The new engine I have has a stripped exhaust manifold bolt hole. I need to order a helicoil kit. I assumed it was M8 as the Land Rover Classic Parts website shows M8 (part number ERR4961) and I used M8 in my car when I did the head gaskets a few years ago.

However, the bolts in the engine I've had delivered this week are measuring roughly 9.5mm in diameter which I make to be 3/8UNC.

The part number on the side of the block doesn't match any of the part numbers given on the Classic Parts website either. The engine is stamped with HRC2411.

Annoyingly, Googling that shows a number of forum threads referencing this part number going back as far as Discovery 1 and 2 as a 3.9/4.0. There's one or two references to this block number in a P38 but as a 4.0. No confirmation of it being a 4.6.

The engine number starts with 60D which I think means it's supposed to be a 4.6 Thor, right? Is there anyway to confirm beyond the engine number that it's a 4.6? The intake system is the Thor set up.

Something feels a bit off as the manifold bolts seem to be the wrong thread. Despite what Land Rover say the bolts should be, the guy that sold me the engine was adamant that they're 3/8UNC when I was discussing the stripped thread with him. Seems odd that he'd be right about this specific engine if Land Rover says it should M8 and my own engine used M8.

I'm a little concerned that it's an older 4.0 engine that's been converted to be a Thor and had the engine number buggered about with at some point by the previous owner of the car it came out of.

I've got a used engine on its way to me. It's apparently around 140k and the seller says it runs well with recently fitted head gaskets (no paperwork). A seller will always talk up his wares though and the car was last MOTd in 2018, expired in 2019. It's likely not been run since then. MOT history shows braking system issues in its last few years and no mentions of engine lights, emissions issues or oil leaks.

While it's out of the car and I have good access to the whole thing, what should I be checking and replacing before installation?

Obviously the rear main seal, even if it's not leaking. My own engine had a brand new timing chain and oil pump fitted but has covered literally 0 miles at all since then - can I safely transfer that over or is it unwise to re-use them?

Does anyone know roughly how much a 4.6 Thor weighs?

After being off the road for a few years I'm finally picking up a cheap replacement engine. I'm looking to get an engine stand to work on it and move it around with and want get one that's up to the job.

Hi all,

I've been away for a while as my car has been parked up for a few years with engine trouble. I've now moved house and have a driveway/garage/space to actually work on it.

However, in the move my one and only key has gone missing :(

I've looked on eBay for a lock set and I can see a listing for a door handle, ignition barrel, a key blade (not an actual key) and some black box thing I'm not familiar with.

I'm guessing this won't let me actually start the car? I think I'll need a set like this regardless so that I can disengage the steering column.

Starting the car would be a nice but for the time being I just need to get it moveable and on to a tow truck. What's the easiest way to achieve this? Disconnect the prop shaft or can the gearbox be put in neutral some way?

Thor V8.

How is it done?!

RAVE says remove drive belt tensioner (easy, done), unplug connector (tricky but done) then remove the sensor.

I can't find any way to get any kind of tool on it!

There's no room for a spanner and I can't get a socket on it. Long sockets hit the bracket the tensioner mounts to and short sockets don't go on. Even if I could get a socket on there doesn't look to be room to get the ratchet on.

I'd like to avoid removing the oil filter or the water pump hose if possible. I'm connecting up an oil pressure gauge so it all needs rebuilding again to test and will need dismantling again to refit the switch.

Hello everyone! I've been a way for a while as my car was the off the road. I'm trying to get it back up and running now but running in to a few issues.

It went off the road for an oil pressure issue. Now that I'm furloughed and the weather has (or at least HAD) improved I've replaced the oil pump in the hope that it cures the pressure issue.

Over the winter the battery died. I've recharged it and although it's way down on CCA (445 instead of the 830 it's rated for) it is enough to start the car.

However, when I turn the key in the ignition there's no life from the dashboard or window switches. The only light that comes on is the SRS one. There's no rev counter, fuel gauge, warning lights etc. The window switches don't work. The interior lights DO work. I tried to connect the Nanocom but there's no life there either. I DO get the warning sounds from the dashboard though.

The remote central locking doesn't work but I didn't try manually locking it with the key in case it didn't unlock again.

As the engine starts I'm assuming the car isn't in a state of lockout.

I've checked all the fuses in both fuse boxes and they're all OK. I was hoping that Fuse 1 under the seat would be blown as that looks like it powers most of the things that don't work. It's fine though :(

I've not checked the relays yet.

Neither fuse box looks burnt out/melted/corroded

Besides the plugs for the oil pressure switch and crank position switch I don't remember disturbing or disconnecting any other wiring while replacing the oil pump.

Where should I go next?

At the moment I've no idea if the oil pump fixed the pressure issue as there's no life to the dash. I'm wary of running it for too long being unable to know how well it's doing.

Thought I'd start a new thread for this as I've now got oil pressure readings.

As mentioned in other threads, I'm getting the oil warning light on at idle when the engine is hot. I'm assuming it's coming on due to low pressure. The light goes away when the engine revs rise. To start with, it would go out if I put the gearbox in neutral as the small rise in revs was enough to make it happy.

Whatever the issue is, it must be getting worse as this workaround has stopped working. I now need to put it in neutral and press the accelerator to make it go away.

The car went in to have the oil pressure checked yesterday. They found the following readings (the readings were the same on the old pressure sensor and the new one I sent in with the car)👍

11psi at idle, cold engine
10psi at idle, hot engine
28psi at 2,000rpm, hot engine

He also reported the engine to be "slightly rattly" - on top of the cat/heatshield rattle that I was aware of.

The guy at the garage believes that the oil pressure should be OK with these readings. Does anyone know what the oil pressure should be under various circumstances? I've had a brief look in RAVE but not sure which section it would be in.

From here he's quoted:

£150+VAT to drop the sump, remove the crank bearings and check them over.
£450+VAT to replace the oil pump and timing chain if the bearings check out OK (minus the cost for checking the bearings, so £300+VAT on top of the £150+VAT to check them). No parts required as I've already bought them.

If the bearings turn out to be worn he says the engine then needs to come out, flywheel off, crank out to be sent for grinding etc. Very rough ball park figure of £1600-£1700+VAT for this. He says it's been a long time since he's had to do a job like that and he's not sure off the top of his the cost of grinding a crank etc.

His recommendation from here is to check the bearings first. This makes sense as it's the most easily accessible thing to check.

Before I jump in and kick off more work, do the oil pressure readings give you guys any thoughts on what might be at fault? I trust the garage it's at but you guys have such a wealth of knowledge on these specifically. I've also got a fair bit of time in which to play Internet Detective as he can't fit me in for any repairs until the week beginning the 12th :(

Would you be happy driving around in a car giving these oil pressure readings? Traffic is particularly stressful as the engine speed drops low enough to bring the light on when coasting at 20mph or under.

I've just been watching a video on YouTube discussing the front cover. I think it was Atlantic British.

The guy described each part of it and listed a few common issues that arise in that area. One of the parts that he mentioned was the oil pressure relief valve. I figure that its job is to release oil pressure when it gets too high. Is that right? Does it release the pressure by squirting the oil out of the engine or back in to the sump?

If so, if/when it fails could it possible lead to low oil pressure at idle but when the engine revs it produces enough pressure that the sensor reads OK again?

I'm wondering if I've gone a bit overboard with my low oil pressure at idle issue (I've ordered a set of new pump gears and a timing chain kit) and perhaps my relief valve has failed.

There's no procedure for replacing it in RAVE under the Engine > Repair section but it is mentioned in the Engine > Description section. I also can't find a part number for it on the LRCat, Bearmach or Turner Engineering websites.

Is this a serviceable part or is a case of replacing the whole front cover?

I might have just hit a stumbling block in my plan to replace the oil pump and timing change.

RAVE lists a special tool for holding the crankshaft pulley still (LRT-12-080) but this seems to be rather bloody expensive. For the camshaft gear it just says "restrain" but doesn't list a special tool.

Those of you that have done this job at home, what did you use to hold the crank pulley still? I can't remember how I got it off when I replaced the front cover gasket a few years ago!

Topped up my oil yesterday as it was a little low. I've done around 100 miles since then.

As I was parking up this evening I noticed my oil pressure light flicking on an off every few seconds.

Parked up, let the oil settle and checked the dipstick.

It was right on the bottom marker. I topped it up again, around half a litre I guess.

I then pulled out the spark plugs to see if it's been burning it. They're all a light greyish colour with no visible erosion anywhere. As they were out I put my new ones in to see if my slight hiccup on LPG goes away. Once they were I started it up and had my assistant gently rev the engine while I checked the exhaust - all fine there.

So, I'm confident it's not burning it in large quantities bit there's no evidence of a major leak anywhere either!

Nothing dripping off the engine, rocker cover gaskets were nice and dry when I was changing the plugs. The coolant in the header tank is a nice red colour.

Any ideas on where that much oil could go that quickly?

Our club hosted a 4x4 Promotional Event today, open to owners of any 4x4.

Once it quieted down I went out on my own and took a video of the route. I stuck to the yellow flag route that was a bit less severe than the blue flag route. There's a very heavily modified Suzuki (Jimny, I think) in the video doing the blue route. There's also a red Vitara and how it came away with no damage I don't know. I guided a silver Vitara around earlier in the day (exactly the same as the red one) and it was grounding out all over the place on the route I take in the video.

If I had my knobbly tyres on I'd have tried some of the blue!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WbhUDpnvHo&t=1s

We had the editor of LRO in attendance too. He took a good few photos and is doing an article in an upcoming issue. There's a few photos and another video on their Facebook page.

I'm getting a noise that sounds like it's somewhere up front.

It seems to be related to roadspeed/wheel speed rather than engine RPM. It seems to be most noticeable at around 18mph on the speedo when accelerating slowly and it does it in a straight line as well as when turning.

If I'm between 20 and 30mph and let off the accelerator I get the noise as I'm slowing down but the noise is faster. When this happens it's more "wuhwuhwuhwuh" than "wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh".

Hoping someone recognises my attempt at replicating the noise :P

Dropped my car down to have the AC regassed and just had a call to say they haven't done the regas.

They checked for power at the compressor first (as I said it's not kicking in) and they said there is no power to it. They checked the fuses and relays and said those are fine.

I asked if they were able to confirm if the system had gas in it with a pressure gauge bit they said they don't know. Their machine doesn't measure the pressure of the system. It just tells them how much gas it was able to suck out when they evacuate the system - which they didn't do as there was no power to the compressor.

I'm not sure if I'm in the same situation that Romanrob is in with his as I'm fairly sure my Nanocom said "yes" for AC grant last time I was poking about with it.

What conditions need to be met for the AC compressor to be sent a power signal?

1) AC switched on
2) Cabin temperature measuring higher than the temp set in the HEVAC control panel
3) ??

My AC doesn't work and I'm going to have it leak tested and recharged.

When I've seen a leak test done before they hook up a canister of nitrogen to the fill valve, open the stop and check the pressure/listen for leaks.

Wouldn't think only test the system between that valve and the compressor? Am I right in thinking that unless the compressor is turning nothing will flow through it so this pressure test can't test for leaks after the compressor?

If my thought is right, is there a way to test the rest of the system?

A friend of mine has an LPG Mondeo on his drive that hasn't moved in a few years. He's now looking to dispose of the car but the LPG tank is full.

Is it possible to transfer the LPG from his tank to mine?

Which part of the suspension or steering would cause the tyre to wear like this:

This was a brand new Continental tyre in December 2017 and the tracking was set by a Land Rover main dealer. At the time they raised no concerns about not being able to set it correctly.

As far as I can tell the rest of the tyre is wearing fine and the tyre pressures are checked regularly. I've not checked the other side - I should do that.

Does anyone know the dimensions of the bush tool?

IE:

Size of the entry end, size of the exit end, length/depth and how far down the taper starts?

A friend of mine just got big new lathe and we're thinking of having a go at making one/some.

Halfway to Caernarfon and the car has started playing up.

Feels like a loss of power, slow to accelerate and there's a vibration.

The vibration seems to lessen when the gearbox kicks down and doesn't seem noticeable when cruising. Light acceleration gives a noticeable vibration.

Revving the engine in neutral gives a slight vibration too - pointing towards engine rather than gearbox or torque converter?

MPG doesn't seem affected, hovering around 18 on the motorway on LPG. There's no weird smells or smoke etc.

Could someone give me a quick crash course on where to look in the Nanocom to help pinpoint the issue if there's no stored codes when I plug it in?

I'm getting fed up with it now!

Found a new coolant leak a few days ago.

The gearbox in the Freelander decided it no longer wanted a reverse gear last night.

Now I think I have a power steering fluid leak!

The metal pipes beside the radiator look like this:

And the area around what I guess is the steering box looks like this:

Bah.

Hopefully it's just a loose union.

Anyone know the inner diameter of the rubber hose that attaches to the heater pipes in the bulkhead?

One of mine is cut in half to attach to the LPG system and I have a slow drip/leak from it. It looks a little old and crusty so I'll replace it.

I don't want to pay for the proper part just to cut it in half so I'm looking to get some silicone coolant hose for it.

I don't know the ID of the existing hose and trying to avoid going out in the cold to pull it off, measure it, refit it and bleed the coolant system again - only to have to take it apart and bleed again when the new pipe arrives.

Anyone know the ID?