Royboy Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 I've just bought a L200 as spares or repairs on eBay very cheap !! Im a car mechanic so obviously going to do jobs my self but what I was wondering was why do L200s go through engines ?? All you here about is head gaskets and shell bearings going bang, is there something I can do to avoid this ?? Frequent oil changes ?? Just incase there's any 4x4 specialists out there Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldweld Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Break it ! The engines are **** mind was serviced every year with good oil BUT still destroyed it's self at 55,000 miles (v6 Petrol), A mate had the timing pulley fail destroying his Diesel engine. I now have a 90 he has a D-Max Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Its an old L200 the simple thing is they get used and abused, there is a slight issue with heads cracking but new ones are £400 or so. Considering the lives they live they are no worse than anything else and a 14 year old car is going to have the odd problem. Shell bearings are rare but seem to be linked to the above issue. I've had 3 L200's now and done 200K in them, the only problem I had was a dodgy head on a 2001 one which was dirt cheap and an ex shb hire vehicle. It had worked hard once fixed it was fine, other than that rear springs go at 70k or so but the newest one has been great so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesj Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 The crank pulley / damper cause most of the bottom end problems they can come loose or the 2 parts can separate. Head gaskets are a big problem on the 03, 04 mostly. one problem is the egr coolers can leak and pressurize the cooling system, it doesn't that much water loss to cause an over heat and the heads don't put up with over heating very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Well I've drove it back and it runs sweet until I was nearly home ! Steering was all over the place and front left wheel skipping round corners then it would cut out. Leave it a minute and it will start up again ! When it won't start the 4x4 light is flashing ? They did tell me this issue on the add Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluesj Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 The 4x4 light is most likely because there is no vacuum when the engine isn't running and the free wheel unit in the vacum opperated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddoakley Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Been looking that the flashing 4wd light on mine today! Generally it's just a solenoid but also been told there is some sort of switch on the gear stick. The 4wd light on mine flashes while it's in 2wd but stays on all the rest of the time. Does not affect the car in any way. Mine is a 2003 warrior (2.5 td). I have owned it for about 5 years. It's covered about 150k miles, probably less than 30k of them by me. I put a set of leaf springs on it a few years back and as far as I remember that's the biggest thing I have ever had to do. I just spent 500 on a full service and mot. It needed some fuel pipes and brake pipes and again that's the biggest mot fail it's ever had! I was having the tracking done on Tuesday so while it was on the ramp I took the chance to have a good look around and I can't find anything more than surface rust. Although on the downside I noticed it will probably need an exhaust soon. It doesn't get abused but neither does it get well cared for. It has fluids checked occasionally and that's about it. It really has been one of the best vehicles I have owned. It's very clean and tidy and I will happily drive it anywhere whether it be a motorway run or into town. (Although parking isn't always easy as it has the turning circle of the qe2) Had a few mates have similar age ones and they have all been good too. Although we have all heard the nightmare stories I don't actually know anyone who has had a bad one. Best of luck fixing yours up. Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firdom Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 http://www.l200forum.com/ Join here loads of helpfull info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Cheers guys for replies, I'll have a play with it on my dinner break tomorrow, hopefully it will be something and nowt ! Then it will be a real bargain ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crossy 666 Posted January 21, 2016 Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 I have had mine for about 6/7 years and every time we have some bad weather or I need it to do a job it brakes on me. I will stick to my fourtrak that's bullet proof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
al4x Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 The crank pulley / damper cause most of the bottom end problems they can come loose or the 2 parts can separate. Head gaskets are a big problem on the 03, 04 mostly. one problem is the egr coolers can leak and pressurize the cooling system, it doesn't that much water loss to cause an over heat and the heads don't put up with over heating very well How does this cause the crank problems? The pulley when it separates just means it doesn't turn the alternator belt afaik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 Sorted the clunk, inner cv boot was split and dry *** owt, now got to sort the intermittent cutting out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackbart Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 I had one last year that i spent more time under than in. Blank the egr off if it hasnt been done already. If it hasn't the inlet will be like treacle and have very restricted airflow which wont help it. THE very first thing i would do on a L200 of this age is do a compression test and then work back from there To find running problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Royboy Posted January 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 26, 2016 (edited) Quick update and I managed to strip the cambelt covers today to remove the crank sensor and found the pick up bent and been rubbing on the sensor it's self, the cambelt looks new with new pulleys so maybe somebody's damaged it trying to pull the bottom crank pulley off ?? Gona bend it straight and fit new sensor tomorrow and fingers crossed it will have sorted it Edited January 26, 2016 by Royboy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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