was pointing towards that bolt snapping...
THEN... next weekend, went for a short drive, all seemed well; so took it up to the workshop, to address yet another of its problems (bonnet cable snapped, oh how I love this car) and noticed it was leaving great puddles of diesel everywhere. And not just a little bit, a fair old slick every couple of yards. Once again, trudged back to brookwells and sourced an FPR (gen. LR, £130) - once again, all the write ups give it that remedy for the symptoms visible. Only this time, didn't cure it. And within hours it got much, much worse. Once I cleaned the block off I found it wasn't leaking from the FPR, but bubbling out of the dipstick tube. And when I took the tube off, it was spitting diesel out of the dipstick. So I put the dipstick back in, and after having just done an oil change for the new turbo, was horrified to find there wasn't any oil in the sump, but it was halfway up the dipstick tube with diesel
The swear words that were uttered at this point... I didn't know I knew language so colourful!!
So back on the forums, desperately searching. Chatted to some D2 owners on PORC and people I knew - all pointed towards the injector seals.
So I set about changing the seals. Genuine LR seals, in case britpart rubber quality was less, but britpart copper washers, because a copper washer is after all, a copper washer, and the difference in price was ridiculous.
Oh, and to add insult to injury, someone had had the injector rocker shaft off before, and, I presume, hadn't been introduced to a torque wrench before; hence 3 of the 6 bolts were so tight they snapped off with a 1/4" ratchet trying to undo them. Marvellous.
At this point I was about overhaul the car with a can of petrol and a box of matches... but I resisted that urge and soldiered on...
What worried me, when I got the injectors out, the o-rings looked OK - no splits, tears, rubber still pliant etc. Guess it wouldn't be too far a stretch to assume it'd had a head gasket once before (lots of spanner rash on the bolts, and weird red paint dots presumably to indicated "tightened" although without a torque wrench, who knows how tight?)
Then managed to salvage the ally threads, with a clever tool made by the boys in the machine shop (thanks boys, tin of biscuits is not enough for the grief you have saved me!) basically a guide to keep an M8 tapping drill super straight and drill out the snapped bolts, and then some extra extra looooong M8 taps. New seals, untwisted and helped in with a bit of vaseline, and re-fitted.
Great thing is, it started first time on the key. (after the obligatory run the electric fuel pump for 5mins whilst having a cuppa) and actually started easier than before. I took the breathers off with the engine running, and it didn't seem to "breath" as heavily... hopefully an indication that the crankcase pressure was indeed too high before thanks to 4bar diesel being forced into the crankcase, and now no oil being spat out of the dipstick tube.
I did realise at this point that I'd actually got a bit keen and overfilled the oil upon the rebuild - overegged it too much for the filter. Thus I tried to let a bit out. Have you ever let a bit out? Not an easy task. Try screwing a sump plug back in when oil is p****ing out at full pressure. Suffice it to say, I got an oily shower that day!
So, dear friends, that takes us up to today. I took the car to work this morning, and after beign parked for 4 hours... 2 massive rainbow puddles underneath
However, they were in a different position this time, front and nearside of the vehicle, I'm hoping that was just the residue that showered both myself and the underside of the chassis. moved it at lunchtime 6 ft back, and after another 4 hrs, no leaks this time . I did take the opportunity to borrow the works clever-gadgety-oily-sucky-thing (that's it's proper title) as the oil level was still too high, wanted to get it just on the full notch so I can properly monitor it.Good news is that so far the oil doesn't smell of diesel, I've taken a sample of it, and on the dipstick because it's brand spanking new oil (5W30 at that) It's runny and difficult to see. But when it cooled, the little jar of oil on my desk got a bit thicker and blacker, hopefully no diesel...
The worrying thing is, if this hasn't sorted it, the only thing that's left is a cracked head. And the missus, through all of this, has been quite patient and understanding... but if any more money has to be thrown at this car, she might throw me instead! Unfortunately due to time and money the kit car has basically been put on hold, and if I see that car in my workshop one more time I might just flip out :bowl:
So the plan now is to just gently put some miles on it. Monitor the fuel economy, oil level/colour, and drips/smells and leaks.
And if all that goes to plan, we can then start looking into the other "usual" problems including occasional sluggish/loss of power (MAF? EGR?) faulty back door, annoying heat shield rattling under passenger, and sorting out how to play music (WTF is a "cassette player" :lol
Thanks for reading!!
