My frustration is that i did all the preventative maintenance possible. As soon as i got it replaced :
Radiator
Coolant
Brake pipes
brake disks
anti roll bar links
prop shaft uj
new stainless exhaust as middle & back boxes getting a little rusty & corroded
oil / filter change every 5k (had 2 services in the last 7 months) My guy only uses genuine oem parts.
it had a replacement genuine LR engine by the previous owner. Seems the engines are fickle to say the least.
 
My frustration is that i did all the preventative maintenance possible
Click to expand...

Welcome to Landrover ...

The non 3.5 V8's are not a good unit unless significant money is spent and even then there are no guarantees. The last one I had was a stage 3 4.6 - cost over £3500 to build and did only 2000 miles before it dropped a valve.

Only problem I ever had with my old 3.5 unit was bent pushrods and failed lifters.
 
Where did you get the stage 3 from? Just been looking at V8 Developments. Did you get warranty on it?
 
I did most of the assembly myself but all parts were sourced from RPi Engineering.

Warranty extended to replacement parts only, the piston, liner and cylinder head were all foobar and they covered only the head, warranty did not cover the time and hassle to fix which I didn't do.

If you plan to do any major works a top hat block is mandatory with these engines .... mega bucks !!
 
BenKenobi said:
Welcome to Landrover ...

The non 3.5 V8's are not a good unit unless significant money is spent and even then there are no guarantees. The last one I had was a stage 3 4.6 - cost over £3500 to build and did only 2000 miles before it dropped a valve.

Only problem I ever had with my old 3.5 unit was bent pushrods and failed lifters.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I had a 3.5 Classic and it was a great car, I swear the engine in those will out live the car itself! Anything built since then is more of a case of 'when' the engine goes wrong rather than 'if'. Sort of like a ticking time bomb. I know some make it to 200k without issue whereas others don't get to 100k. It's the Land Rover lottery I guess :)
 
mines done 125k now, found out from the service records it had done 28k of those in the first year!
 
mines just hit 117k but from the patchy service history i guess the new engine went in at around 56k (when LPG conversion was done). So much for the 'last off the production line will be the best' philosophy :(
 
OK, so just spoken to my mechanic. HG split between 2 cylinders around bolts. Looks like a liner has dropped - about .5mm but he says it doesnt seem to have been moving - a bit of carbon build up & no evidence of water getting in. Head needs skimming as there is a burn indent. His advice is to build it back - the worst case is it might in time blow another gasket! The rest of the engine he said is in really good shape. Time to ponder my options :
a) look for a top hat linered block for future
or
b) Having spent the best part of £1600 over the last 7 months should i spend another 3k on a new block????
:confused::confused::confused::confused:
 
I have seen a top hat bare block at £1600 or so.

Questions for me would be

a) how much confidence do I have in the engines reliability
b) am I prepared to spend twice in order to save once

unless repaired 100% it will happen again - why not do the work yourself it isn't rocket science and could be fun for you. All you need is a decent engineering shop that can top hat liner your block then the issues are gone forever. Just make sure you put things back where they come from in terms of pistons and bearings.

I would say install head studs too (which I did on the stage 3) - no more angle torquing and stripping threads in blocks and no more cracking the block, but then you will struggle to get the heads off without pulling the engine.

If it makes you feel any better my current spend on the Disco in the last 2 months has been £2700
 
Hi Ben,

My heads all over the place right now. I was just starting to trust my p38 after all the horror stories on here & i know i will have no confidence now & will be waiting for the head to go again.
Do i go for an L322 although without getting finance i'd be looking at spending £12k - could end up with another dog.
The only thing to restore my confidence now would be a top hat block. The thought of doing it myself is a bit scary though - with all the LPG kit it's hard enough getting your hands into the bay. With this kind of spend on a car worth 5K it would have to be a keeper for sure....not that i mind that...i do love the p38
 
Everything that you have never done is scary at first, just be methodical in your approach, a good tip is lots and lots of pictures as you do things - for your own reference, can't have enough pictures. You will learn a massive amount about what is under your right foot.

If you don't do the work yourself a top hat block properly cross bolted and done and fitted by A.N Other is going to cost the better part of £3000 .... either way to do a top hat if you buy the block only already done you are looking at £2000, I think the engineering on your block would cost around £800 but once done a top hat will suffer none of the 'standard' issues.

Your problem now is the money you will get for your P38 in it's current state, to get it done right the block needs sorting, if a liner has moved then the chances are there is a crack under there don't be tempted to simply skim the heads and bolt 'em back on - won't work - trust me been there got the scars. You spend the money and you know that no matter what the engine is good, but there is a lot more to a car than that, it depends how good the rest of the car is and only you know that. You are also dead right that you could buy a dog very easily, I've found that the kind of people buy these cars new care very little about the car, more about appearance and do the absolute minimum when it comes to maintenance - if they do any. The good thing at the moment is that it is a buyers market, especially if you have the cash in your pocket I reckon you could get a pretty good low mileage L322 HSE for less than £10,000 now.

Talking from my perspective here of course the choices are yours ultimately.
 
martynv8 said:
OK, so just spoken to my mechanic. HG split between 2 cylinders around bolts. Looks like a liner has dropped - about .5mm but he says it doesnt seem to have been moving - a bit of carbon build up & no evidence of water getting in. Head needs skimming as there is a burn indent. His advice is to build it back - the worst case is it might in time blow another gasket! The rest of the engine he said is in really good shape. Time to ponder my options :
a) look for a top hat linered block for future
or
b) Having spent the best part of £1600 over the last 7 months should i spend another 3k on a new block????
:confused::confused::confused::confused:
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, and as I stated in an earlier post I've been there before so feel your pain.

I do wonder what I'd do if I was in the same situtation with my p38. To be honest, even after fixing it with top hat liners it won't really be worth any more money when you come to sell. Personally, I'd bung some K-Seal in it, run it till it eventually goes and then source a second hand engine off ebay (but one you can see running and 'block test' the coolant). I don't think I could spend thousands on a car that really isn't worth very much in the first place.
 
Just to give you an idea I have my heads and block in the machine shop having a liner replaced and the heads skimmed will then rebuild it and run it till it stops. I have a cracked liner and a gouge out of the liner which is baffling as when I withdrew the piston expecting to see a ring in bits all was good so still no wiser where it came from. Incidently slipped liners dont cause over heating it is the other way round usually orings letting by or cap on expansion tank in effective one it gets hot then thats where the problems come from and cracks are often caused by over oiling the head bolts before putting them in. I went off and drove a L322 and even a 535d BMW as a replacement but couldnt see what I was getting for my money compared to 500 quid to rebuild the engine - my advice do it yourself if you have time its fun not too difficult and when you start it you will smile every time.oh and I have done over 100k in mine
 
Hey guys.

After some thought i've decided to get the engine put back together. I'll run it for a while & see what i want to do. My gut instinct is if the HG fails again i'll go get a top hat block. I've invested too much in sorting out other things together with upgrades to get rid now - when it was running well it's pure pleasure. Plus i still cant get with the interior on the L322. Will also give me some time to figure out if i can do this myself.
 
Just for info if you speak to Joe at Emmotts he was going to do a rebuilt engine for about 1200 quid maybe 1300 sorry cant remember but it was a sound deal worth remembering good luck
 
Just looking at V8 Developments for short engines - standard block £1650 or a performance block for £1900 (£300 off for return of my block). I'm thinking if i'm going to spend this sort of cash i might as well get better performance. Would be interested to hear from anyone who's had a block from these guys & whether the performance block is worth it.

cheers
 
Yep, it's a top hat short engine (I wouldn't trust anything else right now). Is the RPI just the block?
 
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