Hey guys, I'm about to buy a 2012 LR4 with a blown engine. I got a few questions on the engine swap procedure. I've done engine swaps on a few Honda's and Subaru's so I'm not new to this but also am not a mechanic. Been lurking and researching and determined that an AJ 133 engine out of an N/A jag is the way to go. The engine I been looking at has 50k miles on it, I'll probably replace the tensioners and guides with the metal buttons and chain, the water pump and the cross over pipe along with some seals. Other than that and swapping things over from the existing long block is there anything I should be aware of? I'm going to do this in a driveway, engine coming out from the top. Will the A/C lines be in the way, will I need to have the freon evacuated or are they out of the way? Also I went to look at it a few weeks ago and it wouldn't crank but I wasn't sure if it was low voltage or if there is something else wrong?


Anyways thanks in advanced and hope this doesn't turn into too much of a headache.

 

Exciting project. I don’t know the answer to your questions, but just wanted to make sure you were aware of the other threads on here and at landroverworld.org relating to engine swaps. This one shows the engine coming out from the top/front. https://landroverforums.com/forum/lr...-again-102667/. In this recent thread, someone swapped a 5.0 Supercharged into an LR4: https://www.landroverworld.org/threa...-an-lr4.41638/. I’m sure there are others, just can’t remember off the top of my head.

 

It’s a very exciting project indeed.

A few things come to mind though.

1. the cost involved. If you’re doing this to save money on the cost of purchasing a good v8 then you may come out awash or even in the hole, only you know the costing.

2. Yes. The compressor will have to have it’s low pressure and high pressure lines removed and this should necessitate the evacuation of the refrigerant, although I’ve seen it just vented where people simply don’t care.

3. with the donor engine, be extremely careful about inspecting the donor, how sure are you that this hasn’t had an overheating issue, skipped a timing tooth etc? I’m sure it would come with some sort of limited warranty, but it would be a lot of work to install a non runner into a non runner.

4. How sure are you that the other things that go on these trucks have been taken care of, control arms, struts, compressor etc. As you’re doing the work yourself you’ll save a lot on labor, but the parts costs still add up.

5. if it’s a passion project then to hell with it and get started already

stu.

 

Yeah read that thread which is why I joined this forum, I've always through of LR owners as having too much money to DIY so it was nice to see I was wrong.

 

Yeahhhhhhh it barely makes sense to me too, I'm in need of a "cheap" SUV that can click a bunch of boxes, it needs to seat more than 5 adults relatively comfortably. Must be able to tow quite a bit of like to tow anything from the track car to a camper or boat. Must be nice, awd and cheap. Nothing really ticks all the boxes like land rovers. Went from wanting a disco 2 to really settling on the LR3 and did look at a bunch that hadn't aged too well and priced too high IMO. Ended up stumbling on this LR4 and now the LR3 interior doesn't cut it haha. Also I'm always thinking and working on cars so I think it's a good fit.

So yeah I think I can get it running with an EBay engine for like 6k all in for now. Pay the engine with that PayPal pay later thing to not have to spent 9k all at once.

On the A/C thing I'd rather evacuate it to not be a jackass but I mean I've been known to be one......

On the engine I'd be relying on the warranty I guess, I don't have the money to buy new or rebuilt.

On the maintenance, I can do it, I know it's not a new car and yes parts are $$$$$ but labor is me. Got a race car so I know about wasting money on cars haha.

Yeah passion project in the sense that I like projects haha.

I am gonna message the guy and see if I can pick it up tomorrow or Friday, get it home and start working on seeing how bad it is. I was hoping on maybe just doing head gaskets but from all the reading it looks like an overheating even roasts the entire engine :/.

 

im putting a channel together with the standard maintenance that these vehicles need. I’m slowly addressing stuff on mine

I just completed the supercharger removal and crossover replacement, water pump belts etc. I’m thinking tune next.

Finally I’ll get into more of the off-roading video stuff.

https://youtube.com/channel/UC1xiCZ1W2M3gixAwX7fpmYA

 

Thinking on, if you’re not sure what happened. Have the plugs out and bore scope inside. You said it wouldn’t turn over. That could be something silly, so you may get seriously lucky with it.

id be inclined to try and get it running, if it’s definitely overheated then if you have time, pull the heads and measure up. You may be surprised. Who knows. All you have to lose is time.

worst case, you drop in the donor get a great vehicle and an awesome garage table after you get the glass made for the old lump.

stu.

 

Yeah I thought of documenting this and turning into a YouTube star haha but I don't think I can commit to that.

Owner says that that he thinks it overheated or something, plan is to get it home and see the crank spins, then go from there, tear down and see what's up. Engine swap is last resort.

 

Sound alike you’ve a good handle on this.

ha, YouTube stardom that’s not something I’d want. I’m more geared to helping with simple jobs and keeping costs down while teaching workshop skills. Although the jobs will get progressively more complex.