Another Front Crossover - Right on Schedule !

[txfromwi]

Questions at the end....


47,490 miles, 2015.

It's been smelling suspicious for a few weeks.
This morning, Low Coolant Alarm.
And a small puddle of coolant on the garage floor - feels and tastes like coolant.
And I can see that tell tale bit of yellow coolant (under UV) when looking way down in there at that one location at the oil filter.
Immediately taken out of service.

But due to a torn rotator cuff, impending surgery and life in general, it looks like it very well might remain out of service until probably January 2027 when I can finally get to it - we shall see. Good thing I have a battery saver....


QUESTIONS

The last time I did this, the locally available aluminium bits just did not impress me and I went with OEM plastic.
But that was three years ago, and I apologize for not keeping up, but do we have a vendor on the aluminium bits that produces high quality parts we like??

Also

Is that little plastic elbow at the water pump available in aluminium yet?
Last time it was available in brass but I went with plastic due to concerns about the brass and incompatibility issues between materials of construction - probably being overly cautious.
I would like to go with metal - and prefer aluminium.

And

Did I see a post recently that talked about using a metal (probably brass) cap on that bleed port on the Front Cross Over?
Details and reports on reliability on that if available please - especially on an alumimium crossover,

I do believe that I will also do a few more you-might-as-well projects as long as I am in there - more on that in another post - especially the new (of at least not noticed until the bonnet is open) noise (ugh...)

Thanks All !

 

[16FujiDisco]

JLR has metal front pipes; have not seen metal rears yet. To me it’s worth the extra $$ for OEM metal ones, others seem to require a little modification either with different o-rings, or trimming the screw mounting hole. I used plastic rears when I jut did mine, just going to be a 50k mi service part.

Elbow is available in brass

Bleed caps are brass as well; look back through my old post, I put some PN#s for Amazon and parts store.

My 120k mi service included all this plus all new pulleys, thermostat etc. Basically new everything you touch for this job.

 

[powershift]

Sorry to hear that. The brass bleeder cap is holding up on mine since 2024 26k miles.

I'm weary of the metal pipes before people put miles on them and talk about their experience. It might be better to go with the devil you know, but if you are a gambling man the metal pipes may save R&R time in the future and associated costs if it lasts longer than 47k mi..

 

[ugmw177]

for the SC 3.0, i would use the JLR aluminum front crossovers. I would avoid the aftermarket metal ones. Rear heat manifold I would use the oem plastic.
unfortunately there are not jlr metal pipes for the NA 5.0v8

 

[ugmw177]

for the SC 3.0, i would use the JLR aluminum front crossovers. I would avoid the aftermarket metal ones. Rear heat manifold I would use the oem plastic.
unfortunately there are not jlr metal pipes for the NA 5.0v8

 

[txfromwi]

Thanks everyone!

A you-might-as-well that comes to mind.

What about cleaning the intake valves?
Would need to be accomplished through the intakes, I am not taking it any farther apart than necessary.
I may be able to do the crossovers - but at the end of the day I am only a reasonably capable shade tree mechanic with access to the internet, I don't want to get in over my head.

I have seen things like walnut shell blasting, but I have always questioned how to keep particulate out of the cylinders - and/or do I need to rotate the crank by hand - (always clockwise (?) by looking from the front to the back - at least per my understanding)

When it was running with the hood open it was making what I consider excessive noise - I will post about that later to get opinions.

 

[powershift]

I was taught by my childhood friends that to clean the valves take it on a freeway and/or frontage road run. Driving up a long grade on the freeway in 3rd, get the RPM's up around 5k RPM's and let it work. But I have zero evidence any of that matters. It sounds more like an excuse to drive at the top of the power band.

In the case of physical cleaning the risk is getting carbon debris that isn't really a problem down into the jug area and could get on top of the rings and potentially score the walls but I haven't seen that. If its running rough then potentially it could be valves not seating and for that the heads would need to come off.

 

[16FujiDisco]

I was going to walnut blast my valves while I had it apart, but they really weren’t that bad, so I decided against it. I don’t think this engine design has that big of an issue like some BMW and VW gdi engines. My own theory is that the oil that puddles in the intake is x% of what would make it to the valves, thus reducing buildup.

 

[txfromwi]

My grandfather always too her out on a back road and opened her up.
Nothing quite like the feeling of that short delay followed by that 4 barrel kicking in !

When I did the 2016 a couple years ago it wasn't that bad, I was just wondering if it's really a big deal or if it's just some folks want everything clean and shiny. I have no issues with the 2015 except that noise I hear when the hood is open.
Thanks for the input.

 

[Turismo Kid]

I'm another advocate for the aluminum JLR front pipes. I tried aftermarket aluminum last time around but they ended up just being paper weights, as they just didn't quite line up. JLR pipes went on just like you'd expect. Real nice. I can't believe they don't have a rear manifold in aluminum yet. Drives me crazy.

My big beef right now is that my thermostat failed after about 18 months of use. It's off FCP euro so I'll get it replaced for the cost of shipping, but it's tough when I was literally just in there doing the front and rear pipes. So annoying. Anyway, if it's been a couple of years since you put the thermostat in, you may think about that guy again.

Probably worth checking on the engine mounts. Your mileage is super low, but with the years of service, I'd be curious to know how they've held up. Find someone brave enough to stand in front of that tank and film the engine while you stand on the brake and give it some revs while in drive. See if that baby sits secure or wants to jump out of its home.