tale of woe

[Rob]

I had a new V8 put in by the garage last year cos they said the main bearing cap had dropped away and cracked the block. the V8 had only done 82,000 miles. gggrrrrrrr!!!! had a new crate V8 put in landy and the bits swapped from the original engine to the new one. when i had the landy back, it ran like shit and wouldn't idle properly, stank of petrol at the exhaust and it kept hestitating while driving it!!! those wankers at the garage well and truly diddled me out of my money. i won't use that garage again!!!!!!

[Larosto]

Hi Rob,

you should try to get your money back from these idiots.
But how could the main bearing cap get lost? Does this happen to anyone else in the forum?
Do I have to contol the caps? Any ideas?
I`m a little bit worring about this, because I overhauled my engine about 8000 miles ago.

Horst

For you Rob, I wish you the best and hope you can get some of your money back. I hope your engine runs good for many miles and years.

[disco2hse]

That is very weird. I am not certain how something like that could have occurred unless work had been done on the engine previously and the bolts were not properly torqued. But given they are there to support the main bearing how come that wasn't damaged too? And then what about the crank itself, surely it should been pretty destroyed with bits of main bearing and cap flayling about in the crankcase?

Now, if they had said the engine had overheated and the block had cracked, or if they had said there were fragments of metal after a previous sloppy oil change, then maybe that might make more sense. I am always wary of mechanics who quote arcane engine parts that have failed when they don't really know what it is that has caused the problem to occur.

Nevertheless, your new engine parts should give you at least another 20 years of happy motoring Just make certain you have a close eye on the oil and water temp, and I've have the cylinders pressure tested, keep an eye on the water levels,... so they haven't screwed something else up too.

After only 82000 miles the engine is barely run in so you have nothing to worry about Horst.

[Rob]

Larosto no i didn't get my money back from these idiots!!!!!! cost me a lot of money!!!! they are called Mercia 4X4. the V8 cost me £1500!!! and the labour and parts cost me at least £600!!!!! bastards!!!!! it came back to me worst than when i left it there!!!!!

[Rob]

the original V8 started developing low oil pressure and i was getting concerned about it. that garage had a look at it, the oil pump was ok, the oil was fine, the oil pressure switch was replaced. So the mechanic took the sump off and found a bolt in the sump. it had come out of the main bearing cap. he says the other had come loose and the crank push it away thus cracking the block. he put back all together and the oil pressure was back to normal. it shows 20psi at tickover. he said the block is basically scrap but everything is fine. he wasn't sure how long it would last. thats why i had a new V8. he reckons he had seen this happen before on Range Rovers and only on the 3.5 blocks. he said thats why later V8s were crossbolted as in the 3.9's.

[Bumpkin]

Hi Chaps
On the subject of oil pressure, just what should they run at? Mine rarely gets above 30 lbs and often drops below 5lbs. I use the truck almost every day and did a 500 miler last year to Gaydon and back without mishap.My 78 Range Rover runs at 50lbs most of the time.
Tel

[sebking]

(from memory) 35-45psi at 50mph in 4th.

[disco2hse]

So the mechanic took the sump off and found a bolt in the sump. it had come out of the main bearing cap. he says the other had come loose and the crank push it away thus cracking the block.

OK. That'd be it then Sorry to hear that.

Do you know if they used Locktite?

[Larosto]

Hi Chaps
On the subject of oil pressure, just what should they run at? Mine rarely gets above 30 lbs and often drops below 5lbs. I use the truck almost every day and did a 500 miler last year to Gaydon and back without mishap.My 78 Range Rover runs at 50lbs most of the time.
Tel

Mine runs about 3 bars (kg/cm2) at 2000 r/min, when warm (temperature-gauge in the middle of the scale, and Oil 20W50)

regards Horst