Series 3 Leak down test, rebuild, etc

So, the heart and soul of my S3 diesel 88" 1977 is of course suffering from any well-known disease known to a Land Rover that has seen some hardship over the years. It smokes and it drinks oil, and it leaks both here and there, and a reliable Landy mechanic wants to carry out a leak-down test on it because of the smoke screeens that occur every now and then. If the test comes back in the red, the engine will need rebuilding with, I quote, "rebored top, bigger piston heads, etc etc". Can anybody shed some light on what this really means, and if it is a feasible way of solving it?

Never mind the last question, nothing is feasible with an old smoker, but anyway... is it a good idea, or should I simply aim for a new Turner Engineering unit?

The leakdown or a compression test will settle whether it has enough compression or not. After that the head has to come off to see whether its valves, or the bores or more likely both. If the bores are ok - ie no large ridge, then its sump off pistons out and new rings. If there is a ridge then its cylinder block out and rebore plus new pistons and rings to fit. No shortcuts on this as fitting new rings to a worn bore just breaks the rings. See my thread "stuck rings - help" - they weren't stuck, they were al broken because somone had rebuit the engine without reboring the cylinders. (double madness because they had reground the crank and the engine had removable liners - makes no sense).

Turner do a good job but unlikely to have an off the shelf engine. They’ll refurbish it for you.

If its not the orginal engine (ie matching numbers) then one option is to buy another and rebuild that then swap over.

Thanks guys, that clarifies things. As for Turner, I have been in touch with them, and they do have off-the-shelf units if need be. Personally, I am not too fussed about original engine vs original chassis, since the mechanical functionality is my priority. On the other hand, I do see and admire those among us who strive for originality!

How much do they charge for an off the shelf engine? Also does it include the head?

Norrie

Here is the price list. I now notice that they only seem to do customer's own units, at least when it comes to petrol versions. It is slightly unclear regarding diesels, where they do not specifically state that there is a shortage of units... admittedly, it was a while since I talked to them about my engine, so things might have changed since.

£3350 plus vat seems a lot for your own engine £4020

OK its a different engine but I rebuilt my Perkins a few months ago for around £500 inlcuding cock-ups. The Series engine is a simple thing and so long as the main parts are ok (ie no cracked blocks or head) there's a limit to how much you can spend. Those costs are probably 80% labour which is fair as its skilled work, but if you have time you can save a lot.

suburban said:

£3350 plus vat seems a lot for your own engine £4020

Click to expand...

So it would seem, but... if I choose to use Turner, at least I can blame someone else if there is a cockup... and require that they sort any potential issues

I would be surprised if they have an "all you need" off the shelf series engine. Check first