I own a 1996 Discovery and I think that it slung a rod a few months ago. I say that I think because I wasn't driving it when it happened and it hasn't been checked out and started since then, but the belt came off and i'm guessing that it is gonna need a rebuild or a new engine. It has 123,000 miles on it and is in really good shape. Should I put a new motor in it, or should I just sell it the way that it is. I haven't gotten any estimates and don't know what the price is going to be so if you guys could give me an estimate on what a new motor might cost that would be great. How much do you think I could get if I sold it as is? How much could I get after I put a new motor in it? Thanks guys

 

I just saw that someone posted this about someone elses Land Rover and I don't know if this might be the same problem with mine.

"If your belt is loose, and you are gtting dripping coolant then the most likely cause is bearing failure on the water pump. You will find that the fan wobbles around.

You will find the coolant is dripping from a hole at the bottom of the casting which has the fan fixed into. That is the water pump early warning system, it will soon start loose larger and larger amounts of coolant."

The belt came off and the fan came out from the water pump. I dont think that they would have kept driving it after this, but what damage does it sound like this could have done to the engine?

 

If the fan has fallen off, then the water pump has failed big time, the water pump has no direct connection to the engine. It is connected via the belt that also fell off, so if they stopped, and did not run the engine into the red, it should be fine.

It is worth your while removing the water pump and having a good look at it yourself. It will be easy to see how damaged it is, and it is not an expensive part to buy, (at least in the UK)

 

Well so if I take the water pump off and look at what should I be looking for? The damage to the water pump or some internal damage? Can I crank it the way that it is without the belt and listen to it, or will it even crank in this shape? So basically if it didn't overheat I should be ok to just replace the water pump and put a new belt on it? Thanks for the info guys. My questions might sound dumb and I'm not a a novice to working on cars, I just don't know what happened to the car prior to this(what made it happen or what happened), so i'm trying to determine if it has any internal damage to the engine from this.

 

If your not sure if dmage is done or not to the engine, then best not to crank it...

Have you lost coolant ?

Looking at the fan, or where it was, can you move the fan fixing, is it loose?

When you take the water pump off, the engine block where is sat is shaped for the fan to allow water to flow through and into the engine block, (or is that from the engine block, I am not sure whether the water pump pulls or pushes the water through) When mine went on the Defender, once I took the water pump off you could see straight away the wear that had occured on the blades of the pump due to the bearing failure. It did not damage to the engine at all...

In answer to your question can it run without the pump connected, yes it can, providing you don't run it long, as you have no water flow through the engine, so will over heat quickly. But if you have lost coolant, then it is not wise to run the engine at all, as it would overheat very quickly and as you do not have coolant in the system you would not know it was overheating as the temp guage works by measuring the coolant temp.

 

yes the fan can be wiggled around and is very loose. It's almost coming out of the water pump. After I take the water pump off, what am I looking for in terms of damage to the engine? I guess I can't tell if it overheated until I crank it up and see if it through a rod or something. So should I just replace the water pump and belt and crank it up to see how it sounds?

 

So, someone else was driving the vehicle when the serpentine belt came off and the vehicle was towed back ? Is that correct ?

If the belt came off and you can wiggle the fan excessively ( more than an inch in/out ) The water pump has failed. As far as engine condition, you really have to replace the pump first and run it. One thing you can check is the oil. Pull the dipstick out and smell the oil. If it has been severely overheated it will smell horrible. Broken rods are rare. Pump is pretty easy to replace but you will need A fan wrench. Be sure to put pipe sealer on the long bolts also.

Pray it didn't get to hot. These engines are not very tolerable to overheating. They are aluminum blocks wet sleeved with cast iron cylinder liners. It is common after overheating for the liners to slip and then it burns coolant and over pressurizes the cooling system. Only repair is A new block. Unfortunately these engines are not worth rebuilding even if you could get the parts. LR no longer produces this engine and has sold off the equipment to manufacture it. They also have exhausted their inventory of short blocks. It is rumored the Co. that bought the equipment is going to resume production. But nothing yet. Also have to recommend staying away from A junk yard engine unless it is guaranteed and they will pay for labor to replace. They are usually in there for the same reason.

Sorry for the bad news but, hopefully you lucked out !

Let us know.

Bait

 

Nate, I have an engine for sale. it came out of a 1998 discovery. it had 92,000 on it and runs perfict.
I'm asking $2,000 for it.
I'm in Denver.