Bomb proof my @rse!!!

[harlowmaverick]

Well as some of you may know I have had problems with a cracked head on my old engine, I bought another "Good Quality" low mileage second hand engine from a guy on Ebay called PRO PARTS (stay away from this guy if your buying on ebay).
This as it turns out also has a cracked head!
So from what I can see and making assumptions at the amount of new cylinder heads for sale on Ebay for the TD27 engine has led me to my final conclusion that these engines (especially the cylinder heads) are not bomb proof.
Always keep an eye on your coolant levels and make sure that there are no bubbles being blown into the header tank, if there are then this maybe a sign of not just a head gasket problem but also a cylinder head crack.

I hope by arming you with this information that firstly none of this will ever happen to you guys and girls, as you will know what to look out for when buying a vehicle fitted with a TD27 engine.
Secondly that you are all very careful as to whom you buy from on Ebay, I was misled and will be taking the appropriate actions.
As for my truck, any one want a good truck with a dodgy ticker?
Phil

 

[lacroupade]

Bad luck and commiserations - sorry to hear that.

But fair do's, when we say bomb-proof thats in the context of it benefitting from proper maintenance. Cracked heads and suchlike are more often than not due to coolant shortages and related issues, not because the engine is unreliable. And there are 000's of London black cab owners who would disagree with your assessment

Look at the K-series...stonking engine that even powered the Lotus Elise until they saw sense and went Toyota:lol....its a great design and a light unit with lots oomph for its size, but it carries about a teacupful of coolant. So let the level drop and you are scuppered, but that doesn't make the engine unreliable, just the driver

 

[kbekl]

really sorry to hear this harlowmaverick

seems that you show them a bit of water and they break as well lol

a new head is about £260 from milner's so see if you can get the seller of the engine to pay for that

this is the second cracked head you have had that is just pure bad luck

glad i have an isuzu now lol

 

[briggie]

i really feel sorry for you my friend , but properly maintained these engines run for ages .....when you consider just how many of the td27 engines are about ,it shows just how reliable they are ...ok , it doesnt help you , but its a small percentage and id guess most of those are down to poor maintainance history .

 

[briggie]

in the grand scheme of life ....when you consider the reliability of other engines against the td27 .... ie toyota surf, shogun, and the japanese vauxhall the isuzu ( amongst others ) you will see the td27 far outweighs them in terms of reliability , but like all engines , they need to be maintained properly .

 

[Muckypup]

Look at the K-series...stonking engine that even powered the Lotus Elise until they saw sense and went Toyota:lol....its a great design and a light unit with lots oomph for its size, but it carries about a teacupful of coolant. So let the level drop and you are scuppered, but that doesn't make the engine unreliable, just the driver

And it carried a design fault in the head gasket... too weak and go at the first sniff of moisture! Hence the new metal gasket replacement kit which makes these engines :thumb2 when bolted down properly!
There was also another design fault in the coolent system - a small metal hose at the rear of the engine. Rover being Rover they used the cheapest metal possible for this part and as it carries coolent at high temp it rots in no time (around 45,000 miles I believe!) this is the reason you saw so many at the side of the motorway with a blown head gasket back in the 90s, the pipe would leak, the low volume of coolent lost then bang the weak head gasket goes... most drivers wouldnt even notice the change in temp in time to pull over and save their engine cooking

 

[kbekl]

in the grand scheme of life ....when you consider the reliability of other engines against the td27 .... ie toyota surf, shogun, and the japanese vauxhall the isuzu ( amongst others ) you will see the td27 far outweighs them in terms of reliability , but like all engines , they need to be maintained properly .

japanese vauxhall in deed and this is coming from a japanese ford lol

the problem is you cant really include the reliabilty of the taxi's as these get majour overhals all the time and a very rigourous mot as well as major services all the time to keep them running good

the k-series managed this with the same treatment

no engine is bombproof as it is down to the owners of it over the life so
it seems from the forum they are not that reliable due to mine yours and now 2 of marlows as well as a few others that are having temp problems

 

[Muckypup]

Dont forget mine! It was petrol and had temp probs & head probs... yes I knew about that one too, pressure tested cyl no1 and it was fine, but there was rust appearing on the spark plug so something wasnt right.

And that night on the Blackpool run, it never dropped below 3/4 on the temp gauge, at times it was pushing the red

Being honest, if someone asked me about the reliability of a Terrano / Maverick... i'd have to steer them away
Shame because I thing Nissan were just a smidge away from making a quite brilliant truck

 

[lacroupade]

And it carried a design fault in the head gasket... too weak and go at the first sniff of moisture! Hence the new metal gasket replacement kit which makes these engines :thumb2 when bolted down properly!
There was also another design fault in the coolent system - a small metal hose at the rear of the engine. Rover being Rover they used the cheapest metal possible for this part and as it carries coolent at high temp it rots in no time (around 45,000 miles I believe!) this is the reason you saw so many at the side of the motorway with a blown head gasket back in the 90s, the pipe would leak, the low volume of coolent lost then bang the weak head gasket goes... most drivers wouldnt even notice the change in temp in time to pull over and save their engine cooking

Sorry lads but I've got to stick up for the old girl.

I've done well over 300,000 miles in these trucks and my problems have been only two; a knackered wheel bearing and an autobox that went west after I towed about twice the recommended weight over a long period :doh

As for the London taxis, I know three cabbies and (i) the MoT has got feck all to do with the engine and cooling system, and (ii) their servicing is even more sparse than ours.....it costs them money they don't want to shell out and its just as cheap/easy to take a chance and get minor faults fixed as they occur.

And I don't say this with any disrespect but the vehicles that are suffering head problems (which I'll say again are invariably because of cooling problems unless someone wants to prove otherwise??:nenau) are not exactly new are they? Buy a 15 year-old truck with unknown history and you have to expect problems, its a fact of life and a chance you take.

But put simply, if your truck has a coolant problem (leaking water pump, rad cap faulty, blockages, stat etc..etc..) and you don't fix it pronto, then guess whats going to happen?????? Does that make the engine unreliable? Absolutely not. Does it make the driver unreliable? I'll leave that one to you guys

You'll be telling me next its unreliable cos the tyres wear out...:doh

oh and two words for you...L*nd R*over.

The bottom line is that, of all the s/h 4x4s available, the Terrano/Maverick ranks as one of the best all-rounders in terms of reliability, kit, performance and, most vitally, cost.:thumb2

 

[kbekl]

Sorry lads but I've got to stick up for the old girl.

I've done well over 300,000 miles in these trucks and my problems have been only two; a knackered wheel bearing and an autobox that went west after I towed about twice the recommended weight over a long period :doh

As for the London taxis, I know three cabbies and (i) the MoT has got feck all to do with the engine and cooling system, and (ii) their servicing is even more sparse than ours.....it costs them money they don't want to shell out and its just as cheap/easy to take a chance and get minor faults fixed as they occur.

And I don't say this with any disrespect but the vehicles that are suffering head problems (which I'll say again are invariably because of cooling problems unless someone wants to prove otherwise??:nenau) are not exactly new are they? Buy a 15 year-old truck with unknown history and you have to expect problems, its a fact of life and a chance you take.

But put simply, if your truck has a coolant problem (leaking water pump, rad cap faulty, blockages, stat etc..etc..) and you don't fix it pronto, then guess whats going to happen?????? Does that make the engine unreliable? Absolutely not. Does it make the driver unreliable? I'll leave that one to you guys

You'll be telling me next its unreliable cos the tyres wear out...:doh

oh and two words for you...L*nd R*over.

The bottom line is that, of all the s/h 4x4s available, the Terrano/Maverick ranks as one of the best all-rounders in terms of reliability, kit, performance and, most vitally, cost.:thumb2

i dont know tbh these as you say are in the car matenace its self now a bombproof engine to me is one that dont need constant maintenance to keep it running

take the old mercs like the w124 (check out the video on youtube that fifth gear did) this is pritty much a bombproof engine as you can get and tbh their isnt much in the world that will out do it

the t2 isnt exactly high end spec's tbh even with the drum brakes on the 1995 when most other part time 4x4 had discs

then take into the fact that the tx1 has a better gear ratio menas that the engine isnt a hard pushed as it is in the terrano due to the gearing

i did like my mav when it was working properly

 

[Peasgood]

My Cabstar had a 27TD engine that blew up. A taxi driver friend of mine told me it was a common problem and many taxi drivers changed the engine in theirs. (to a Ford diesel IIRC).
On the other hand many of them just go forever.
As for the K series, I have one in my Rover. I thrash Hell out of it, regularly red line it and haven't so much as changed the oil in the year I have owned it. Nothing to brag about I know, but it ain't broke (yet).
ps. they will do 97.6mph in third before the limiter kicks in.

 

[clivvy]

interesting comments guys, and all are correct, arent they. personally though, i find most diesel engines to be very strong, especially the Fourtrak diesel lump, now thats a corker of an engine, if i wanted a 4x4 that didnt fuss over maintenance, id buy a fourtrak.

I love my Maverick, but i had no end of trouble when i first bought it, thankfully nothing head gasket related because its had a good history and well serviced.

the best engine ive ever come across, is the Mazda V6 aluminium engines. My MX6 recieves the least possible maintenance. in the four years ive owned it, its had one oil change/filter, one fuel filter, two coolant changes, one spark plug change and two air filter changes and during that time, never fussed, and doesnt fuss now, aweomse engine that will forgive you time and time again. My next car, will be a Mazda V6 but a smaller block, 1.8, i cant wait, but ill service and run my Maverick for as long as i possibly can, and if it lets me down, ill probably buy another one, they are brilliant machines and very underrated.

 

[TONUP]

has led me to my final conclusion that these engines (especially the cylinder heads) are not bomb proof.

I know exactly how you feel about your car at the moment, but, you, probably like many of us here will have all been are at that all time low, when you are desperately trying to revive a sick vehicle that absolutely refuses to respond to treatment. I can recount tales of many a dark cold wet winters evening spent labouring and cursing at the car, that I might be led under/or painfully contorted over trying to get running/repair, whilst it continues to remove the skin from my hands at every turn of the spanner.

Despite this though, I am quite philisophical about cars, and firmly believe that they are all built in varying, but fairly equal measures of sh!7ness. No one here can really believe that a car engine is bomb-proof. It's only mostly castings and nuts & bolts after all.

Alan

 

[clivvy]

aye, I certainly agree no engine is "bomb proof" but its just terminology. They are tough engines, no doubt about that.

 

[Adz]

Sorry lads but I've got to stick up for the old girl.

The bottom line is that, of all the s/h 4x4s available, the Terrano/Maverick ranks as one of the best all-rounders in terms of reliability, kit, performance and, most vitally, cost.:thumb2

I more than agree :thumbs :thumbs :thumbs

Just very bad luck

I will still stand firm on saying its the best diesel 4x4 engine by far :bow :clap :thumbs

A green oval would have died before i'd even started with & yet my old girls taken it. Ran on just about everything & ran through everything at all depths :thumbs




What i would do is buy a cylinder head & gasket kit from milners & make 1 engine with the best left over parts :thumbs

If youve had enough call me to discuss a price :thumbs

 

[briggie]

by comparison .... sheilas 1993 200 series disco has had...

complete new cylinder head and top end of engine

new radiator/oil cooler ( its auto )

new power steering pump

new alternator

new water pump

new rear shockers ( 4 )

s/h headlights ( x 2 )

new drivers door lock

 

[briggie]

and thats not mentioning the welding to the boot floor and underside of the body

 

[dinky]

Methinks someone wants to read his posts from when engine fitted and then saying he had bought a pup off e bay,dont blame nissan for your money cutting exercise.As for isuzu your time will come believe me.

 

[Adz]

Methinks someone wants to read his posts from when engine fitted and then saying he had bought a pup off e bay,dont blame nissan for your money cutting exercise.As for isuzu your time will come believe me.

& there bloody expensive when they go bang

 

[kbekl]

Methinks someone wants to read his posts from when engine fitted and then saying he had bought a pup off e bay,dont blame nissan for your money cutting exercise.As for isuzu your time will come believe me.

who bought a pup

pete now what is it you have had done to the nissan in total now ??

mine was never a pup mine was low millage and full ford and nissan service history and at 88000 miles hg failed still hasnt done 90000 miles yet, but that was down to me :augie:augie

actually reference isuzu i know a recovery man and asked his opinion on these befor i purchased one he said stay away from the 3l as it is a bit unreliable and he also went on to say that he has never had the privilege to tow one away :nenau

i understand the head gasket is a common fault on the 3.1td of mine but so is any hg :thumbs