Engine woes

[siii8873]

Well my rover that I have been using as a daily driver for about 6 months has developed an engine knock. I'm pretty sure it's a connecting rod bearing on the #2 cylinder. Noise is from the oil pan area and drastically reduces when I pull the #2 plug wire.
Am I correct that rod bearings can be done from the oil pan without removing the engine?
The girl has let me down

[I Leak Oil]

The girl has let me down

Hey come on now, cut it some slack. Not sure how old you are but I'm sure you'll be needing some repair by the time you're as old (if not already) as your truck!

You can do the rod bearings in the truck. Make sure the crank journals are good and measure them before just slapping bearings in it though. If it's a wrist pin though, you'll have to take the head off.

[siii8873]

Thanks,
that is what I thought. BTW I have a few years on the truck.
The PO had told me that this engine had been rebuilt. It has run great until 2 days ago when I thought I heard a slight knock when I first started it and then it was fine until the next time I started it the knock was there at idle or under load. Investigated today and found what I noted above.
Guess I'll have to share the wifes car which is definily a female. It nags you when you don't put the seat belt on, leave the lights on, have a door ajar,....,,, Wipers come on every time I signal a turn...
Thanks
Bob

[jac04]

Wipers come on every time I signal a turn...

I'm glad I'm not the only one that does this.

[stonefox]

I always got a kick out of "your door is ajar" who talks like that ?, what auto engineer came up with that anyway. Like they just couldn't say hey "your door is open jerk, you are going to fall out ,and bust open your head". You know, nothing to wordy, keeping it simple and to the point.

[allende]

Same problem

With knock, but doesn't change when a plug is disconnected. Don't know what's up either with my Series III I've had now with 100k on the clock has always been a smooth runner til this summer.

[Tim Smith]

Please stop beginning new threads for the same issue. It's hard for us to help you when you do that. Honestly. We want to help. I do at least.

I still think you are smart to try the MMO trick before opening it up but if you have it in your mind that it's a bottom end knock then bless your lucky stars if it's just a rod knock. Normally, that is not the source of a series engine knock unless something funny happened in it's life. If it's just one big end then you will be able to hear it once on every 1/4 turn of the engine.

Do you have access to an engine stethoscope? That would probably help you identify the exact location of the knock. $5-15 at your local parts shop. Well worth it if you are thinking the bottom end has gone but are not sure.

[siii8873]

Tim, not sure what you mean by new post same issue this is my first on this subject. What is "MMO" ?
I ran the truck and crawled under it with a screwdriver to my ear to listen for where the problem may be coming from. It sounds to be coming from oil pan area, and as I noted reduces when I pull #2 plug wire.
What are the typical problems that cause engine knocks in land rover engines?
thanks
Bob

[Tim Smith]

Good grief. I think you are right. I could have sworn you had posted two other threads on the same subject. With that thought, I figured you were missing some good advice already posted. Oops.

MMO is Marvel Mystery Oil and I've suggested to a couple of folks that they could try running it in the crank case for a few hundred miles or so before jumping into a ring job. However with your description of the knock coming from the sump area, I'm afraid it might not be the rings at all but rather a con rod bearing. I doubt MMO would help you there.

It would be easy to pull the pan and inspect the gap on the con rods. Actually, if that does turn out to be the issue, the con rod bearings are very easy to replace with the engine in place. Although, I've never heard of replacing the con rod bearings without doing the mains that's not to say it hasn't been done before.

[I Leak Oil]

Tim, I think you're thinking of Mudtub's two posts about his blowby issues.

[Tim Smith]

Yup. I think you are right. I guess a bunch of folks are having engine trouble lately.

[siii8873]

Well the engine issues are not good. Pulled the pan and inspected the crank bearings. The bottom halves all looked OK but all the tops are wiped.
I bought this truck early spring 2010 and was told by the PO that the engine was profesionally rebuilt. From what I found I would guess that the finished crank dimensions did not match the bearings that were installed or the crank was not properly machined. Gets my goat a little as the engine work was a selling point as to why I bought this truck. Not sure about the remaining bearings.
I have a second rover that I am doing some restoration work that will be donating it's engine. Please advise if I'm wrong but the donar is from a 69 IIa and the recipient is a 74 SIII. This should all fit as long as I include all the parts from the SIII from the engine back. I'll deal with an engine for that truck as part of the restoration.

[Tim Smith]

Oh bad news.

That engine should bolt up fine. I did the same swap many moons ago and I believe I had to change over the engine side of the bell housing because of the different clutch slave cylinder mountings. Very easy to do.

Only other thing to think about is where your coolant and oil pressure sensors are mounted between the two engines. Again, it was a long time ago but remember something about them being mounted in slightly different locations on the block. Not difficult to adjust either way.

[Cutter]

Oh my, sounds very familiar, sorry I know how you feel. The '74 I bought had a serious knock develop within a month or two of taking ownership. The PO had replaced the crank bearings in the 2.6 and did the same thing, didn't fit them properly and voilà, Matt at overland has had my truck since October dealing with the results. At least you have a bolt in replacement, but it's no fun regardless.

Oh and to abate the obvious questions, I shipped the truck across the country and the seller of course stopped communicating. I also drove it longer than I should have with the knock...

[SafeAirOne]

...Matt at overland has had my truck since October dealing with the results.

October??