Absolutely correct.....liners in 04 and 03 did not slip more than any other year and the tick...99% of the time is cracked oil gear like mine and worn main and rod bearings....I mean really...after 100k on any engine is a crap shoot...unless you think nascar races 100k engines...

 

Some engines do have liners that have adhesive or epoxy that helps hold them in place.... I have no idea if land rover did. As far as sourcing a cheaper alloy, I'm calling bogus on that. Seems like a lot of hassle for how few v8 engines that land rover actually sells. And that doesn't explain weird things like why oil pumps blow up on discovery, but you don't see people in the P38 section coming out of the woodwork complaining about it.

 

Sadly - the stories of the tools being worn out, are also probably not true. When the V8 line was put up for auction in late 2003, there was statements in the auction listings that much of the equipment was new in 1998 (presumably ready for the new D2 model).

Also, the castings themselves were different - upto fall of 1998, they used the HRC2411 casting. After this date, ALL rover V8 blocks used the LCF000250 casting. If you compare the two, they are different. It isn't just the same master dies with the numbers changed - there are enough differences to clearly show that this was indeed a new casting. So All D2's (introduced in 1998 in Europe) and about half of the P38 production used the same casting. All D1's used the HRC2411 casting.

Why does no-one ever mention the different castings I wonder? Instead we hear odd, unproven claims of adhesives and casting alloys.

 

Interesting statement. Source?
I guess I am the 1%.
As is everyone else with a 2003 or 2004 that has / had a rattly engine and grooves in the firing rings from liners moving.

PS - please understand that I am differentiating between engines that have a crack behind the liner and dumping coolant, to those that don't drink coolant, and just have liners that thump large circular grooves in the gasket, but otherwise work just fine and are totally reliable - as much as any lode-lane vehicle can ever be... Those failures seem to hit the 2003 and 2004 motors more than other years.

 

Interesting. I knew they changed the block from the 3.9 to the 4.0, but I didn't realize they made other changes later.

 

source, word of mouth over the last 10 years with land rover mechanics...forums..my own land rovers.....


I could be totally wrong....but in most cases..including this forum.. most horror stories all start with the rich house wife who has no idea the car takes oil....fact...... trust me on this one....then rich husband so so fixes...so he can cut his losses.... and dumps truck..... truck looks new but deep inside is a bomb waiting to go off......and ends up in the hand of someone without the financial means to rebuild truck like it should have been in the first place...hence the crying and whining on the forums....

 

The blocks are basically identical so far as general shape and machining goes. There are a few minor differences like in the area around the rearmost cross-bolts, the areas I've forgotten about.

 

I have sent an Email to M&R Land Rover in Queensland to inquire of their technique of pinning liners with out removal of the engine. I read that they do this by using a right angle drill and it is done from the sump area. Somehow they drill/tap/ and secure a bolt into the motor thru the liners and then dremmel the head of the bolt off. Sounds eerie as hell but, maybe it is a fix.

 

A little closer to home it is fairly common in at least one well known shop in Indiana- see Land Rover Forums : Land Rover and Range Rover Forum - View Single Post - Pinning a liner

 

Alloy used in the casting of the Rover V8 blocks and heads. - Land Rover Forums : Land Rover and Range Rover Forum

Pinning sleeves, how to? Anybody? - Land Rover Forums : Land Rover and Range Rover Forum