I'm swapping out the Timing Chains etc now on my LR 4. Its a tough job, but not that bad. I'm installing a new Water Pump, Thermostat, & Main Seal while the Engine is torn down.
The timing chain tensioner issue was prevalent in the early 5.0 MYs. I believe the guides were updated pre-'14. Still, the general consensus, even with the update is to change the oil frequently. I have a few variations; all are good, ranging between 97K and 225K. Fingers crossed, and a garage that looks more like the oil aisle at an automotive store.
I completely agree. I prefer right at about 5000 miles on the oil with a good quality oil and filter. We’ve seen the most timing issues with dealer serviced 15,000 mile oil changes. It definitely makes a difference.
My name is Terry Turner I am thinking about buying a 2012 land rover 124000 miles Looks great inside and out So far no issues but I'm going back to look at it again this week
Really peed off.. my LR3 HSE got totalled last week. I've been running synthetic since I got it with 50k on. Now has 190k and still quiet and ran perfectly. Not many around so now having to look at lr4. The high maintenance, troublesome younger sister.
That really sucks. The LR3s are really workhorses. The LR4 is a touch nicer all the way around in my opinion but that comes with the touch higher maintenance requirements with them though. I enjoy them both, but the 5.0 LR4 does really have the correct amount of power in my opinion.
I have a 2006 supercharge 113000 miles never replace the timing chain still running good the only problem is the suspension problem I swap air suspension to struts
Yes, the earlier 4.2 doesn’t suffer the same timing chain problems. Those are generally a pretty stout engine. The coil spring swap was a good way to prevent any future problems there.
We don’t do any public service anymore, but when we were most landed in the $5-7000 range depending on parts needed. We usually recommend the coolant pipes and water pump at the time of service since we were in there. The. Some of them junked the oil feeds like this one did.
Yea the belt stuff doesn’t make the rattle, chains are typically supposed to last much longer than the interval of the belts. Do you know the age of the belt on yours time wise? With those time can be just as bad as miles on them.
I saw there was a potential class action lawsuit for this. Supposedly it was for models made between 2012 - 2014. Do you know if later models have the updated guides?
Just those years as far as I know. And it was pro rated up to 8 years and 100k miles. So unfortunately a lot of the ones that we have fixed are not covered because it’s after that mileage mark. Supposedly 2013 was supposed to have the updated guides.
@@LostCauseRanch is there any way to check, maybe with VIN, whether a 2013 LR4 has the updated guides with that fancy steel button? Besides opening up the whole motor?
Looking at a 2011 lr4 with 188k. Looks in great shape. Car fax doesn’t mention chains/guides. Is it safe to assume one with 188k had to of had to get the updated parts?
There is a fair chance they have been, but with that said I just acquired a 2011 LR4 with 183k miles that needs chains. So they can make it that far on the original chains. Hard to tell and without records I would go into the purchase assuming they haven't been changed.
Great video, I have a 2019 Velar with the P340 3.0 supercharged V6, what are these like for timing issues? Anything else to be aware of? It has around 90K miles on it and I’ve been thinking about doing the timing chains soonish.
I own a 2008 LR3 SE V8 with 92k miles on her and crazy as it may sound I change the oil every 3 months. I love Land Rovers but their sometimes pain in the butt gremlins hurt my wallet. So I play it safe and do preventive maintenance change parts before they go if needed. Cheers 🇬🇧 🍻
Good video sir! A question for you. Do you see the Jaguar AJ8 4.2 litre supercharged in America? If so do they also suffer with the tensioner eating it's way into the rail like you have just shown in the video? I'd be interested as I'm looking to buy a RangeRover L322 with the 4.2 supercharged engine here in the UK and I want to forearm myself before I start looking at them.
We got those from 06-09 model year over here. Same basic setup as the 4.4 non supercharged in the Lr3 and Range Rover. Haven’t seen the same timing chain issues on those.
Nice to hear. What year and what had your oil change schedule been? Always curious to hear the differences in maintenance leading up to chain issues. Can’t confirm that it the reason behind issues but we saw more prevalent problems with with dealer maintained at 15k mile interval and less enthusiast type of owners. More so regular vehicles for them with less care.
Well, ours drove into a Euro shop, they diagnosed timing service and did it. Now the truck hesitates from 2,000-2,500 rpm. They re-diagnosed fuel pump and filter. Still hesitates. I’m thinking I should bring it to you guys to take a look at it. My wife loves her truck and its been at the euro shop for a month. Never brought it home.
There are a few theories on the various Land Rover forums that the increased wear on the guides may be caused by consistently high-ish oil pressure within the engine, if I'm understanding correctly. The general consensus I've read seems to indicate that _very_ regular oil changes (every 3-5K miiles) significantly helps mitigate this too high of pressure (as well as reduce wear from dirty oil), which causes the guides to wear much, much more slowly than the guides in engines that are doing the "Land Rover Recommended" oil change interval... which is a crazy "every 15K miles" oil change. Any thoughts on this?
I personally would have the opposite thought on the oil, in that it would be lower pressure because of age/breakdown. Typically the oil thins out/breaks down with age and you see oil pressure drop. Unless the filter was plugged and causing a rise in oil pressure but not high enough for the bypass. But I am by no means a expert in the oil field. But I do agree in the thought process of the long factory interval being a big factor in the early wear.
I know this a year late, but living in Taiwan, cars here have oil changes every 3,500 miles! You see a lot of old Japanese cars still running. My wife is still driving her Nissan Lavina, and that's 10 years old and runs very well.
Less prevalent than the earlier ones, I wouldn’t let it haunt you. You usually hear a rattle on startup or have a check engine light pop on with timing related codes.
5 minutes is a little longer that I like to see but yes if it just in cold days during cold start it usually isn’t a huge deal at the moment. A lot of that has to do with oil being “thicker” in the cold and not fully pumping the tensioners or cam adjusters until it warms up.
If it bends valves it usually doesn’t run anymore. But if you are popping back through the intake it is way out of time and I would venture to guess it is not long for this world and ready to let go. I personally wouldn’t run it anymore as it adds a ton of cost if it actually breaks.
The tensioners are oil pressure driven Not servicing the car every 5000 miles making sure you have the right oil density and oil pressure it’s gonna give you timing chain issues
I have a 2012 RRS SC and I’m in the middle of repairing the timing system myself. Funny enough, the same bolt for the passenger side guide and oiler was broken on my engine too! Even part of the oiler was down below the crank wedged in just like yours. What method do you guys use to remove the broken bolt in the block? Engine has 118k miles and was always dealer serviced by the previous owner up to 105k. Land Rover shops in my area quoted $7k and the dealer quoted $9k.
Great video - you crack me up almost as much as I crack myself up......quick question my 2012 LR4 is a month shy of hitting 100k (I bought it new I'm one of those rare original owners that drives their vehicles until the wheels fall off before getting another one but properly maintaining it the whole way) and outside of maintenance the ONLY thing I've had to replace is the rear view mirror due to the Homelink buttons mushing out and not working. I'm starting to hear some timing chain slap every 3rd or 4th startup so it's time to have the work done and I am currently weighing some repair costs. I have to wonder though what is going to break next and is it worth it to keep it or should I seriously think about a new vehicle. And finally here's my question - the ZF 6HP28 transmission in this vehicle - do you consider it strong and capable of going at least 150K miles before its needs attention? If it's going to crap out soon that would be another HUGE expense to face next. Thanks!
That's too bad. I was looking at a 2012 LR4 for $18k and it looks nice! Does anyone know how much it costs to replace the timing chain? By the way, great video!!
A dealer here in the North East quoted me (worst case scenario) $7,000 for the work. It does come with a 2 year warranty and fixes some coolant items like the pump.
Have a 2012 Land Rover lr4 and it has intermittent full power. If I crank the car it doesn’t have power and if I drive for a few minutes and cut it off and crank it right back up it has full power. Any idea what could be causing that?
They can definitely be good vehicles, just has the same caveat as any of the luxury brands with potential maintenance costs. Certain ones have certain problems that can be expensive. Also, the big thing is finding a reputable/trustworthy independent shop that can take care of you and not advantage of you. I have had generally good luck as long as you go in knowing that it is going to have a higher running cost than say a Toyota.
We were typically in the $5-6,000 range at our shop when we were doing customer work. That’s with oem chain parts and doing water pump and coolant pipes and some other miscellaneous stuff.
I wouldn’t say guaranteed. But the early ones it is prevalent. I typically tell people just to budget it in when you are deciding on the purchase. Then if it happens it’s not a huge deal, and if it doesn’t you have extra money around. I will say the factory recommended extended length oil change does not help the cause.
I just bought a 2010 LR4 with 140k miles for 5k. Beautiful truck runs very good but when you start it and sit in idle it has a little vibration. I assumed the timing chain wasn’t done but was hoping it would hold for a year or two but I think I have to address it right away (gulp) little nervous on how much this will cost me and if it’s in the 2-3k range then I think I might had made out for a total of 8k but that’s wishful thinking 🤞 Any idea what todays cost will be for a timing chain replacement? *Update* I paid $4,850 to resolve my problem. Been in the shop for 3 weeks I pick it up in 5 days.
DAMN!! I wish I saw this 24 hours ago ... We JUST bought a 2014 LR4!!! The wife's 2012 LR2 has 200+K and still drives like new. What does the timing chain replacement run ball park??
I wouldn’t lose sleep over it on a 2014, still a possibility but not near as prevalent of problem as the 10-12s. I would just move my oil changes to 5-7k miles with good quality oil.
@@tclodfelter8789 That is good, the other thing to keep an eye on is the coolant level. They have plastic coolant pipes under the supercharger that can leak and have seen head gaskets taken out by people not paying attention and overheating the engine. You seem like someone who isn’t going to be oblivious to that so you should be alright.
Hi guys thanks for your video, Really helpful. I have a 2012 rangy autobiography with 116,000 miles and this will be the third time the timing chain will be replaced. Is that normal or something else is wrong with the engine? Thanks
I would say something is going wrong. I would check and make sure the oilers for the chain are in good shape. We usually don’t have to ever do chains a second time. Can also have cam gear issues. But I would say that is abnormal especially at that mileage.
Also, what are you/they using for parts? Doing all the guides and tensioners as well? Just curious as something isn’t going quite right for sure. Thanks for the kind words.
@@LostCauseRanch my mechanic gets the parts from Land Rover dealership, I did mention what you told me and he agreed with you so he will look at it too. Nice rooftop for your camping tent on your last video, I’ll get that for my when I get it back for sure. I live in Washington state and we do a lot of camping stuff here.
My apologies because I know you not asking me. However, these vehicles have low reliability rates, with the advice of keeping a few thousands $ in reserve for repair- lowest I heard was $5K and highest $15K. Yet most don’t buy them for reliability but for comfort and capabilities. I have a ‘02 P38…. It’s still going because I love the ride and comfort and repair when things stop working.. not sure when to let it go, so it seems like I’m addicted when I spend rent money to keep it running
My 2011 Range Rover Sport Supercharged timing chain catastrophically failed and resulted in at least one bent valve. Car only had 64K miles on it. Would never buy one again. 👎🏻
They are considerably better. But we have still had to replace chains in 13s as well. We also just did chains in a 16 and have another 16 that is making quite the racket and waiting for chains as well.
Just saw this video as a result of searching because, you guessed it, time to replace the timing chain and tensioners in my '15 LR4 with the 3L SC motor and currently at 78K miles. The dealer said it wasn't absolutely necessary to do it right now but as he pointed out, do you really want to gamble with catastrophic failure? For some time now the car definitely sounds like it's a diesel but once it warms up it goes away, thus the reason I didn't have too much concern...but I do now after watching this! I intend to keep the vehicle so it's money well spent. Love the boxy look and it does everything I ask of it. A new car will bring with it a different set of problems (and a huge price tag) and as I work through the various weaknesses (coolant pipes for one) I'm just making it a stronger vehicle. It's the HSE LUX and has every feature available including the dual transfer case so I guess I'll hang on to it for a while. 😁
In reading the TSB from Land Rover on this issue, it seems that the chain tensioner was corrected in the 2013 models with the 5.0. Is that the case, or do you see all 5.0 engines with similar failure mode regardless of year? I’m scouring the market for “the right Rover”, and want to make the best choice… Love your content!
Yes, they updated to the tensioner rails with the steel button. So the 2013 would be the one to get in the 5.0 variety. Although, with that caveat, we still have replaced timing chains in those as well, just much more rare and usually coincides with extended oil changes.
Nope, no adjustment beyond what the tensioners automatically adjust. And part of the slack comes from the wear into the back of the tensioner guide rails themselves.
When we were open to the public for repair we usually landed between $5-6000 to do them correctly depending on what else needed to be replaced while we were in there. We always did water pump, coolant pipes, spark plugs at the same time.
They are kind of starting to climb over here. 2013’s and 2016’s are appreciating right now as they are the last year of the v8 and last year of the LR4(Discovery 4) respectively.
At Richard Haywood we don’t have the 5.0 V8 here in the UK. (Unless imported) As for the 4.4 V8 they were very rare & only people with no money worries would buy them from new. As for the second hand value they are climbing through the roof in value & well on the way to classic status & sought after. Try looking on auto trader. Anything from £10k to £20k For a 14 to 16 year old model.
On a 2016 I would just make sure you shorten the oil change interval from the factory 15k mile recommendation. It will have the updated timing components so you are not guaranteed a failure. There really isn't a set time and the vast majority of the V6's fair well if they are maintained well.
What a comedian! I subbed straight away. Just going to get myself a 4.2 supercharged RR or sport, and if it has timing chain issues I will do it myself as I used to be on the spanner's ( wrenches to you over the pond ) for over 20 years and was until 4 years ago a regular Land Rover owner with a total of 4 Landies from a 1960 series 2 up to a Discovery 2 V8i of 1999 vintage. Really looking forward to owning a green oval vehicle again
the RRS i have now is a 2013, i bought it with 20k miles on it, did timing chains, guides and tensioners at 75k miles, it now has 105k miles on it, and tensioners just started rattling at warm start up, its a big job, with the supercharger i found out its a bigger job : ) frustrating because i change the oil every 5k miles specifically to avoid having to do them again. my las RRS was a 08 4.2 supercharged, changed oil every 5k, and never had the engine apart, sold it at 185k trouble free miles : )
Yea, the VVT stuff is very problematic with extended/poor oil changes. The control ports are small so it doesn’t take much to coke them up and start causing havoc.
When we were doing it for customers it usually landed in the 5-6k range but depending on where and what all is getting replaced it can vary a bit from there, have heard of some nearing $10k.
I’ve come from the European servicing world so the air suspension has never bothered me much as it seems to have been more reliable than the Mercedes/Audi stuff of the same era that we were always replacing. But generally the LR3 has been less costly to keep going, I just really like the power of the 5.0 v8 though. Worlds difference vs. the LR3, especially if you upsize the tire.
I have a 2016 LR 4 SCV6. Has 52,000 miles on it. My my mechanic,specializes in Land Rovers/RR recommends I change the oil and filter every 5,000 miles, which I do. Should I worry about the Timing change at this point?
Sounds like you are going to the right mechanic, keep on that schedule and I wouldn't worry about chains on a 2016. The SCV6's that we have seen chain issues with are ones that went with the factory recommended 15k mile interval or longer (If you tell people 15,000 miles that means some will push it to 20,000). The other nice thing about the 5,000 mile interval is that gives your mechanic the ability to keep an eye on it better and catch any upcoming issues sooner.
Thank you. This my fourth LR/RR. I think it was foolish decision by LR to discontinue this model. My opinion is the LR 4 is the best all around vehicle they’ve ever made. Do really care for the new Defender. I’ve owned a Dico, RR Sport,LR3 and my current LR4. Love your comments.
Yes, depends on how catastrophic of a failure it is. We have had some jump timing and bend valves, you can remove the cylinder heads with the engine in place although it is very tight on the v8.
Own a 2012 LR4, 5.0L. How much does this job typically cost, including labor? That would be really helpful for me in making a decision here. Thank you!
Needed new timing chain at 60,000 miles on a 2012 LR4 (11 years old) I've owned since new. The transmission needed a rebuild after failing post a fluid change for 60,000 maintenance- advice is to replace fluid every 30,000 going forward. Then the steering rack failed at 65,000 - replaced both the rack and pump. Rough city driving with low annual mileage. Before that most problems were need to replace front control arms around 40,000 with bushings needing replacement well before then.
Hard to say. I think a lot of it has to do with oil quality and oil change interval. I see no issues with the updated stuff going a couple hundred thousand miles if you are much shorter on oil changes than the factory recommended.
We typically wait until they start showing signs of issues since it is an expensive job. Typically you have fair warning with either a check engine light or noise.
70k mikes is the earliest we personally have had to do them. The bulk of the ones we do are in the 90-120k mile range just for reference. Have also seen them past that 120k mark and not need them yet.
What is up L.C.R. I have a 2012 LR4 I purchased from someone out of state as is I was told the car sat for a while because the previous owner turned the car off after white smoke. Now my dads mobile mechanic came and tried to turn the engine from starter motor hole and told me engine doesn't turn that its most likely seized. Do you think it can be timing chain or something else instead any suggestions? Where are you guys located how much do you charge for this particular type of work?
Atlantic British has a fairly complete part kit for them if you were to source the parts yourself. You just need a few extra things on top of that. Then it calls for close to 20 hours of labor to complete.
This was a great video. I have a 2011 Land Rover LR4 HSE and I love it. I’m currently having issues with my timing chain, possible head gasket leak and need to find a good mechanic to fix it. I’m willing to spend the money please let me know if your interested in fixing my truck it would be great content!
We don’t service customer vehicles anymore. But most of them tan in the $5000-6000 range depending on what other parts were needed while we were in there.
We have a 2016 LR4, 100k miles, owned since 2019, at the time of purchase low miles. The timing chain went, maverick mechanic and LR Dealer said we need a new engine. The car has been serviced regularly at LR Dealer where we bought the car, the engine light has been a frequent problem since we purchased the car. We also recently (last 6 mo) complained of a pinging noise upon start up and excelling. Do we have a case for zero responsibility? Does the timing chain just go? Or is it over time becomes loose then catastrophic? Trying to build a case would love your insight.
I only have 40,000 miles on my 2016 LR4 HSE and the timing chain was leaking, conveniently right after my warranty expired. It was March 2021 when the dealership supposedly resealed it for a whopping $1,200. I am just posting this comment to let you know this can happen sooner than 80-100,000 miles. I really want to keep my vehicle so hopefully I can get it repaired by a reputable mechanic. Thank you for your video! Where are you located? I will bring it to you. 😃
After reading about the timing chain issues even with the newer models and different engines..I’m thinking it’s because of the terrible oil change intervals they do..it’s way too long!! And the oil they recommend for these massive engines is low grade. No wonder
Agreed, the factory service interval is way too long. The last 2013 LR4 we did chains on was dealer services at the recommended intervals and we had to do chains at 70k miles. We put our customers at 5-7k miles intervals.
Debating a 2013 with 125k miles and a 2016 with 77k miles -- both have great carfax records and cosmetically look well kept. the 2016 is almost double the price.... what do you think?
Who hurt you? Haha no just kidding. There isn’t a manufacturer out there that doesn’t have some sort of issues. Everything is junk anymore. But the way I look at it is these are now priced at a discount because of the common timing chain scare, similar to the 996 IMS devaluing those. So if you go in to the purchase with the money to fix the chains set aside or planned, if it ever happens you are not in a panic. But I’ve daily driven the same 2010 LR4 for the last 4 years, towed another LR4 with it 1500 miles. It has done everything I’ve asked it to, has been one of my favorite vehicles. But I will say it also helps that I can work on it myself. But outside of doing timing chains at 100k miles on mine it hasn’t had any out of the norm maintenance or problems.
