I have a 1998 Range Rover that I purchased a while back. When I purchased the vehicle I was told that the oil pump had went out, but it should run. Before I purchased it I started it and turned it right back off. After that I put it on a trailer and drug it home. Now it's sitting in my garage and I'm stuck. I have pulled the front of the motor off three times now and I'm desperate for help.

When I pulled this apart the first time I replaced the oil pump, and noticed the timing chain was pretty loose (stretched) so I replaced the chain and the sprockets, lined up the crankshaft and camshaft marks to the 6 o'clock and 12 0'clock position. After I got this all back together I turned the ignition over, the truck turns over just fine but it would not start. While trying to start the truck it sounded like it was super close to starting and it kept backfiring into the airbox. I gave up for the night and consulted with a couple friends with more engine skills than myself and we all felt like it had to do with timing because of how it was backfiring into the air box. We decided the next step should be to pull it all back apart, pull the chain off, rotate the crankshaft (lower gear) one full rotation, align the timing marks again and see if that fixes it. We put it all back together, turned it over and same thing. It sounds like it really wants to start but it just won't quite get there. This time it's not backfiring (popping like it did) but it still seems to be exhausting through the air box. I have it all pulled apart again and before I put this back together I'm wondering what others think. It's allot of work pulling this all apart and putting it back together so I'm hoping to figure something out before I put it back together..

Thank You so much for any help or advice.
Derek

 

I would figure out if you are, or were, 180° out before proceeding. Not having a definitive answer there inhibits an understanding of the actual problem. Confirm TDC before you reassemble. Compression check would be next. You can do that before reinstalling the cover. Just a thought, did you disturb any spark plug wires at the coil? It's hard to route them incorrectly since they don't really like to reach anything but their correct cylinders.

 

Thank You Ahab
I'm pretty sure I didn't disturb any spark plug wires and I have double checked that they are all seated so I don't think that is the issue. To find top dead center do I just need to pull the valve cover off and make sure piston number one is at the very top?

Thanks in advance.

 

I agree with both of you that it really sounds like your valve timing is out. You could also post this issue in the Disco 1 section of this forum as the engines are the same and there is a lot more traffic there.

 

Thank You Harvlr I started pulling the valve covers off last week but I think that is a great idea I will do that.