Engine rebuild. Biting off more than I can chew?

Now all the crappy winter weather is out of the way, (hopefully), the Disco is back to being a weekend toy once again as opposed to a daily driver. The MOT and tax have also just expired.

Over the past 12 months it has become increasingly down on power whilst fuel economy also continues to plumit. Added to which the inner front wings which I bodged last winter are now full of holes again......

So, I kinda wondering whether to go the whole hog and get the thing sorted once and for all? A quick flick through The Haynes Book of Bull**** and engine removal doesn't seem as hard as I first thought, given that I will not be under any serious time constrantes. Also engine removal would make the job of welding in new inner front wings easier. So, whilst I have the engine out I suppose I may as well strip it down and re-fresh it? I already have most of the tools that I would need, parts seem pretty cheap and would feel comfortable doing around 90% of the work myself, with the only exceptions being setting up the timing and any wiring / electrical jobs.

Given how the wife will be on her maternaty leave come June and i promised her that I would have 3 months off work, I will need something to keep me busy whilst her parents come over from China to help look after her and the new born.

Am I being nieve(sp?) that this job should technically be reasonably straight forward, or am I likely to open a whole can of worms? Another reason why I want to do this is that I feel it would be perfect practice before embarking on the engine rebuild on the Chim. I know that one might be a 4 cylinder diesel and the other a V8 petrol, but just how different can they actually be?

Right then guys, either shoot me down in flames or fill me with confidance.

well as for disco body work you know what thats like, can of worms usualy gets opend when you find rust.

as for the engine rebuild, if you can afford to scrap your engine (that being the worst case) i say crack on and have a go at it, setting up timeing on a diesel motor not all that hard just pay attention to your manual and away you go.

as for v8 and a 4 cylinder appart from the the ammount of cylinders and the fuel the princible is the same both have camshaft, pushrods, rockers and so on, one of them has a few more.


give it a go and see how you go, dont be shy but also dont be affraid to ask if you dont understand, nothing worse than misunderstanding and doing it wrong.

cheers
baz

How many miles has it done?

I would say if you are decided and you want to rebuild it, pull the head before you do ANYTHING else, the bores will probably still be fine and the majority of the power loss can be found in leaking valves and things, head rebuild is probably as much as you need to do at the moment unless your engine is very high mileage.

It has 191'000 on the clock, but I suspect that it has done a lot more than that.

No air leaks to speak of, boost pressure still fine, (gauge fitted), but it is massively down on power and the fuel consumption is getting steadily worse (350 miles to a tank full). But the funny thing is, it isn't using a drop of oil or coolent.

sure its not an electrical fault, sensor or summat or fuelling issue...theres 300's out there on 250k+ that int bin rebuilt

foss said:

sure its not an electrical fault, sensor or summat or fuelling issue...theres 300's out there on 250k+ that int bin rebuilt

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I've no idea TBH. Best get the multimeter out though.

Unless it is the ECU controlled 300tdi that is fitted, which I doubt it is, then it has NO electrics that have any bearing on how the engine runs.

When did you last drain your sediment bowl and change your fuel filter??

Disco Moneypit said:

It has 191'000 on the clock, but I suspect that it has done a lot more than that.

No air leaks to speak of, boost pressure still fine, (gauge fitted), but it is massively down on power and the fuel consumption is getting steadily worse (350 miles to a tank full). But the funny thing is, it isn't using a drop of oil or coolent.

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Before you start an engine rebuild it actually needs one and not because it has another fault causing the loss of power.

Massive loss of power and high fuel consumption, no oil loss or smoke.

Sounds like a cylinder down or the turbo aint working, start with cracking each of the injectors and see if one of the cylinders is dead. Valve clearances ok, aint bent a push rod.

Droid said:

When did you last drain your sediment bowl and change your fuel filter??

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Around about this time last year, so say just coming up to 12'000 miles ago?

It's due again anytime soon.

david451 said:

Before you start an engine rebuild it actually needs one and not because it has another fault causing the loss of power.

Massive loss of power and high fuel consumption, no oil loss or smoke.

Sounds like a cylinder down or the turbo aint working, start with cracking each of the injectors and see if one of the cylinders is dead. Valve clearances ok, aint bent a push rod.

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Will do. Cheers.