Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Oil pump done!
Crank seal in,
Timing belt on.
Turned the engine over twice and the pins still fit
Now I get to put it all back together and then see if it will start. With any luck I'll have it up and running sometime on Saturday.
25th Aug 2022 6:37 pm
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
As promised here is the write up with pictures after what feels like a marathon of work under the bonnet. So grab a brew, this is a long post!
I have been threatening to change the oil pump and timing belt for a little over a year and finally, I have got round to it. Since this was going to be a fairly involved process I decided to take the pain all at once and include replacing the HPFP belt and the glow plugs.
My original intention was to do it all at once over this August bank holiday weekend but with other commitments on the horizon I started earlier and chipped away at it over the course of the last week. I don’t know how long it took me in total, longer than it should have I am sure but I am happy with the final result and the big blue bus is back on the road.
Anyway, first things first drive onto ramp, open the bonnet pop the gas struts to raise the bonnet into ‘service mode’.
Next, as usual, engine cover off followed by the top fan shroud. I then removed both battery covers, disconnected the batteries and then prepared to dive in.
Removing the viscous fan is something I have never found difficult although some people do struggle. Largely this will depend on just how tight the fan is and whether or not you need to have a supplementary tool to hold the pulley. I use a plumbers adjustable spanner, it has narrow wide opening jaws, once attached to the big nut a sharp blow with a suitable hammer loosens the fan which you can then spin off and put to one side.
With the various bits out of the way I looked at the disintegrating convoluted tubing that covers various bits of wiring, this would also be replaced while I was in there.
Next I removed the lower fan shroud, this is easy enough but watch out for the small screw that holds the intercooler inlet pipe, access to it is tight but it’s not the end of the world.
After removing all the bits of plastic at the front I turned my attention to the battery tray. Main battery out, remove the battery tray and also the cover on the TCM and this then exposes the various wiring plugs that connect to the ECU’s. I know it can look a bit daunting to disconnect these wiring plugs but there is actually nothing to worry about because they are actually colour-coded. Of course these days everybody has a mobile phone so why not just take the picture as you undo them.
Next I drained the cooling system and was pleased to note the coolant in the bucket was clean and clear with no evidence at all of any contamination. That was most of the easy stuff, now I have to get into it properly.
There is no doubt that if you are going to take on the high-pressure fuel pump belt, timing belt, oil pump and glow plugs you absolutely need to do your research. At this point it is only fair to add my thanks and recommendation to the wisdom and guidance to be found on this forum with special mention to the guides written by Disco Mikey and Flack. The other member who deserves a mention is dutchviking, his write up for replacing the high-pressure fuel pump includes the vital detail about removing and then replacing the oil separator.
So following the guide written by Disco Mikey, remove the EGR cooling pipe that runs across the back of the engine, then pop the wiring harnesses and move them out of the way. Now you can get into replacing the high-pressure fuel pump belt. I didn’t bother with photographs, it’s been done to death. That said I will reiterate what so many others have said before in that it is a test of patience and you will scratch the backs of your hands and your forearms to pieces. Anyway, if you take your time it is entirely possible for this belt and the tensioner to be changed with the body still in place but if you are not confident don’t take it on. The rear belt requires that you work blind with limited room it is certainly one of the more awkward jobs I think I’ve ever done.
After a bit of faffing around I was feeling pleased with myself having replaced the rear belt and buoyed up by my success I got stuck in to doing the glow plugs. As I have said before I did have the advantage of knowing that all of the glow plugs should come undone and I would certainly advocate getting onto the accessible plugs to see if they are seized or not before you tear into attempting to replace all of them.
So I unscrewed the oil filter so I could get hold of the dreaded oil separator. Whilst I appreciate what the oil separator does I have to say the actual design of it is rather a massive fail. For something that necessarily has to be removed to get to the glow plugs and the high-pressure fuel pump it really isn’t beyond the wit of man to have come up with a way to make it easily removable without compromising functionality. Anyway I soldiered on, I read various "how-to" guides and watched a couple of YouTube videos but it was still a huge battle just to get this poxy piece of plastic out of the way. After wiggling and twisting and making sure I had removed things that could get in the way it eventually came down to a hail Mary as I went with the extreme brute force approach which saw the separator removed although on reflection this was clearly not the way to do it but at the same time it came out and didn’t break.
A couple of minutes after removing the oil separator I had removed and replaced 5 of the 6 glow plugs.
The glow plug at the back next to the high-pressure fuel pump doesn’t come out and looking at the bent top of the plug it appeared to me that either it had been forced in or somebody had previously tried to remove it (unsuccessfully). I decided discretion was the better part of valour and left it in place. Five brand-new working glow plugs will be fine and certainly 500% better than zero working glow plugs.
Now the next challenge is putting the oil separator back in. I offered it up, I twisted, turned, pushed, pulled and squeezed this three legged monster; I forced it as hard as I could but it absolutely would not fit into the hole it came from. Once again I had to scrabble around to try and find a solution to this puzzle. I trawled the forum, watched YouTube videos and even read the Haynes book of lies. None of these appeared to offer a solution. I went back out and had another go……….
FAIL
This was unacceptable, how can an inanimate object defeat my efforts to put it back where it came from? I simply didn’t get it. It occurred to me some lateral thinking may be required. I had seen a couple of posts that suggested cutting the legs down by some 5mm or so made putting the oil separator back in a bit easier. So hacksaw in hand I lopped the ends off and tried again. Still no good!
More swearing, cursing and attempting to force it back in ensued. It still didn’t want to play the game. I appealed for help but nobody appeared to know or perhaps wasn’t brave enough to offer the solution but it occurred to me that the oil separator needs to be removed not only for glow plug replacement but also high-pressure fuel pump replacement so I did yet another search. This time around I looked more carefully at a post by dutchviking some great photographs of how the oil separator could be removed. I followed this advice and victory was mine!
In essence, Land Rover made some slight changes to the high-pressure fuel pump that means there is a fuel pipe in the way. On earlier cars the fuel pipe in question is attached to the pump lower down and comes into it in a straight line. I believe that after 7A VIN it was changed meaning that you have to undo the fuel pipe at the back of the pump but as with most things Land Rover it isn’t simply a question of undoing a pipe union and moving it out of the way, oh no! What you have to do apart from undoing the obvious pipe union is undo the other end of the pipe that attaches to the fuel rail. Undo that union so that pipe is now essentially free but you will notice that it still won’t move, that’s because there is a hidden clip. I found access was made easier by removing the vacuum pipes that run from the vacuum pump to the brake master cylinder, with these out of the way it is possible to at least see the clip and its retaining bolt. Access is tight but once you get the clip undone you can move the pipe to a position where it is now out of the way.
Dutch Viking also undid the fuel pipe for one of the injectors so that there was better access to the pipe union but I found I did not need to do this, I was able to loosen the union with a crows foot socket/wrench.
So I suppose it probably took me 30 or 40 minutes to get my head around how to move the offending fuel pipe but once done, the oil separator was back in its place in less than 30 seconds. Then I just had to reattach the fuel pipe, reinstate a couple of electrical plugs and the other fuel pipes that I had undone. And that was that! Another job done and an important lesson learned.
Before reconnecting the electrical plugs on the high-pressure fuel pump I removed what was left of the crumbling convoluted tubing and put on some nice new tubing which tidied the wiring up. Replacing the covering on the wires is really very easy and not expensive. I know you don’t see them under the engine cover but there is a degree of satisfaction knowing you’ve done it and that the wiring looks neat and tidy. Some might think that sad but I really can’t apologise for it, if it is right, it is right.
Next up, the big one!
It’s oil pump and timing belt replacement. As already mentioned, the guides and numerous posts by Disco Mikey and Flack and other forum members are essential reading and actually make this an exercise in basic spannering. I didn’t bother too much with detailed photographs because there are already so many but I have included a few just for the record.
As you will all have gathered swapping the oil pump does present a couple of challenges. The first of these challenges is removing the starter motor. It isn’t actually that difficult but I would qualify that by saying I have a 4 post ramp which means I have better access. It is fair to say that without a ramp access would be very tight and making this something of a feat of endurance. I don’t know which way round people attack this but what I did was firstly to remove the main power cable (the big red one). The cable is held with a 13mm nut, but the nut was under a tight fitting plastic cap which has to be levered off. Access is a little tight but I managed to get the jaws of a spanner onto the nut enough to crack it off and then I was able to spin it off with my fingers. I did find placing a magnetic pickup tool in the appropriate place was useful so that I didn’t drop the nut.
With the big red cable now removed and pushed out of the way I progressed to taking the starter motor out. Yes I have already undone the small bracket on the side of starter motor and the main retaining bolts and I have already moved the fuel cooler.
So to remove the starter motor, ease it back and then rotate it slightly. You will find the starter motor will then come out by dropping the nose slightly and letting it come toward the small hole where the fuel cooler normally sits. Now don’t get carried away and pull the starter motor out in one go, you still have a small wire attached to it. With the starter motor essentially resting on its nose it will stay in a relatively accessible position so that you can undo the small wire attached to the solenoid. With the small wire undone you can now pop the starter motor through the gap and away. That’s all there is to it! This was the first time I’ve removed the starter motor on a D3 and it really didn’t take too long to do so for me, that was a win.
So with the starter motor out I removed the grommet from the hole above where the starter engages the flex plate/flywheel being careful not to poke it through the hole and in to the bell housing, I found I could actually get a couple of fingers through the starter motor hole and up behind the grommet to push it outward while with the other hand I used a small screwdriver to lever the grommet. If you are lying on your back trying to do this I’m not sure it will work. Next I set about getting the engine into the timed position so that I could install the locking pin into the flex plate. I turned the engine and saw the hole in the plate and tried the locking pin. It was a very tight fit and I was struggling to put the pin into the hole. I remembered reading that some of these locking tools need a little refining so that they fit; I gave it a polish with some sandpaper and after a couple of goes at it, I saw a proper fit and a positive lock on the flex plate. I then used a long M6 bolt to secure the locking tool in place.
I used the check pin on the camshafts then installed the locking pins. Happy the engine was now locked I proceeded to remove the timing belt followed by removal of the crank bolt then the oil pump. I know opinions vary about whether or not it is necessary to have a crank pulley holding tool but for me, I really didn’t fancy betting on the cheap locking tool successfully holding everything in place. On the basis of better safe than sorry, I knocked up a holding tool from some scraps of flat steel and a piece of old galvanised pipe. My home made tool is less than pretty but it is 100% effective. Anyway, I attached the holding tool to the crank pulley then pulled out the 1200mm breaker bar and put a 21mm impact socket in place. I braced myself, I pushed against the locking tool and pulled the breaker bar. I have never seen the big breaker bar flex quite so much and I wasn’t sure I could generate the leverage required to loosen the crank bolt. I slipped a length of scaffold tube over the breaker bar and had another go. Very slowly the bolt started to turn, much to my relief. It is no exaggeration of just how tight the crank bolt is and if you don’t have a long enough breaker bar, you are very unlikely to be able to undo it. Anyway, with the crank bolt now undone I was able to pop the bottom pulley off, loosen the bolts and remove the oil pump.
I was reasonably happy with what I could see with the oil pump removed, there was no excessive sludge and nastiness and a quick wipe down showed all appear to be in reasonable shape. I cleaned up the front of the block and also gave the crankshaft nose a gentle clean with some wire wool to remove some of the slight surface corrosion ready to receive the new pump and critical front seal.
Before installing the new pump I compared it to the old one. What I was interested in is the apparent disparity in advice regarding the front oil seal. I have seen mentioned that the oil seal should be 1mm proud of the casing, another mention says it should be flush but from what I can gather, the correct placement is 1mm under flush. When comparing old and new pumps, the new pump has a different casting which appears to be such that it is not possible to drive the seal in too far and block the small gallery behind the seal. I also noticed the pump/rotor flanges are slightly different although this appears to be of little consequence. Obviously, the most important changes between old and new pumps are the reinforced tensioner mounting and the bigger (thicker) 15mm pump gear.
So I mounted the pump, taking care to put sealant in the corners, then prepared to mount the oil seal. There are a variety of methods described for doing this. I was actually surprised how easily the seal slides along the crankshaft and into place, to drive the seal as squarely as possible I used a large socket. I had originally wanted to use a deep set 35mm socket but the 1/2” drive was too small to pass over the end of the crankshaft. After considering my options I remembered that I have a torque multiplier that includes some rather large 1” drive sockets. The 38mm socket was a reasonably good fit and would evenly push the seal until it was flush.
So I passed the socket onto the crankshaft then using the old crankshaft bolt, wound the seal into place and then a couple of taps with a small hammer whilst moving the socket around, I was able to place the seal just under flush. As it was getting late that evening I decided to leave it there, this would give the new seal plenty of time before it sees any oil.
Some of you may be thinking I have missed something. You are right!
I haven’t primed the oil pump. Again there appeared to be different opinions about this, some say you absolutely must put 250ml of oil in the pump before mounting and others prefer the new pump to go on dry so there is no chance of contaminating the sealing faces of pump. I went with a dry installation and would later prime the pump from the oil filter housing.
So the pump is on, oil seal in place now it’s time to get serious and attempt to torque up the crank bolt. I put the bottom pulley in place and attached my makeshift holding tool, I wound the new crank bolt in by hand then gave it a nip with a ratchet. I then got hold of my digital torque gauge, set it to 100Nm and attached it to the small 600 mm breaker bar and waited for the bleep.
I swapped the socket and torque gauge onto the 1200mm breaker bar and set the torque to a value of 350Nm which is monstrous. So I put it all together, pulling back on the holding tool and pushing the big breaker bar I was looking to achieve a movement of 90° and a minimum torque of 350Nm. As I pushed the bar forward I could feel the intense strain, the first 45° seemed relatively easy, I reset to do another 45°. I heard the torque gauge bleep letting me know I was pushing past 350Nm so I pushed just a little more and although I was probably slightly less than the full 90° I was more than happy there was adequate torque applied to the bolt. That was without doubt the most force I have ever applied to any fixing.
From this point on it was just putting back everything I have taken off. So I put on the new timing belt, tensioner and idlers. Next I removed the locking tool from the flywheel and the pins from the camshafts, then rotated the engine two full revolutions and checked all the locking pins fitted back in place. There was a funny sort of satisfaction when all the pins slipped easily into place, so there it was, apparent success!
So I removed the pins and proceeded to reinstall the alternator and the starter motor. I did the alternator first and this was uneventful. I didn’t install the main cable because I needed to put the starter motor back first. I didn’t have too much trouble getting the starter motor back into its hole and the bolts wound in finger tight but I would have to admit to having something of a mental aberration when it came to attaching the main starter cable. I did the small cable without any trouble at all but the big cable I think I took leave of my senses. I battled away probably for a good half an hour or so and then appeared to have the cable attached but I really wasn’t happy about it, there was something not quite right and for the life of me I couldn’t see it. After another little while it dawned on me that I have attached the wrong part of cable to the starter motor…
Harsh language ensued. Yes I had done it all completely wrong and managed to attach the alternator end of the cable to the starter motor. Needless to say I was not impressed so had to undo it all and have another go. The thing is actually mounting the starter motor was easy, but I messed up just attaching a cable so I could do up a single 13mm nut. Anyway needless to say I got it sorted and proceeded to mount the fuel cooler and then attach the other end of the big red cable to the alternator where it should have been in the first place. I then went around and torqued the various bolts and considered what to do next.
I decided the best thing to do at this stage was to prime the oil pump. To do this you need to lift a small valve in the bottom of the oil filter housing. Before doing this I thoroughly cleaned the filter housing then I gently opened the valve and put a cable tie underneath it to stop it closing. Then I poured oil into the filter housing. Don’t know why, but I expected to see the oil slowly drain indicating the pump was being filled; this didn’t happen and I had a bit of a worry on thinking that I may have royally screwed this up. Then it dawned on me that I should rotate the oil pump. I attached the socket and ratchet to the crank bolt and proceeded to turn the engine by hand observing bubbles of air coming up through the oil as the pump was turned. I probably passed substantially more oil than was strictly necessary through the pump and just to check, I removed the sump plug to make sure the oil had passed down into the sump. As part of this exercise I also undid the torx screw and removed the centre of the oil filter housing. In the bottom there are two ports, I flooded these with fresh oil ensuring that clean oil would be in place to some of the more vital bits when it came time to fire the engine. As before, I made sure to rotate the engine by hand a few times before putting back the bits I removed.
From here was relatively plain sailing, timing cover back on, auxiliary belt, tensioner and idler back on and suitably torqued then it was on with coolant pipes I had removed. Before I put the fan back on, I took the opportunity to blow out the radiator core and intercooler core with compressed air. It is surprising how much rubbish accumulates in the fins of the radiator.
The layer of dust blown out on to the bumper was quite a surprise.
Next was the lower radiator shroud – remember to secure the inlet air pipe! Then I thought perhaps I should put the oil filter in!
Next the standard stuff, viscous fan on followed by the other plastics. Then I took a bit of a break while I dealt with replacing more disintegrating convoluted tubing. After doing that I remembered that I need to reconnect the EGR coolant pipe and secure it to it bracket and I also needed to put back one of the EGR pipes that I had taken off. Next I put back the various ECU plugs followed by the battery tray and battery.
It’s all looking good and the last thing to do was to fill the coolant system with fresh antifreeze.
Now it was time for that crunch moment of doing that first start of the engine after doing so much work. I decided I wanted to minimise any potential risks so pulled the fuel pump fuse. As I wasn’t sure if I would need to crank the engine a few times I also decided to pull the air compressor fuse as well so there was one less large current draw.
I put the key in the ignition and turned the ignition on. Nothing went bang! Always a bonus.
I waited for the system check to complete then flicked the starter. To my very great surprise the engine fired immediately and continued to run. I really wasn’t expecting that bearing in mind the fuel pump fuse had been removed and over the last couple of days I had disconnected various fuel pipes so there should have been at least a few airlocks. Anyway, after just a couple of seconds of the oil light staying on and the engine being a little tappety all was good. I switched off, replaced the fuses and then sparked it up again. The oil light went out immediately and the engine quickly settled into a smooth, regular idle. I let the engine run and checked the coolant, a little top up was required but overall everything was as it needed to be. I had a quick tidy up and took it for a spin, no warning lights or funny noises. Job done.
This morning I checked oil and coolant. A small top up of coolant was needed but oil was good. I set the clock then plugged in my IID tool, there were just 2 fault codes after the battery had been disconnected and the engine run with some fuses taken out but these are nothing to worry about. I put the under trays back on and went for a longer drive and everything is fine.
So that was that, both belts, glow plugs, oil pump and seal together with oil change and coolant and some tidying of the engine wiring. I’m sure I have left out a couple of bits but I think I have covered most of it.
Cheers.
Last edited by classic kev on 30th Aug 2022 9:28 am. Edited 6 times in total
27th Aug 2022 2:01 pm
Captain Crosscheck
Member Since: 03 Sep 2021
Location: Oslo
Posts: 345
Good work! Nice write-up too. With that job out of the way, there's one thing less to keep you awake at night
27th Aug 2022 4:49 pm
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Thanks Captain, for sure it is nice to know the oil pump and belts are done. Hopefully it will be a while before I need to do any other big jobs.
While I am here, some will notice I have edited the big post a number of times; I used voice recognition to create the narrative so I kept finding bits of nonsense, a bit like when predictive text goes wrong so hopefully it reads a bit better now. Apologies if some of it didn't make sense. If you find any other bits that look a bit odd, let me know and I will edit it (again!)
That said, can anybody tell me why I had to edit so many times? The problem I had was I would go through and edit then when I hit submit I would be logged out and see a message saying I couldn't edit posts I didn't create! Then I had to log in again and start over. This isn't the first time this has happened, it is extremely annoying (and time consuming) so I found I had to make lots of small edit changes instead of trying to get all of it in one hit.
28th Aug 2022 7:46 am
DaveCav
Member Since: 05 Jun 2021
Location: Luton
Posts: 44
great work Kevin. i can see why garages charge what they do after tackling the same job my self a while ago.
Did you inspect your crossover pipe whilst you were in that area? another lovely job!
You say about the breather- since I bought my disco a year ago, it has been very sluggish at low revs (below 2k) which was thought to have been a symptom of the crossover pipe being split- I replaced the crossover pipe and decatted the downpipe and it improved slightly but still was not correct.
At the weekend, I had a good route around the engine bay (due to another fault finding exercise) and discovered the breather was not sitting into the crankcase holes or swirl pot hole!! After 40 mins or so of messing around, I managed to get it aligned and it pushed down a good 2-3 inches.
The result is the disco now has lower rpm power back, the drive is so different!!
I was regularly having a low-pressure fuel fault code occurring, leading me to think the low-pressure fuel pump is on its last legs- I have fitted a genuine filter, tested the relay, current draw and carried out a flow test which indicates the pump is at the lower end of the acceptable tolerances. But since fixing the breather, the fault has only occurred once in 100 miles. Could it be the engine was seeing airflow or lack of and seeing the wrong fuel pressure for an inaccurate air measurement??
Plan is to pressure test the low-pressure system (vacuum gauge on order), new filter- I have been running injector cleaner so need to ensure any deposits in the filter are removed and not causing any obstruction's. Run it and see what happens.
Also chasing a random HDC fault- happens as and when and my xy sensor keeps going out of range, There appears to be no clutch slip so I think it is a sensor fault or wiring. we will see
31st Aug 2022 9:27 pm
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Hello Dave!
Nice to hear from you. Sounds like you're nearly there with yours. I have to say I didn't look at the crossover pipe but I haven't seen/heard anything that makes me suspect it needs replacing but if it does I'll let you know
On the question of the crankcase breather/oil separator I would say I would expect it would upset how the engine runs because if it is not seated properly there will be an inlet air or vacuum leak as I understand the small pipes connect the inlet manifolds to the breather. At low revs, this would probably be more noticeable because at higher engine speeds and loads, the turbo spins up and pressurises the inlet. It's not something I have considered in detail but either way you seem to have identified the issue and sorted it. Whether or not this has anything to do with a low pressure fuel fault I couldn't say. Worst case would be needing a new pump but if you're lucky it will be sorted with a new filter. I do wonder though if maybe there could be gunge on the inlet to the pump and whether or not it is possible to clear it by a shot of compressed air on the fuel line that feeds the filter? If there is a check valve that won't work but just a thought.
Good luck with the HDC fault. It will hopefully be something silly.
Keep in touch an dlet us all know how you get on. Remember, pics or it didn't happen!
1st Sep 2022 7:40 am
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Hello all!
I hope you're all enjoying this great sunny autumn day.
Not much to report after the gearbox, oil pump and glow plug surgery. My D3 has been over to Sheffield and across North Wales so I thought I would get it on the ramp, drop the under trays and have a poke around.
I was really interested to see if the front diff pinion seal was dry. I had noticed the diff was wet with oil and tried replacing the front diff vent. Here's the pics.
Pinion seal is dry and all is clean - RESULT
If you're not sure what the vent looks like, it is right next to the coolant reservoir. This is mine with the "new and improved" vent
All is good, and £13 and 5 minutes is a lot better than faffing about wrestling with the front diff to change the seal.
The other thing I wanted to check was, of course, that the front crank seal is good. I looked at the front of the timing cover and couldn't see any oil so that looks good too.
While I'm here I would like to thank everyone who has been following this thread, the number of views is very gratifying, thank you all. I hope some of what I have posted has been useful.
For now I can hopefully just enjoy having a reasonably well sorted D3 but as soon as I need to take on any other little jobs I will be sure to post my adventures here!
Cheers.
2nd Oct 2022 3:33 pm
gstuart
Member Since: 21 Oct 2016
Location: kent
Posts: 14177
Fantastic thread kev and what a great job you’ve been doing , massive credit to u
Wow where has 7 x years gone as seeing this reminds me my timing belts etc are due again next year , plus will get another new oil pump fitted at the same time
Thks again for sharing such an informative thread
2nd Oct 2022 10:26 pm
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Hello!
I am pleased to say I have nothing to do on my D3!
However, in one of life's ironies the Disco has had a very busy time. Last week SWBO decided she was going to Skye for a week. Just before she wants to do this her car has a hissy fit. Why do they always leave these things to the very last minute!
Anyway, I said I would sort it out, so ordered a new radiator and thermostat housing and on a Friday evening put it on the ramp to swap out the duff bits so she can go early Saturday morning. The car in question is a 2010 Peugeot 308 (petrol). What a nightmare. I removed the front of the car to do the radiator, drained the cooling system and removed the thermostat. Put in new bits, attached front bumper and started filling with coolant - water was pouring out! The problem was the water was at the other end of the engine. This is not what you need at gone midnight on a Friday!
Anyway, I investigate a bit more and find the plastic coolant bypass pipe is leaking like a sieve. Apparently they are known for it! There is now no way the pug is going to go to Skye, so I was forced to let her take my Disco. 1 week and almost 1300 miles later the D3 returned home thankfully in one piece and no faults, no leaks, no nothing so I am truly pleased with that acid test of my various repairs. I even think she liked driving it! mmmm.... that could be a problem actually but if I keep quiet......
As for the pug, I obtained a new bypass pipe and fitted it and can honestly say it was an absolute pig and as for bleeding the cooling system, what can I say... so it is not just Land Rovers that will test your patience for what should be a simple fix! I now don't like French cars!
Rant over.
2nd Nov 2022 4:50 pm
DaveCav
Member Since: 05 Jun 2021
Location: Luton
Posts: 44
Kev, that sounds like a great test for your Disco. well done mate, sounds like your hard work has paid off
After copious amounts of injector cleaner- with a double dose of redx to 40 ltrs, the fault nearly goes which makes me lean more towards a blocked pump filter? But with 2 new genuine fuel filters, mine is still throwing low fuel pressure warnings.
With some investigation, it does look like the low- pressure pump is under performing so this will be my next job.
I have bought a new VDO low pressure unit this week and will be looking to change it in the last week of November- I am hoping this cures the problem, if not it will be the HPFP
One thing at a time
8th Nov 2022 6:23 am
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Hi Dave, long time no hear! Glad you are fighting the good fight.
Low pressure pump does sound like a candidate for your issues. If you end up doing the HPFP as well check out a thread by Dutchviking, there is a link to it in this thread when I changed the oil pump. Getting the oil separator out is the challenge and so is putting it back!
If you're going to look at HPFP it might pay you to look at your glow plugs at the same time but if they don't spin out easily leave them be.
Do let me know how you get on with the low pressure fuel pump and don't forget lots of pics!
Cheers
8th Nov 2022 8:22 am
classic kev
Member Since: 12 Feb 2021
Location: Mold
Posts: 207
Morning!
The first snow has arrived although I don't think it will last long or be much of a challenge.
Anyway, as the Disco was showing -4C I thought it would be interesting to see if the glow plugs are working and all is good. The glow plug light stayed on a little bit longer (as expected) but it fired up a treat. The FBH did its thing so all in all I think I can be confident the Disco is ready for winter.
9th Dec 2022 9:04 am
disco chris
Member Since: 25 Apr 2022
Location: London
Posts: 292
Morning Kev, good to hear yours is ready for winter - well deserved peace of mind after all the hard work you put in.
I am doubtful all the plugs on my 240k mile example are still working but I don't know for sure. Most of the time (recently) it's parked in a garage so protected from the most difficult cold starts and fires up within a second or two down to about 3 degrees C which is the lowest I've seen in the garage. However I have a lot of driving away from home coming up in the next few weeks and am starting to wish I knew they were all working
Good news is the FBH still fires up diligently - what a trooper.
Really enjoyed seeing the great work you've done on your D3 in this thread.
9th Dec 2022 10:50 am
DaveCav
Member Since: 05 Jun 2021
Location: Luton
Posts: 44
Merry Christmas all.
Last edited by DaveCav on 30th Dec 2022 2:25 am. Edited 1 time in total
30th Dec 2022 2:08 am
DaveCav
Member Since: 05 Jun 2021
Location: Luton
Posts: 44
Hi all.
I hope you have all enjoyed Christmas and are looking forward to New year's eve.
I have managed to change my low pressure fuel pump and after approx 350miles road testing, it appears to have solved my fault ( that one any way..)
It was a patience testing task, as per usual on my d3.
I decided to use some annual leave and booked 5 days off.
I carried out the works on the workshop floor with no lift or post ramps.
I drove the rear up on drive on ramps, jacked up the drivers front and supported with an axle stand.
I then worked out by watching some guide videos and reading posts where and which pipes to disconnect.
Annoyingly I managed to snap the yellow clip which is for the fuel tank breather and snap a spout on the fuel filter housing- too much pressure at the wrong angle 😕
The housing was easy to find and order but the yellow clip was hard to find- sourced from a breaker in the end ( I oredered a few spare too)
I then supported the tank with a jack and plank of wood and proceeded to undo the cradle bolts.
Once unbolted, I slowly lowered the tank, ensuring all pipes were disconnected and free.
The wiring plug can be unclipped from its restraints, giving a little more access.
Once all clear, I slid the tank out and proceeded to open the spigot plate on the top of the tank.
Upon looking at the old pump, it appears it is the orginal pump from factory- 180k.
The gauze pick up was blocked and there was half of a jigsaw blade in there ? ??
At this time, I realised I had somehow ordered the wrong pump 🙄 so back on the net, another orederd.
Terrible timing- a bloody Royal Mail strike!!! 8 days it took to receive all of the parts- running over my leave time and I ended up having no time to complete.
But in the end, -5°c in my workshop, under the disco, got it back together.
I fitted a complete pump and housing, replacement filter housing, replacement breather pipe clip, water sensor, genuine fuel filter, new tank cradle bolts, new tank cradle nut inserts and replacement tank cradle.
I think of all parts were present and I was not so Ham fisted- 2 days.
So next job is to look into my starter motor- I excessively used it to get the engine to run ( I was not thinking.....) and now the solenoid does not always throw properly. Some times straight away, other times ten clicks then vrrrrromm.
I have narrowed it down the the starter or connections on the starter so hopefully have a chance to have a look at that in the next couple of days.
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