Is it the reliable V8 they have been using for years or a new V8 from their ingium stuff?

 

Yes, it’s based on the same Ford built 5ltr V8 they have been using for the last 10+years.

JLR took over building it from Ford a couple of years ago. It’s a pretty decent engine with no real weak spots.

 

LOL...may want to mention the plastic rear heater manifold and plastic front crossover pipe. When these get brittle and crack, all the coolant immediately leaves and you have about 5 seconds to shut it off before you buy an engine. Or maybe the passenger valve cover gasket leak that drips oil into the alternator and kills it. On the positive side, these common issues don't seem to happen before 75K miles. Other than that, it's a solid engine that will run to 200K miles and beyond.

 

Good point! There isn't much you can do about careless ownership.

 

I think the problem begins with poor design...plastic coolant lines stamped with FoMoCo that dry out from engine heat, get brittle and crack.

But to your point, once we learned about the longevity of these parts, most LR4 owners proactively replace these parts around 70K miles.

 

Can you not get metal parts to replace them with proper gaskets?

And I have a 2004 suburban with 510,000 miles and nothing has ever gone wrong with the engine. I’ve had to replace belts, alternators, and radiators, but that pushrod always cranks and goes. It burns oil and looses coolant every few months, but she always works.

What the hell happened to that type of quality?

 

Some LR4 loyalists did look into having a machine shop create a metal coolant manifold. Simply cheaper to replace the OEM plastic one every 75K miles.

 

i looked back at a service I had on my RRS a year or two back (local Land Rover specialist and not a dealer). Well, now I remember he called me about the coolant manifold—it was ok, but he recommended replacing it ( I think it was actually around 75k miles). I gave him the ok. I was only looking through the service history because I traded her today for the Defender that just arrived. Anyway, me eating humble pie and props to you PaulLR.

However, I can honestly say that my 2011 RRS SC was the most reliable car I have had. Will miss her….

 

That problem sounds strangely familiar. I had a 996Turbo with the Mezger 3.6 engine that was shared with the GT2 and GT3. As outstanding as that engine still is 20 years later, they became famous for blowing a coolant pipe off after a certain number of heat cycles and dumping a full coolant load, usually on track, so the car behind you will spin out into the wall (worst case scenario.) In fact, there are a number of tracks that won’t allow any Mezger-M64-engined 911 unless the coolant pipes have been welded or pinned.

Basically, there are 6 pipes that exit the engine and run to parts of the cooling system. The manifolds are cast aluminum, and the pipes insert into them and are glued — yes, glued — in place. When the glue lets loose on one, bye bye. So you pull the motor (you can’t get to 3 of the pipes with it in situ) and either weld them together or drill through the pipe and insert a small bolt and locktited nut straight through the middle. Problem solved (for about $2300 labor, thank you very much.)

 

Props to your local LR specialist for preventing a stranding breakdown and/or the $12K expense of a new engine. Our 2013 LR4 was been great as well, but after 8 years and 135K miles it's almost time to move on. We will miss our LR4 as well. Will probably add a second Defender to the family motor pool since we like the first one so much. Enjoy your new Defender!