Crankshaft failure in ajp 4.2. Swap to ford 4.6 unit?
Discussion
Evening chaps
sadly the crankshaft went on my cerbera on the way back to the hotel from the nurburgring (didnt even get to take it on!!)
after many phone calls, it would appear that its not uncommon for this to happen, how it can happen is beyond me though.
replacement of the AJP looks to cost £3000 +VAT for a 19,000 1997 AJP 4.2 engine, plus fitment.
rebuild looks to cost over £6000
so what of installing another engine, such as the Ford 4,6 unit. on speaking to various people a company called Euphoria Racing have raced cerberas and tuscans and also done the conversion for road cars with this carb'd ford 4.6 unit, which comes with 600bhp and also does away with the apparantly crap TVR management system.
anyone know anyone who has had this done, or any thoughts?
surely a cerbera with a more reliable engine, thats proven, and can be serviced more economically, is more pwoerful and faster is a good thing?
thanks for your thoughts
sadly the crankshaft went on my cerbera on the way back to the hotel from the nurburgring (didnt even get to take it on!!)
after many phone calls, it would appear that its not uncommon for this to happen, how it can happen is beyond me though.
replacement of the AJP looks to cost £3000 +VAT for a 19,000 1997 AJP 4.2 engine, plus fitment.
rebuild looks to cost over £6000
so what of installing another engine, such as the Ford 4,6 unit. on speaking to various people a company called Euphoria Racing have raced cerberas and tuscans and also done the conversion for road cars with this carb'd ford 4.6 unit, which comes with 600bhp and also does away with the apparantly crap TVR management system.
anyone know anyone who has had this done, or any thoughts?
surely a cerbera with a more reliable engine, thats proven, and can be serviced more economically, is more pwoerful and faster is a good thing?
thanks for your thoughts
Early cars 96/97 (which were all 4.2's as the 4.5 and S6 not launched yet) were affected, they changed to a stronger crank during 98, so late 98 and onwards are all ok.... TBH even a lot of the early cars now have already had the problem so may have a later engine in, even if the year you are looking at is a 96/97 then don't rule it out, just check the history to see if any trace of engine work.
cupra20v.t said:
why do the cranks fail?
im looking to get a 4.2 v8 cerb over the weekend and im dubious over this problem.
From I have been able to read (which you could too) the 4.2 crank was a cast piece which in some of the early Cerbera 4.2s could fail, we must be getting near the point where if it hasn't failed yet it most likely is a good piece and will last.im looking to get a 4.2 v8 cerb over the weekend and im dubious over this problem.
The alternative to get a 4.5 which has a forged crankshaft which will be somewhat stronger (I don't think anyone has ever posted about a 4.5 crank failure).
I did read it was a one piece solid crank and is gets out of balance or something over time and wrecks the engine.
the car is a p plate 1997 registered, it has had engine work but what i do not know yet as im waiting for the bills to be faxed over to me.
it has been serviced and maintained at topcats racing apparently, i do plan to call the guy to enquire about it once i have the bills and recipts etc.
fingers crossed its been replaced.
im sure ive seen uprated cranks that eliminate this problem? does anyone know if these exist, i cant seem to find the shop selling them now, unless i saw flywheels and im thinking of the wrong thing.
the car is a p plate 1997 registered, it has had engine work but what i do not know yet as im waiting for the bills to be faxed over to me.
it has been serviced and maintained at topcats racing apparently, i do plan to call the guy to enquire about it once i have the bills and recipts etc.
fingers crossed its been replaced.
im sure ive seen uprated cranks that eliminate this problem? does anyone know if these exist, i cant seem to find the shop selling them now, unless i saw flywheels and im thinking of the wrong thing.
Might be worth a fresh post on the Cerb forum, see if anyone knows the specific car and more history etc. Don't think cranks are for sale "off the shelf" as such, often when they go it causes other damage anyway which means new/used engine is the better option. What you really want to see in the history file with that one, is possibly an earlyish failure of the crank that was sorted under warranty by TVR by installation of a nice new (post 98) engine 
tinker-27 said:
the ford motor is huge ! and 600bhp would cost a fortune to obtain speak to brummie as he was in your boat 4,2 with snapped crank.now has 6.3 ls powered cerbera and its very good !!!
i agree totally! the ford engines are very wide compeard to the LS units. how about a LS7 block with a LS2 crnk?? that could make for a very revy motor!
Chris.
chuntington101 said:
tinker-27 said:
the ford motor is huge ! and 600bhp would cost a fortune to obtain speak to brummie as he was in your boat 4,2 with snapped crank.now has 6.3 ls powered cerbera and its very good !!!
i agree totally! the ford engines are very wide compeard to the LS units. how about a LS7 block with a LS2 crnk?? that could make for a very revy motor!
Chris.
Something like a resleeved LS2/LS6 with Darton MID sleeves honed out to 4.155" and then use a Callies Dragon slayer(or magnum) 3.622" Stroke. You would then want some ported LS7 heads with coated chamber and titanium valves along with Carb (using the EFI parts) intake along with an elbow and a 100mm throttle body then a nice big cam that would be a motor that would be happy to rev...
Of course that would breakdown something like this:
~£4k+ - Block inc sleeves and work
~£2k+ - Heads with all the options
~£1k+ - For the intake with al the required parts and sensors
~£1k - For the Crankshaft
That doesn't include the custom pistons or the titanium rods that you would want use or any of the other parts that you need to make the engine...
Edited by eLSerbera on Friday 18th July 09:54
Hi chaps
just got my car back.
had the engine totally rebuilt with motorsport parts.
my car is a 1997, crank broke at 34,000miles
this has apparantly been common, i looked at other engine options but opted finally to stick with the AJP. Readman Racing in Blackpool rebuilt it for me, they race the AJp and are all ex-TVR factory and racing people.
total bill was £4k including motorsport hardened crank, 7 new pistons, some valves, a liner etc etc
it didnt crack the block fortunatly, although did crack the sump, but that was repaired. the car now runs sweeter than ever, and is a joy to drive.
if the chap whos concerned has any questions, please do get in touch.
my car will be for sale in the next few months if your interested.
just got my car back.
had the engine totally rebuilt with motorsport parts.
my car is a 1997, crank broke at 34,000miles
this has apparantly been common, i looked at other engine options but opted finally to stick with the AJP. Readman Racing in Blackpool rebuilt it for me, they race the AJp and are all ex-TVR factory and racing people.
total bill was £4k including motorsport hardened crank, 7 new pistons, some valves, a liner etc etc
it didnt crack the block fortunatly, although did crack the sump, but that was repaired. the car now runs sweeter than ever, and is a joy to drive.
if the chap whos concerned has any questions, please do get in touch.
my car will be for sale in the next few months if your interested.
eLSerbera said:
chuntington101 said:
tinker-27 said:
the ford motor is huge ! and 600bhp would cost a fortune to obtain speak to brummie as he was in your boat 4,2 with snapped crank.now has 6.3 ls powered cerbera and its very good !!!
i agree totally! the ford engines are very wide compeard to the LS units. how about a LS7 block with a LS2 crnk?? that could make for a very revy motor!
Chris.
Something like a resleeved LS2/LS6 with Darton MID sleeves honed out to 4.155" and then use a Callies Dragon slayer(or magnum) 3.622" Stroke. You would then want some ported LS7 heads with coated chamber and titanium valves along with Carb (using the EFI parts) intake along with an elbow and a 100mm throttle body then a nice big cam that would be a motor that would be happy to rev...
Of course that would breakdown something like this:
~£4k+ - Block inc sleeves and work
~£2k+ - Heads with all the options
~£1k+ - For the intake with al the required parts and sensors
~£1k - For the Crankshaft
That doesn't include the custom pistons or the titanium rods that you would want use or any of the other parts that you need to make the engine...
Edited by eLSerbera on Friday 18th July 09:54
if it was no holds bard then i would have a word with Dart. they can do biliet blocks to any spec you want!
Chris.
plasticman said:
If you are after a block why not go for the World block , they are cast and machined in the UK so almost British !
i thought they where US blocks??? where are they cast??also worht noting that the US LSX iron blocks had problems with casting! hehe
Chris.
Edited by chuntington101 on Monday 21st July 12:51
chuntington101 said:
eLSerbera said:
chuntington101 said:
tinker-27 said:
the ford motor is huge ! and 600bhp would cost a fortune to obtain speak to brummie as he was in your boat 4,2 with snapped crank.now has 6.3 ls powered cerbera and its very good !!!
i agree totally! the ford engines are very wide compeard to the LS units. how about a LS7 block with a LS2 crnk?? that could make for a very revy motor!
Chris.
Something like a resleeved LS2/LS6 with Darton MID sleeves honed out to 4.155" and then use a Callies Dragon slayer(or magnum) 3.622" Stroke. You would then want some ported LS7 heads with coated chamber and titanium valves along with Carb (using the EFI parts) intake along with an elbow and a 100mm throttle body then a nice big cam that would be a motor that would be happy to rev...
Of course that would breakdown something like this:
~£4k+ - Block inc sleeves and work
~£2k+ - Heads with all the options
~£1k+ - For the intake with al the required parts and sensors
~£1k - For the Crankshaft
That doesn't include the custom pistons or the titanium rods that you would want use or any of the other parts that you need to make the engine...
Edited by eLSerbera on Friday 18th July 09:54
if it was no holds bard then i would have a word with Dart. they can do biliet blocks to any spec you want!
Chris.
theres the fact that none of the stock intake will fit...
eLSerbera said:
chuntington101 said:
eLSerbera said:
chuntington101 said:
tinker-27 said:
the ford motor is huge ! and 600bhp would cost a fortune to obtain speak to brummie as he was in your boat 4,2 with snapped crank.now has 6.3 ls powered cerbera and its very good !!!
i agree totally! the ford engines are very wide compeard to the LS units. how about a LS7 block with a LS2 crnk?? that could make for a very revy motor!
Chris.
Something like a resleeved LS2/LS6 with Darton MID sleeves honed out to 4.155" and then use a Callies Dragon slayer(or magnum) 3.622" Stroke. You would then want some ported LS7 heads with coated chamber and titanium valves along with Carb (using the EFI parts) intake along with an elbow and a 100mm throttle body then a nice big cam that would be a motor that would be happy to rev...
Of course that would breakdown something like this:
~£4k+ - Block inc sleeves and work
~£2k+ - Heads with all the options
~£1k+ - For the intake with al the required parts and sensors
~£1k - For the Crankshaft
That doesn't include the custom pistons or the titanium rods that you would want use or any of the other parts that you need to make the engine...
Edited by eLSerbera on Friday 18th July 09:54
if it was no holds bard then i would have a word with Dart. they can do biliet blocks to any spec you want!
Chris.
theres the fact that none of the stock intake will fit...
there is a guys on the corvette forum thats having 2 biliet block built by dart. they are designed, and i mean designed as you can have them just how you want them, to be 427 that will happily rev 2 8500rpm all day! also they will be built to have LOTS of BOOST thorwm at them
also have you seen the katech 5.7 using the LS7 block?? they stick a really small crank in that and rev the nuts off it! lol
haviong said all this, i heard of one guy spinning a 4 inch 408 i think to over 10Krpm yesterday! its crazy what some of the guys are doing.
Chris.
LS7427ci said:
Billet blocks like this do excist we make the for the off road racers with stupid ci's!!!
I'd go with the LS7 whith LS2/3 crank shorten it up solve that problem tones of HP's and cheaper in the long run!!!
alright Tim, I'd go with the LS7 whith LS2/3 crank shorten it up solve that problem tones of HP's and cheaper in the long run!!!
wondered how long it would be till you came in mate!
I say go with Tim's idea. in fact just get him to build you one!
Chris.
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