Member Since: 22 Mar 2014
Location: West Midlands
Posts: 67
death rattle of D3 engine
A cautionary tale.
A few days ago I stopped at the side of the road to allow a friend to remove his golf gear from my car. As I got out of the car I commented that some workmen further down the road were making a dreadful racket. Alas I suddenly realized that the dreadful racket was emanating from the front of my car. Having read all the posts about broken cranks and spun bearings the horrible rhythmic rattle fitted the bill perfectly and the engine was clearly toast. In a state of dejection I decided to drive the final 200 yards to my home and parked it on my drive.
During the lockdown in late 2020 I decided to change the oil pump as I did not know whether it had been previously changed. All went well and the engine was running very sweetly.
Having reached the conclusion that the engine was toast I started to investigate the options of a LR reconditioned engine . The potential costs were high and whilst I would undertake most things on a D3 I do not have the equipment to take the body off and the garage space was fully occupied by Classic cars. I visited Oval Autos and talked to them about replacing the engine and whilst very helpful could not do anything for a couple of months.
I firmly believed that my D3 days were over and was resigned to selling the car for spares or to the local breaker.
As a final gesture to the car I decided to investigate the horrible noise a little further and intended to use my stethoscope to more accurately identify which bearing had failed or where the crank had broken. To provide better access I removed the plastic shrouds at the front of the engine and the electric fan.I stated the engine and the horrible noise was definitely coming from the front of the engine I noticed that the accessory drive belt appeared to be slightly misaligned and removed the toothed belt. I then found to my horror that the idler pulley, above the crank pulley was loose.It is held by 3 10mm bolts and has to be removed when gaining access to the cam belt.
I was quite obvious that some rock ape ( ME ) had failed to properly tighten the bolts when reinstalling the cam belt cover. my excuse is that it was difficult to tighten the bolts until the belt was put on and I forgot.
I properly removed and refitted the pulley, replaced the covers etc, and the engine now sounds better than ever.
The lesson learned is never jump to conclusions and investigate properly. I have undertaken lots of work on the D3 and love the car to bits and today is a good day.
AACSCGraduate of the FDC ( Fred Dibnah College)
16th May 2021 8:37 pm
darrind
Member Since: 04 Jul 2008
Location: In A World of My Own!
Posts: 2891
Must stop buying shiny toys....
16th May 2021 10:36 pm
ianm27
Member Since: 02 Jun 2016
Location: Hertfordshire
Posts: 2154
great result and sage adviceUncle Ray's spare wheel protector
Limo Tint
Blackvue front & rear dashcam
Cruise control switch pack
Bodsy's remote for FBH
17th May 2021 10:36 am
Fla
Member Since: 17 May 2021
Location: Ireland
Posts: 15
That was a nice save. I presume you can use the money you were going to spend on a replacement vehicle on something fun?!
Out of interest, I've to do my belt soon, does anyone replace the idler pulleys? My dealer who actually lost the dealership said they never replaced them doing a timing belt. I thinking they charge €60 a pulley here, is it worth replacing?
Thanks
17th May 2021 10:45 am
OvalAutos
Member Since: 28 Dec 2018
Location: Cradley Heath
Posts: 382
From the noise you described, I did recommend removing the aux belt first in case it just an idler pully, alternator, AC or PS pump and to take the timing belt cover off for an inspection.
Glad you found the problem Joe
17th May 2021 12:09 pm
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 5044
Fla wrote:
That was a nice save. I presume you can use the money you were going to spend on a replacement vehicle on something fun?!
Out of interest, I've to do my belt soon, does anyone replace the idler pulleys? My dealer who actually lost the dealership said they never replaced them doing a timing belt. I thinking they charge €60 a pulley here, is it worth replacing?
Thanks
I think you might be confusing the idlers with the pulleys!
There are three idlers on the front timing belt one of which also acts as the belt tensioner. All three must be changed along with the belt. There are also three pulleys, one on the crank. and one on each of the two cam sets. Generally speaking the pulleys do not normally need replacement unless excessive wear is present during inspection. You will however want to replace the oil pump if it has not already been fitted with the modified version. This is important, particularly so on MY07 vehicles. yµ (idµ - eAµ) ψ=mψ
17th May 2021 3:29 pm
Fla
Member Since: 17 May 2021
Location: Ireland
Posts: 15
hi Prof
I am more than likely confusing things as I have had quote from 2 different LR stealers and they called them idler pulley on the quote. One dealer said we never replace these but as you say I think he was giving me the wrong info.
After a lot of research here I see the pump is vital and my mechanic actually asked about it too which gives me confidence he is aware of the issues here. I managed to source the Citroen pump at half the price and the lads in JGS4 have the full Dayco kit in stock again with the tensioner and pulleys so all I need to get off the dealer is the cam shaft seal and the other small seals. I think I am saving about €400 thanks to the info on here, so big thank you to the forum for that.
17th May 2021 4:00 pm
PROFSR G
Member Since: 06 Mar 2017
Location: Lost
Posts: 5044
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