Seized 2012 1.6tdci

[imthejoker]

Hello all ,
             Gutted !!!!  After 3yrs owner ship and 126,292 on the clock, a stage 1(Ã,£199) , a new starter motor(Ã,£220), a new alternator(Ã,£447) the little 1.6 tdci blue beast has seized, the engine can be partially turned by hand and there's an audiable 'donk' and no more movement.
Im looking at getting a recon engine but im getting quotes of Ã,£1200 - can anyone advise me if this is correct and/or where i should be looking - and is it worth getting a reconn lump, should i flog it for scrap/parts/sold as a non-runner?
Id love to get her going again but as you can appreciate 1200notes is out of my price range.

any and all input is much appreciated, thank you.

     Joker.

[johnnyroper]

If it turns by hand somewhat then itââ,¬â,,¢s not seized totally suggested a failed belt/chain... I am not familiar with the 1.6 set up but wonder if it has one of those awful cassette belts that has failed. Itââ,¬â,,¢s around the mileage they usually go.

I would be inclined to delve a little deeper before opting for a recon as it could be cheaper to sort yours if itââ,¬â,,¢s a belt thatââ,¬â,,¢s gone.

[imthejoker]

Hi Johnnyroper,
                      Thanks for you reply - all visible belts inc cam belt are intact  - what did you mean by 'cassette belt' pls - also what about the audable 'donk' that can be felt when touching the engine. Iv been told by several people/places that im looking at Ã,£500+ just to get the head stripped down and investigated .

     Joker

[johnnyroper]

If it has the cassette belt aswell that is low down encased in oil,you have to remove covers to see it.
The noise could be piston hitting a valve if a belt has let go,I am just speculating as to a potential cause. If you try to turn engine are you able to see if the cam moves aswell before it stops and makes the noise?

[mike wilson]

I am fairly sure that only the 1.8l motor has the cassette belt.

Is it feasible to swap a whole front end with an earlier, 2L motor?  I'm thinking whole motive power and transmission, right out to the wheels, with the subframe and mounts.  You would probably need replacement modules as well but it strikes me that it would be an easier and cheaper option, if possible.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Do they really make a galaxy with a 1600 engine these days. My oh my no wonder the poor thing has packed up. They are big cars and with a fatty like me onboard that poor thing would be gasping and groaning all the way. Especially in this day and age of aggressive drivers, sometimes you need quite good acceleration like on a slip road and that poor little engine would be like a hamster powering a tugboat. However they are still the best cars made really, they all get you from A to B and letââ,¬â,,¢s face it the roads are so clogged up these days and nobody likes a Nigel mansell wannabe on the public highway.

[mike wilson]

The 1.5 engine produces up to 130BHP and substantial torques.....

[johnnyroper]

Yeah these modern smaller engines produce more power than the old vag units,we have a transit connect 1.5tdci at work and itââ,¬â,,¢s certainly no slouch.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

So impressive, itââ,¬â,,¢s amazing what they can do with modern technology. I imagine these engines make significant use of turbochargers and suchlike? Do they also need the premium fuels for extra power etc?

[brianh]

Most modern diesels are turbocharged, thats what the T in the tcdi bit above signifies. Very few cars require the premium fuels available - some petrol engines do, but its only the really high performance ones even then. (even quite a lot of small petrol engines get turbos now - such as the ecoboost ones from Ford)

Theres also improvements over the fuel injection on diesel engines allowing direct injection and higher pressures to better atomise the fuel that improves performance over older diesels.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Thank you, I remember when the turbo air pipe blew off on my Alhamb and the car was unbelievably slow, like 0-40mph in 20 seconds and top speed of 60mph.

I once had a Ford Focus mk2 1.8 tddi. Quite a big engine in some ways for the size of the car but that car was so very slow. I think it produced about 100bhp. Was very fun to drive though, I used to love going up steep hills in that in a low gear because it did have quite a lot of torque in fairness.

These little engines, are they just as reliable as the bigger ones or do they tend to wear out or break faster because there is more strain on it for instance turbo charger working like the clappers or bearings and things under more strain because they are smaller).

It is amazing what they are able to do with modern technology. I sometimes look at big American cars with huge engines and think to myself ââ,¬Å"is that all it can doââ,¬Â

[johnnyroper]

They are not under anymore strain than a larger engine as they have the bhp and torque out the box,you would probably use the smaller ford unit less than the vag unit with its higher torque meaning less stress on the motor. The turbos donââ,¬â,,¢t work any harder than older ones they just work more efficiently coupled with the improvements in fuelling etc. So long as servicing is carried out correctly there is no reason to expect less reliability.

Diesel technology has really come on in recent years just in time for the big cities to ban them😂 I have a 2.0 beemer that produces 215bhp and 450nm of torque, admittedly the timing chain set up is somewhat troublesome but a few years back it would be unheard of getting that power output from an inline 4 banger of that size. Still prefer a 6 cylinder mind as the beemer 3.0 lumps are a peach. If it wasnââ,¬â,,¢t for 3 kids and 2 rear seats I would have kept my 3 series coupe

[Mirez]

there is no reason to expect less reliability.

Unless it's got a Delphi part number on it!!

[johnnyroper]

Unless it's got a Delphi part number on it!!

Lol thatââ,¬â,,¢s true

[SirDavidAlhambra]

 

[brianh]

Count yourselves lucky that Britpart don't produce bits for anything besides Land Rovers - Delphi would be far preferable to most of the bits carrying their logo.

[johnnyroper]

Are britpart that bad then? Not had any dealings with them but a mate with a disco 3 gets his bits from them he reckons they are ok. Although he also reckons a disco 3 is a good motor. Having done lots of work on it over years I beg to differ. Front and rear arms on the drive ainââ,¬â,,¢t fun thatââ,¬â,,¢s for sure. Bolts seized in bushes etc. Rear arms were so rotted out I could get a fist in the hole!

[brianh]

Its more commonly referred to with the first two letters replaced with Sh. Some stuff is fine, other stuff is terrible (screws and stuff for some of the older models are only available from them, and in some cases you need a dozon of them to get 5 usable ones out of the pack).

Some of their stuff is other manufacturers parts in Britpart boxes - nothing wrong with those, but you've no idea which parts those might be, I've got a Britpart rear exhaust box on the Disco (bought off ebay not knowing it was theirs) which has fitted ok and seems to be made well enough so its not all awful, but I've seen other bits like a clutch slave cylinder last only 6 months on the series III. The local LR indy seems to share the same sort of opinion on their bits and will try to avoid where possible.

I'd personally only use them on non-critical stuff (trim clips, exhaust parts, etc) and look elsewhere as far as possible. Bearmach are generally a better bet. I've got a Disco 2, and a mate of mine has an old 1973 Series III, someone else he knows has an older Series IIa and for those two a lot of bits are Britpart or nothing. Not had anything LR based newer than the Disco 2, though the guy with the IIA does have a p38 and had a Freelander 2, the later of which seemed to be rather expensive to keep running. Hes got rid of the Freelander now though I don't think theres much difference between that and a disco 3.

Rot seems to plague a lot of Landrovers. mostly in areas where you can't see it underneath.

[SirDavidAlhambra]

Iââ,¬â,,¢ve always liked the idea of a Mercedes Viano because of the extra head room in the back but they all seem to be total rust buckets, I barely ever see any sort of large Merc over 5 years old which doesnââ,¬â,,¢t look like the underside of a tug boat.

Truth is, you just canââ,¬â,,¢t beat the Alhamb