Hey guys, been searching the web and cant find much on the timing chain service for an 09 LR3 with the 4.4 V8. I picked this up a few months back. Has a nasty rattle on start up, and then it goes away. Starting to throw codes. Had it looked at at a local indie LR garage. They said it needs new timing chains. I'm curious if it's just the VVT/VCT gear? I know these things wear out, but this rig has 60k miles on it and had been babied its entire...looks almost new. I can't see a timing chain/tensioner going out with so few miles. Looking for anyone who has been through this with an LR3. Thanks in advance!

 

Likely the gear has gone "out of round." These timing chains/guides don't have the same issues as the LR4.

Lemme guess, it makes the rattle on cold start for about 3 seconds, them goes away. If you shut it down and started it right back up, no rattle. If you wait an hour and start it, rattle.

 

Yup, thats it. Had a tough time finding any good info on this online. Do you have any info/experience replacing these? Im guessing its very similar to replacing the chains as the entire front of the engine has to be removed. Thanks for your help!

 

I don't have personal experience, but I researched others' experiences on various message boards and talked with my favorite LR Tech about it. My '06 is doing this as well. In the case of mine, with 220k miles on it, it's simply not worth doing. It's an expensive repair, and it's not really clear what the long term impacts are. I read of people putting over 50k on their LR3s in this condition, then either got it fixed just because they felt like it, or they didn't provide updates thereafter.

If this were my '05, I'd fix it....because that one is pristine and I've had it since new and I'm keeping it forever. The '06, I picked up for $4700 a few years back and I'm just not willing to spend the $ to do this. I have however been keeping an eye (er....an ear) on it, and it has not gotten any worse. What I mean is, it's still a 2.5s rattle on startup; the duration hasn't gotten worse and it still runs great. This is not a very common issue, and estimates on fixing it are mixed but over $5k and the techs I've talked with have led me to my conclusion above that it's not something to leap at.

Given your LR3 has only 60k miles, though, maybe you fix it...and keep that baby in your stable for a long time to amortize the cost. If you do, please report back on how the repair goes in terms of cost and effectiveness.

 

Thanks for that. My LR3 is basically new. Interior and body is perfect...it was hardly used before I bought it. So difficult to understand why this would happen with such little use. I intentionally got an LR3 and not an LR4 because of the motor. Still looking for anyone who has actually had this problem and resolved it. Got a few quotes and Im not open to paying a shop that much. Thinking about taking a week off and doing it myself.

 

Well....I have to embarrass myself and admit I ran mine low on oil. It was not leaking and I didn't smell any oil burning so I didn't even know it was consuming it. I hadn't had it long at that point, so I didn't know all of its issues. Anyway, the rattle appeared after that. I doubt it was a coincidence.

 

Low oil by the previous owner would cause it, especially if they were an idiot and only changed their oil every 10-25k.

 

Totally. Thats what I cant figure out. I have the service records from the previous owners and the oil was changed on a very regular basis. Just doesn't make sense. Either way, looks like Im going to be doing a lengthy project this Spring.

 

Just because it was changed regularly doesn't mean it didn't get run low...my own experience a case in point.

 

Do you have any info on how to perform this repair?