'16 LR4 Engine Replacement options

[q5sys]

So I've had a spot of bad luck (new water pump gernaded itself), so I'm in the market for a new engine. I'd prefer go new from the dealer, if one of the dealers around me would actually reply to my messages... but in the deafening silence I've been getting, I've been investigating other sources for a long block motor. There's the tapa jaguar land rover engines people that have the worst website in history, there's the roverland parts people, and there's Theroversport... and of course for ***** and giggles... ebay just to see what the resellers are getting.

And I've noticed something odd. The Reman AJ123 and AJ133 long block engines seem to sell at basically the same price. Same holds true for used engines, though sometimes the SCV8 is cheaper.

So this got me thinking, if I'm replacing my SCV6 anyway, and the body is coming off and I'm stripping it all the way down, realistically how much more difficult would it be to swap in an SCV8? I know I'd need the charger for the AJ133, exhaust manifolds, engine wiring harness, and I assume the ECU as well... but are there any big compatibility gotchas with doing this?

As a VW/Audi guy for most of my life, I prefer sticking with OEM when possible and doing OEM+ type work including engine swaps, because *** makes it so easy.

But if I am going outside the family so to speak with parts, I have seen people talk about an LS swap. Anyone have an idea on total price of parts for something like that? Would I still be in the same price range? If one goes this route, does it present any difficulties when scanning the car with my Autel?

 

[ftillier]

Assuming you meant SCV8, I think that sounds epic, there's a few folks that have done it. I think going outside of JLR will be difficult in terms of keeping the various electronic modules happy.

 

[q5sys]

Assuming you meant SCV8, I think that sounds epic, there's a few folks that have done it. I think going outside of JLR will be difficult in terms of keeping the various electronic modules happy.

Yea I meant SCV8... typo on my part, thanks for pointing it out, I fixed it.

 

[powershift]

I'm a big fan of the LS engines. Had 2 LS1's, LS6, LS3, LS7 and the latter was the best of them all but least reliable. Thought a lot about the swap but its too hard. The Range Rover SC V8 is doable, someone just posted about it and as you know it has plenty of power.

Before I bought my LR4 I researched new engine costs and talked to TAPA. He had me convinced his engines were bored out for more power, but didn't have ET's or dyno graphs to show. I asked for specifics about the cylinders, did the math and it came out to 305 CI. I couldn't trust him and think he would screw me over, but he did have some good advice about costs and what to expect with a R&R. In the end I didn't need a new engine.

 

[powershift]

If you start the SCV8 swap, post back what you experience

 

[q5sys]

Mechanically I'm not too worried about the swap, what I am worried about is the software side of things. I can source the entire Engine Assembly, Harness, ECU, etc; without too much issue. My question is obviously, when I plug everything up, how much complaining is my LR4 Electronics going to dislike that there's an Engine ECU from a different VIN. If it were just another LR4, probably not much of an issue since it'll be within an acceptable range, but Im guessing a AJ133 from another JRL project is going to be a mismatch.

I saw the thread by @Tapps33 but from what I saw he's still very much in the mechanical build phase and hasn't gotten to the electronics phase yet. I've seen videos of a white LR4 with a v8 in it, but Ive never found a detailed writeup on how the shop handled the engine side of things. For all I know they did standalone management for it.

That's really the only part I'm worried about and I want to get a handle on if that's going to be a roadblock before I start laying down money to acquire everything. I dont so much care about being able to do the software programming myself (although that'd be nice). If all I needed to do was download my cars CCF, ship my ECU and the doner ECU to someone and pay them to do it... I'd jump on that in a heartbeat. I'd be willing to pay for that part of the project so I can focus on the mechanical side of things.

 

[powershift]

This is the thread I was referring to https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/land-rover-lr4-supercharged-swap.49313/

For the software you can download a VM complete with SDD already installed https://www.jaguarforum.com/threads/jaguar-sdd-in-virtual-image.108460/

I use that VM and currently have the Drew Tech Mongoos rip-off dongle for $30. It will program and read codes, but it won't read live values so I'm looking at this one https://vxdiag.com/collections/vcx-...ion-vxdiag-vcx-nano-for-jaguar-and-land-rover to replace it. Apparently it too comes with SDD as did the Mongoose. There are genuine options for $500+ sold out of Europe.

 

[Bokbfok]

Maybe reach out to Matt & Jordon at www.roadsidewerx.com.
Here is a video of their swap.

If my motor goes, I will probably consider somethin similar.

 

[Waterndirt]

My 2015 original SCV6 engine developed a leaking thermostat. At 60K on the motor I figured I'd complete some preventative maintenance by swapping the coolant pipes, front and rear and water pump. All work was completed by a reputable independent local shop. The next morning, whamo! White smoke out the back. Blown head gasket.

Moving forward, we settled on a reman engine from NWS Motor Services. 2 motors ended up being installed. First one sounded like a tractor and the second couldn't be timed properly and had some sort of assembly grease inside the VVTs. Both ended up being rejected by the shop. The third motor they bought directly from a local LR dealer now sucks down 2 quarts of oil every 1000 miles.

It was a terrible experience to say the least. I'm sure it was a one off experience but the LR4 reman engine market is a scary place.

 

[q5sys]

Sharing what I've found so far... I've done a bit of research using whatever images I have been able to find in listings and verify with a VIN back to the salvage auction so I can verify what engine the vehicle had. It looks like for the most part the harnesses aren't that much different. They all have the normal stuff and then two large plugs at the end, the ECU plug seems common, The other is the plug from the Engine Harness into the Main engine bay harness. And that is very different. I looked for L405, because that's most of the SCV8 motors I can find.
It maybe be possible to use an L320 harness on the L405 engine... I haven't yet been able to track down wiring diagrams for the L319/320/322 engine harnesses or for the L405.

EDIT:
Bit of an update as to why I'm looking at L405 stuff...

Based on what I've dug around online and found (if those sources were accurate), my late model L319 has the Bosch MED17.8.31 and not the earlier Denso EMS. From what I can tell at this point (and I may be 100% wrong on this) it might mean I've got a better chance with an early L405 rather than an L322... assuming I can figure out the harness issues. I need to break out my scope and try to find the label on my harness so I can figure out exactly what it's got.

The final VIN LR4 was GA850029. Mine is 842640, so roughly 7,389 vehicles built after mine at the Solihull line. Date on the VIN placard is July 2016, which would line up with the very end of the production run.
I have the HSE Silver Edition which from what one dealership told me is/was basically the HSE with all the tech upgrades but not the full LUX package.
But it being such a late run, my vehicle seems to have gotten stuff that was just available and they didn't want to not use I guess? I've got the factory heated windscreen, even though I dont have heated seats or the steering wheel (I retrofitted the steering wheel and I plan to do the seats.) I also have the ACC module and wiring under the front bumper, but I dont have the controls in the wheel. (I also plan on adding those.)