sometimes you just have to improve on what you start with.

 

re: The main culprit for slipped sleeves is overheating.. Yes?

Typically that s due to improper maintenance.. Yes?

It is unlikely to find a pre-owned vehicle that has been maintained for arduous conditions level of operation. But driving on the Mom's Milk Run and idling in the various pickup lines is pretty close in the summer to a New York cab. The cooling systems that had Dexcool sludge up with exposure to real world conditions. The reduced radiator cooling pushes the temps higher, but the dash gauge stays in the center. So engines are slow roasted over hickory coals. If the heat gauge was digital, the owner could see that it used to be 195F on this stretch of road, now I'm at 221F, maybe I should get this looked at. Could even be something simple, like sludge caught on the little holes in that funky thermostat. Block the holes, the stat will take longer and hotter to open.

So the instrumentation lulls the owner into a false calm. Thousands of miles go by at elevated temperature. Oil begins to bake onto things. Here's a pix from an owner at just under 50K who had oil changes at factory intervals (7500, now 10000 on a LR4). Why would you want your engine to look like it had been to the Colonel (extra crispy)?

Running a cooler stat, a cooling system in good condition, less than 10F spread top to bottom on radiator, keeping temps in the 180-190s, and changing oil at 5000 will add a lot of life to the D1 and D2s. But how much damage already done is always the question.

In the war against overheating, the number one weapon is good intel. Having something that will read the OBDII port temperature live data is a good thing, so you can react much earlier when repair costs are minimal. Much cheaper to replace a radiator than head gaskets or engine.

That said, there are members who pin the liners so they won't slip or will stop slipping.

 

Take a similar year/mileage/condition 4Runner or Land Cruiser, and the buying price will be more for the Yotas, but you'll likely have a lot less work to do to keep it going. I decided to get the cheaper Land Rover (which I wanted more anyway) and spend the difference making it more reliable. Maintenance is also easier and cheaper if you do it yourself vs the Toyota.

 

Originally Posted by earlyrover
DiscoMike said: " The 4.6 has a little more power but drops more sleeves and has the same possible head gasket failure."
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How is it that the 4.6 "drops more sleeves," when they have a shoulder, part of aluminum block, at base of each sleeve, effectively preventing the sleeves, liners, from moving down---I know for fact that shoulders are there, because I have inspected them myself! The only way a sleeve could move downward would be to have a sleeve break out one of these shoulders, and I don't see that happening any time soon. I have heard some people say that the sleeves, sometimes were not pressed all the way down against these shoulders, but I have examined several blocks, and found not a single sleeve not down hard against shoulder.
Never heard that before. There are plenty of people here with evidence of slipped liners on 4.6 blocks.
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I understand that earlier versions of this engine DID NOT have the shoulders at the base of each sleeve, liner, so they certainly can and do slip sleeves down. However, on later versions of this engine, they DID INCORPORATE aluminum shoulders, part of block itself, at base of each liner, effectively preventing, blocking, liners from slipping down. This fact has been written about for years, by a Land Rover Specialist repair depot with years of experience in working on Land Rovers, in MA, John Robison owner. Personally, I have examined these shoulders, thus cannot see how a liner could ever move down in the later engines--something (sleeves) cannot move down, against an immovable object, (shoulder) within block. The ones that have been shown as slipping, have to be earlier engines, or must have some ailment that I am not aware of, allowing sleeves somehow to drop down. In some cases, it seems to me that some people are simply repeating rumors not based on facts! Read what Robison has written for years about this---he has a website and can be found through Google search.

 

Go read his latest posts. He's changed his mind.

The latest ones don't slip down catastrophically. They just move around and make noise.

 

I looked it up in Power Tune Rover V8 engines: "On 38A blocks, 4.0 and 4.6, All cylinder liners sit on a full 360 degree shoulder machined at the base of each bore." Again, these later liners cannot move down, but maybe they can move upward slightly, since the top of liner is a sharp edge that could cut into the firing ring of head gasket, I suppose, especially if head gasket has already become compromised. Better quality head gaskets with several layers of steel on firing ring, to seal much better than original fabric gaskets, should prevent liner from moving upward, OR top hat liners for sure, should prevent upward movement of liners.

 

Top hat liners is the route I went, but there's no cheap way to do that. Several by now have pinned their liners with 1-2 screws per liner, and while the longevity of that technique is far from proven, I've not heard of any failures yet, and it certainly is cheap!

 

All great tread and thanks for the info. I need advice on a same topic discussed here. I recently bought an 03 Disco, initially not aware of the tapping syndrome (drop sleeve), but now that I own the truck, I have decision to made.

The disco I own has 125k mile, and the tapping has recently gotten worst, and it is now mis firing on cylinder 1 & 8 consistently. My question to u is: can I replace the 4.6L with 4.0 engine, (cause for considering, i found on with low mileage for decent price) if yes what modification is required. My second option is pinning as proposed on this forum. If so could it be too late, I am the 6th owner, and when I opened the valve cover the engine show poor maintenance (heavy sludge)?

Lastly, I am in northern VA. Do u know of a good mechanic with Rover sleve pinning experience?

 

Not sure about the 4.0 in the 4.6...are they both Bosch or both Gems engines? If so, I still think you have an ECU issue. Either way, I can't imagine a heavier DII would be much fun with less power.

Pinning liners...wouldn't do it personally, but that's me.

 

I believe Bosch engines, but not sure. Why do you think I have an ECU? Or how else can I diagnose it?