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Old 02-04-2006, 05:46 PM   #4 (permalink)
TerryS
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Bloomfield, CT If I died today, I lived there all my life.
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I would like to Ditto everything Paul says, and add a few of my own opinions.
NEVER let it overheat. If you're on the highway and see the guage going into the Red, STOP and investigate; Don't try to get to the next exit. Overheat a Rover block can, and usually is fatal. I have learn to not trust LR electric temp guages and would always change them to a mechanical, capillary type. This type rarely fails, is more accurate, and reacts more quickly.
When (not 'if') you change your timing chain, change both sprockets. The crank sprocket is steel and will far outlast the cam sprocket, which is a diecasting with resin teeth. You don't have to spend the extra money for a double rollerchain set (aftermarket)
The case depth of the nitriding to LR cams is quite shallow, which is the primary reason they wear so badly. 75k and you can be pretty assured it is worn some and you're not getting full lift on either intake or exhaust. Reduction in performance is hard to notice, since the 3.9 isn't a powerhouse to begin with. When you pull the intake manifold to replace the lifters (always use new lifters with a new cam), have your injectors cleaned and checked. There are Bosch service centers all over the country.
Oil pump bottom plates wear also, so have it resurfaced or replace it. The gears don't seem to wear significantly, but the pressure drop from a worn bottom plate can be as much as 20 psi.
I swear by Mobil One, Castrol Syntec or other high quality Synthetic engine oils. Unrelated to the engine, but on that note, changed your R380 lube to synthetic ATF also. The gearbox will run a bit cooler with synthetic.
While on the subject of the transmission, consider adding an external engine oil cooler. R380s run very hot, and the engine oil cooler, being in the radiator (right side) tank, just makes keeping the engine cool that much more difficult.
Change your antifreeze often, at least annually. It's cheap compared to a sludged radiator, or worse, and overheated engine. Always run 50/50 water antifreeze, no more, no less.
The 3.9 is very rebuildable and provided you run good fuel, you can rebuild at 125-135K with out reboring, but the sleeve are fairly thing so don't figure on ever going beyond .020 oversized. If you get to that stage, use an American mfd ring set, such as Perfect Circle. They have better oil ring and the scrapers are much better defined than UK 'genuines'.
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