Gren_T Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) Traveling at 60mph on the motorway and my 300tdi auto lost power with a rattling noise and the engine dies and will not restart. 4hours later I got recovered home at 01:30, so next day I have a look and find the lift pump not pumping so order a new pump and waited eagerly for it to arrive. It arrived today and 30mins later pump fitted and bled but will not start, engine turns over tries to start and then seems to stop dead. Hmm the timing is good with the timing pins slipping into place so its not jumped a tooth. I pulled the rocker cover and found this: It looks like the valve spring cap snapped and the valve dropped into the cylinder and got hit by the piston which has snapped the head off the valve, the shaft pulled out but I'll have to strip the head to see the damage. It looks like I'm missing some valve caps so going to have to pull the sump to retrieve the remains and find the valve collets, still it will allow me to remove the abortion of a drain plug the previous owner of this engine put in the sump.. Poxy landrovers, I should have bought a toyota Edited October 23, 2021 by Gren_T grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverik Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 First off, what a pile of carp, sorry to see that, that's super bad luck. Can't say I've ever seen a valve spring retainer just split in half like that before, not a comman failure on a 300tdi, it is common to find the valve stem caps missing, apparently there was a bad batch from land rover and I've seen and read of a fair few 300's where they break up and fall into the sump. Fingers crossed the broken valve has stayed roughly where it should have and it hasn't done too much damage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Not good. But it could have been worse.. Hopefully no further damage was done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cackshifter Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Commiserations on that. I'd check the turbo is ok too my 90 had that happen and it needed con rod, piston and turbo. When you get to replace the valve caps, I believe Turner's sell the MWM ones which were correctly hardened. It'll still be cheaper to repair than a Toyota. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkie Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 That's rotten luck. I second the above for parts from Turner Engineering.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Don't think I've ever seen a valve cap break like that, hope the internal damage isn't to bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eightpot Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Toyotas still break after quarter of a century - bet you can't get a new valve & head gasket for 20 quid on a cruiser though.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren_T Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) This engine has been a nightmare, in the 14 months I've had it fitted I've replaced the following; New front cover as all 4 of the fan pulley flange threaded holes were ether cracked or missing; New top heater pipe; New top hose elbow both because originals were badly corroded, new water pump as original was noisy when spun - I found these issues as I was checking the engine over before fitting it. Since fitting it I have replaced the following : New PS pump; New fuel lift pump - the original was blocked with reeds and grit on the screen..WTF.!; New injection pump - also had grit in it..!!; New injectors & finally what I hoped was the final insult, 2 weeks ago I replaced the turbo as the wastegate valve had sized and someone had welded up the valve port in the back of the manifold/turbo housing, this engine was an eBay "recently rebuilt with very low miles engine." never again..!! I've now got to get it on the drive and shift my garage around in case the engine has to come out and sods law the weather will get worse lol. Cheers..! Edited October 25, 2021 by Gren_T 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mossberg Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 Oh wow, that is awful. I hope you don't have any further bad luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snagger Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 Well, if the head fell off the valve, I think you’ll find a lot of damage to the head, bore and piston.  It could even damage the con rod and crank shaft.  I suspect that engine is barely rebuildable, but I hope to be proven wrong.  Fingers crossed for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gren_T Posted November 3, 2021 Author Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) Well I had some time on the weekend to pull the head...not good.! 😞 It looks like the engine has had a previous nasty as there are old witness marks on piston 4 and some serious knicks on a couple of the pushrods. So it looks like I'm into a rebuild.. 😞 as long as the bores and crankshaft are not damaged  Edited November 3, 2021 by Gren_T Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arjan Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Oh dear....... Time for some serious work ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smallfry Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 If the valve caps "fell off" in service, surely the valve train would have made a hell of a racket, as the clearances would be huge ? Like has been said, I have never seen a valve spring cap break like that before, not in anything. Pulled through with high lift cam and stupid high spring pressure maybe, but not broken in half. I will bet they are sintered metal and not steel. Probably been hammered to get the valves out of the head, instead of using a spring compressor. To be fair to the vehicle, looks like a lot of the problems you have had are down to serious bodgery by whoever rebuilt (which means taken apart and put back together) the engine. Probably a forum member here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 A very poorly engine, big rebuild with lots of new parts required Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Ouch  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mo Murphy Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 Christ ! Recently rebuilt, my arse ! Good luck with that Gren ! Mo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglie Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 Hi Gren,  Really sorry to read this tale of woe. But just wanted to let you know that I'm about to be selling my 12J, which would I believe give you a solid basis to use for a rebuild if yours is too badly knackered. Or you could just use it as is (I have the correct transfer box and gearbox as well) in which case I'll service it properly before taking it out... Cheers, Simon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
landroversforever Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 3 hours ago, Junglie said: Hi Gren,  Really sorry to read this tale of woe. But just wanted to let you know that I'm about to be selling my 12J, which would I believe give you a solid basis to use for a rebuild if yours is too badly knackered. Or you could just use it as is (I have the correct transfer box and gearbox as well) in which case I'll service it properly before taking it out... Cheers, Simon Gren's is a 300 tdi sadly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Junglie Posted November 22, 2021 Share Posted November 22, 2021 10 hours ago, landroversforever said: Gren's is a 300 tdi sadly. I thought the bottom ends were the same? I guess every day's a school day. Thanks for the info and sorry, Gren, for the false hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
western Posted November 23, 2021 Share Posted November 23, 2021 Not much if any parts in a 300tdi are same as 200tdi or older engines Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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