LR Disco 4 - Engine removal

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Sun 19 Mar 2023 19:43
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - kiss (keep it simple)

Here's a great video of a German DIY couple taking a broken engine out of a Discovery.

Their channel is one of my favourites,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmRjeeAW9E

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Sun 19 Mar 2023 20:16
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - Metropolis.
Great channel.

I have not had a chance to watch the video yet, but it amazes me that this Ford/PSA engine, which I think LR always bought in from Ford rather than producing under licence, from late 2004 all the way through to at least 2017, never had the issue of snapping crank fixed.

In 2018 (ish) and Ford redesigned it for use in their own F-150 pickup truck, calling it a Powerstroke. Apparently they set out to specifically fix the design flaw that ruined so many LR3,4 and 5s.

I wonder if anyone at LR tried to work with Ford to fix it properly in that time? They failed obviously but they cant have been happy campers, humongous warranty claims.
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Sun 19 Mar 2023 20:17
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - kiss (keep it simple)

I think Christian talks about this in one of his earlier videos. Possibly due to poor oil pressure at low revs.

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Sun 19 Mar 2023 21:04
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - Brit_in_Germany

His view was that it was lacking a couple of bearings.

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Sun 19 Mar 2023 22:26
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - bathtub tom

His view was that it was lacking a couple of bearings.

They said that about Austin sevens and put a third bearing on the crank to prevent 'whip'. Turned out 'whip' was good to stop crankshafts breaking.

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Mon 20 Mar 2023 08:40
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - RT

His view was that it was lacking a couple of bearings.

They said that about Austin sevens and put a third bearing on the crank to prevent 'whip'. Turned out 'whip' was good to stop crankshafts breaking.

Really? Was that why the 5-bearing Ford Kent engine was so much more reliable in competition than the 3-bearing BMC A-seies ?

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Mon 20 Mar 2023 09:11
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - skidpan

His view was that it was lacking a couple of bearings.

They said that about Austin sevens and put a third bearing on the crank to prevent 'whip'. Turned out 'whip' was good to stop crankshafts breaking.

Really? Was that why the 5-bearing Ford Kent engine was so much more reliable in competition than the 3-bearing BMC A-seies ?

Don't think you could call the A series unreliable in competition, look at the results the Mini got in the 60's.

Just think how crowded the "sump" was in the Mini. It had the gearbox in there and add a couple of extra bearings might have been impossible. I remember helping a mate install a 1293 engine in his S rally car and the crank webs caught the "sump" casting and had to be machined.

A lot was going on in a very small space.

Also remember that the A series crank was shorter than the Kent crank simply because the bore of the A series was approx 70mm as opposed to the 80mm of the Kent.

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Mon 20 Mar 2023 09:32
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - RT

His view was that it was lacking a couple of bearings.

They said that about Austin sevens and put a third bearing on the crank to prevent 'whip'. Turned out 'whip' was good to stop crankshafts breaking.

Really? Was that why the 5-bearing Ford Kent engine was so much more reliable in competition than the 3-bearing BMC A-seies ?

Don't think you could call the A series unreliable in competition, look at the results the Mini got in the 60's.

Just think how crowded the "sump" was in the Mini. It had the gearbox in there and add a couple of extra bearings might have been impossible. I remember helping a mate install a 1293 engine in his S rally car and the crank webs caught the "sump" casting and had to be machined.

A lot was going on in a very small space.

Also remember that the A series crank was shorter than the Kent crank simply because the bore of the A series was approx 70mm as opposed to the 80mm of the Kent.

The Ford Kent formed the basis of the 2-litre BDA with prodigious power outputs - the A-series never reached such heights.

I don't accept that fewer bearings has any advantage - apart from cost.

Ford reverted to 3-bearings for the Valencia engines fitted in early Fiestas - quite inferior to the earlier 5-bearing Kent engines.

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Mon 20 Mar 2023 12:40
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - _

Obviously nobody remembers the A series Metro Turbo.

and that was never fully developed. But Think...

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Mon 27 Mar 2023 07:31
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - kiss (keep it simple)

Latest video shows it to be a snapped crank (no surprise) There was no evidence of any oil starvation etc.

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Sat 1 Apr 2023 19:00
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - Big John

The Ford Kent formed the basis of the 2-litre BDA with prodigious power outputs - the A-series never reached such heights.

I don't accept that fewer bearings has any advantage - apart from cost.

Ford reverted to 3-bearings for the Valencia engines fitted in early Fiestas - quite inferior to the earlier 5-bearing Kent engines.

I remember the early Ford pre crossflow Kent engines. The mkI Cortina had a 3 main bearing crank for the 1200cc and introduced a 5 main bearing crank for the 1500. The 1200cc 3 bearing crank engine was much weaker and was prone to premature wear initially showing up as low oil pressure at tickover.

With the mkII Cortina the pre crossflow engine was fitted for the first year of it's model life however all had 5 bearing cranks.The 1300/ 1500 was pretty robust for its time. In my misspent youth I rebuilt a few versions of these engines.

The legendary crossflow 1300/1600 5 bearing engines were introduced to the range in late 1967.

I think the 3 bearing crank was re-introduced for the slightly redesigned Valencia engine to make it more compact to fit in the smaller transverse Fiesta.

Edited by Big John on 01/04/2023 at 19:22

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Sat 1 Apr 2023 17:15
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - edlithgow

I think Christian talks about this in one of his earlier videos. Possibly due to poor oil pressure at low revs.

In the engine disassembly video (which is the one I found especially horrifying), next one after the engine removal vid linked, he speculates that the metallurgical quality control is poor (as well as the crank webs being too thin)

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Sat 1 Apr 2023 06:10
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - edlithgow

Here's a great video of a German DIY couple taking a broken engine out of a Discovery.

Their channel is one of my favourites,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmRjeeAW9E

THE HORROR!

That looks a truly hideous job.

I suppose I've had a sheltered life, having only had old cars, but f***!

Part of my horror is probably due to the feeling that this is a Land Rover, and so should be "simple" and "repairable"

I KNOW this hasn't been true for decades (if it ever was) but that brand image still influences perception.

Similar (though less extreme) revulsion on seeing the timing chain setup on a DOHC Jeep Wrangler engine.

I'd better not look at any Toyota Landcruiser engines. One likes to retain some illusions.

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Sat 1 Apr 2023 06:46
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - Xileno

It's not as bad as it seems if you know what you're doing and in the correct sequence. From what I've read anyway. An experienced LR person can have the body raised in about an hour, let's say one and a half for contingency. Then the same time to put it back again. So three hours in total but some of that time will be recouped because once the body is off then access to components is brilliant.

I'm sure there's plenty of opportunity for frustration - seized or rusted bolts etc. particularly as the vehicle ages.

Probably not something that you would want to do in the Outback but LR have long lost their reputation of being fixed by whacking them with a hammer and swearing.

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Sat 1 Apr 2023 12:25
LR Disco 4 - Engine removal - edlithgow

It's not as bad as it seems if you know what you're doing and in the correct sequence. From what I've read anyway.

It wouldn't HAVE to be as bad as it seems to be very, very bad indeed.

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