Rover V8 liner failure

[SLiller]

Ive had Rover V8's for many years, three out of four of my cars now have them. In fact my last Range Rover did 270,000 miles on a standard 3.5.
So I treated myself to a series 2 Range Rover, 4.0SE.
Within a week there was coolant problems, head gasket?,
Well NO, to cut a long story short, the liners in the
block had gone porous!!!!.
It turns out the new generation V8's are well known for this, starting from as low as 30,000 miles!!, most go around 70-80,000. If you have a Rover V8 of 3.9 or
greater from 1994 onwards, look out!, its a new bottom end!!. They can't be rebored there is not enough material in the block!!. Ive a nice new 4.6 now running on gas, fantastic, just what a Rover V8 should be!!.
I wonder how long this will last!!.

Apparently TVR have fixed this problem, anyone know how, Ive got a 4.0 block sitting in the garage, dying to go in the converttible!!.

[plipton]

Apparently TVR have fixed this problem, anyone know how

Anyone know when? I have a 1997 Chimp 450 with 19000 on the clock - might help me decide when to replace it with something new(er).

[Graham]

mmm i've got a 94 3.9 discovery with 121k on it so far and the only probs were a rebuild on the R380 Gbox at 50k

but the clutch is on its last legs......


and the Chims up to about 50k (96 4ltr)

out of interest where did you get the 4.6 from

[shpub]

Guys don't worry about this.... Many of these so called "it will effect all the engines so sell your car now" fail to actually put problems into perspective. A well known problem does not mean that every engine is going to suffer from it. It means that if the problem occurs then the reason is well recognised. Listen to the doom mongers and you will suffer from knackered cams, cracked cylinder heads, cracked blocks, broken cranks all before the liners go. All well known problems but and this is the key point very very rare in reality.

If you listen to all the well known problems on all engines you wouldn't buy anything at all. Not even a BMW or a MERC.

I have heard of 1 TVR that suffered a cracked liner problem. Not caused by porosity BTW.

Steve

Campaign for getting perspective back into everyday life...

>> Edited by shpub on Tuesday 3rd December 08:40

[soddy]

Liners are definately a problem with early 4.0 and 4.6 blocks but they seem to have ironed this out a number of years ago. New ones seem fine! As regards the overbore ... you can overbore and re-liner, we do it regularly, as long as the liners are properly fitted and 'top hat' flanged there is no way the liner can leak. The overbore is usually to 96mm and gives a new list of available engine sizes as well!

[2 Sheds]

Yep i totally agree with Steve, sure if you talk to engine builders it can sound depressing, but don't forget they tend to get the sick motors, there are 10s of thousands of perfectly healthy ones.
Sure the problem exists and is worth a mention,
Tim

[2 Sheds]

soddy said: Liners are definately a problem with early 4.0 and 4.6 blocks but they seem to have ironed this out a number of years ago. New ones seem fine! As regards the overbore ... you can overbore and re-liner, we do it regularly, as long as the liners are properly fitted and 'top hat' flanged there is no way the liner can leak. The overbore is usually to 96mm and gives a new list of available engine sizes as well!

This 96mm bore 5+L is the way to go , especially if you like revving !!!!

[meridian]

I've just had a nasty experience with a 1995/N 4.6HSE which was exhibiting head gasket problems. It turns out that the vehicle had a cracked head which was duly replaced along with head gaskets for both sides. Unfortunately, the vehicle still displays "head-gasket" problems and more than likely has a bottom-end problem as well. Lovely cars the later shape RR's, but they don't half bite when they go wrong ( block problems, air-suspension, climate control blend motor's et al !). I also had to replace gearbox and torque convertor on this one and it has now been "traded out" with engine problems declared. Good riddance !! It'll be the last one I buy. Just need to sort my Cerbera Speed Six top end problems now. Never mind. Ho hum !!!