Timing Chain???

Hi all.
I've done a search but can't find anything that answers my question, so I'm hoping one of you can!

i have a 2000 4.6 vogue, with LPG conversion. We've had it just over 12 months, and have come across just about every one of the 'common faults'.

It broke down on me today. Driving along and it just all stopped and cut out. When trying to restart it, it was turning over but not kicking in. RAC checked electrics and sparks, and all working fine. It's been towed to the garage we use, and without looking at it too much he reckons it's the timing chain. Has anyone come across this before? Any ideas? Does the timing chain mean the end of the car?

Many thanks.

Is the fuel getting through? Timing chain failure isn't very common and you would hear something mechanical clanking to say the least when being turned over. I take it Mr RAC towed you in or just left you high and dry.

They towed me in.
RAC said it sounded like a fuel problem, but as it was running on gas when it stopped, it couldn't have been. It made a noise as it cut out, but I wouldn't call it a 'clunk'.

When it's turning over, it's like it's not getting the spark. ETA it's almost like it's coughing as it turns over, rather than jumping into life. We had a new battery about a month ago.

I'm not very mechanical, as you can probably tell, but i've learnt a lot since owning the RR

I had a timing chain go on a rover diesel a few years back.
All I can say is "stop turning it over" Repeatedly cranking mine eventually broke one of the cam shaft clamps - and _that_ was the end of the engine :-(

"Without looking at the car he reckons it's the timing chain"?
What sort of mechanic is he?

Timing chain failures are extremely rare on these. They're not like cam belts - they usually give a lot of warning before they eventually go.

You could confirm whether it is or not easily by doing a compression test. or your mechanic could if he could be bothered.

Guy

Sorry - I should have explained a bit better. He's been looking after our cars for years. He took the car in off the tow truck, and had a quick look as he's very busy, and took it in for us rather than us have it sat on our drive going nowhere.

What kind of warning signs are there?
The car's been running pretty sweet, with very quick change over to gas (I've been told that this can be a warning sign that other things aren't right if it's taking time to switch over).

If it's fixable, it's going now. We've had enough of monthly garage bills now. It's cost us nearly the purchase price again in repairs in 12 months.

Shame, as I absolutely love it.

At the very least I would expect it to have become noisy.

If it was worn enough to break then I would expect the idle to be very uneven too.

Generally speaking, I would be surprised if the engine turned over if the chain had broken as you would most probably be hitting a valve with a piston.

So hopefully it's something a lot more straightforward like a coil pack or something.

Guy

If it has then you may get away with timing chain and several push rods on a v8

Thanks everyone - it's definitely sounding more hopeful judging by your replies.
Out of interest, are we exceptionally unlucky with this beast? Or does everyone else who owns a P38 seem to spend more time without it than with it?

In 12 months we've had the power band (power steering pump???), Air con pump, dreaded head gaskets, radiator, water pump, full hose replacement, suspension hard fault, new battery, as well as the normal servicing.
We bought it with full service history, and it had been looked after to the letter. Unlucky??? or the norm with a P38???

jlowe1975 said:

Thanks everyone - it's definitely sounding more hopeful judging by your replies.
Out of interest, are we exceptionally unlucky with this beast? Or does everyone else who owns a P38 seem to spend more time without it than with it?

In 12 months we've had the power band (power steering pump???), Air con pump, dreaded head gaskets, radiator, water pump, full hose replacement, suspension hard fault, new battery, as well as the normal servicing.
We bought it with full service history, and it had been looked after to the letter. Unlucky??? or the norm with a P38???

Click to expand...

Normal:doh:

Oh...

p38 normally fall to peices

Thanks everyone.

Timing chain had come off due to a valve problem (? - I'm just a girl )

He's got it driveable, so we'll see what we get for it.

Any takers?

Thought it was easier to bump my original thread, but I'm after some advice.
We got the car back out of the garage - the timing chain had snapped.

It's running, but like a bag of sh*te. When it switches over to LPG, it runs much better, and you barely notice a problem (we're not using it, btw, that was just getting it home).

Apparently, the timing chain snapping has caused 2 valves to bend, so it is misfiring.

We've just been discussing what to do with it, and my husband wants to explore the possibility of fixing it.

Obviously there are a few things to consider first, so I thought I'd ask you guys, who seem to have come across every conceivable RR problem!!!

The heads were done just before Christmas (no slipped liner, thank God). Is it possible that this may have caused the current problem? Might the timing have been knocked out at that point, eventually putting enough pressure on the chain to snap it?
Also, has anyone come across this problem before? What's it like to fix/ get fixed?

I'd appreciate ANY advice you may have (short of a box of matches). My husband is much more mechanically minded, so you don't have to keep it to simple girl speak!!! He's just not so great at forum typing!
As a reminder, it's a 2000 P38 Vogue, 4.6, LPG.
Many thanks.

thats a thor engine you have, its not such a big job to do valves, or are you looking at a engine change?

I *think* we're just looking at doing the valves.

The choice was to sell it as it is, which is basically worth next to nothing, or fix it to try to get a better price for selling.

if you not doing it your self, and are looking for a good none rip off garage, send me a pm. j

Have done - thanks.