Engine on an early 4.2ltr

[jasutton85]

Am aware the early 4.2lts were prone to crankshaft failure

Have seen an interesting example with 50k on the clock that has yet to have an engine rebuilt. If this was a Speed Six I would avoid, but is the same true for the AJP?

[jamieduff1981]

Nothing is ever certain, but most would argue that if it was going to happen it would have done so by now.

[Tanguero]

If the crank hasn't gone in the best part of 20 years then I suggest that it is no more likely to happen now than on any other car.

My understanding is that the problem was restricted to a small number of cars and those that were going to snap did so in a fairly short period. My early 4.2 small journal crank did 60k miles and was still in perfect condition (and is sitting on a shelf waiting for a purpose) when I had the engine rebuilt to 4.7 litres for reasons totally unconnected with the crank. 4.2 AJPs aren't commonly rebuilt because of crank issues

[jasutton85]

Thanks for your thoughts

Tanguero - are there any other engine related issues with the early 4.2 ajp over and above the crankshaft??

[Byker28i]

Always like that statement "early 4.2 Cerberas were prone to crank snapping"



So production figures...

How many cranks actually snapped out of those?
Prone to makes it sound like there was a serious issue

I would suggest there was a few that had a manufacturing fault and as the engines are now 17-18 years old would probably have failed long before if this was a common fault.

[Gazzab]

I'd suggest that a nearly 20 yr old engine will potentially need head gaskets doing by now.

[OutlawFlat4]

I have an early 4.2 on 70k miles and still going strong.....

[purpleliability]

Mine snapped, just to add some balance. It snapped at about 16-17 years old, it also snapped when it was new after about 1500 miles (original owner).

M3John's snapped at a similar age and threw a rod through the block.

I also had a crank pulley issue on the replacement 4.5 which causes cylinder head and corned damage if that helps!

The APM 4.7 I have now is lovely, not expecting any issues any time soon!

[OutlawFlat4]

Ok - so whilst we are on the topic, my engine feels great and has no issues other than a droning pulley bearing, but I am aware that 70k miles is pretty high for this engine so have started to think about what my options will be.

Ideally I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, but also don't want it to go bang and cost more by smashing things to bits, so what should I consider doing and when? If it were your car, what would you do after the summer?

J

[pole]

OutlawFlat4 said:

Ok - so whilst we are on the topic, my engine feels great and has no issues other than a droning pulley bearing, but I am aware that 70k miles is pretty high for this engine so have started to think about what my options will be.

Ideally I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, but also don't want it to go bang and cost more by smashing things to bits, so what should I consider doing and when? If it were your car, what would you do after the summer?

J

If it's running great then leave it and enjoy.

[scotty_d]

pole said:

OutlawFlat4 said:

Ok - so whilst we are on the topic, my engine feels great and has no issues other than a droning pulley bearing, but I am aware that 70k miles is pretty high for this engine so have started to think about what my options will be.

Ideally I don't want to spend money unnecessarily, but also don't want it to go bang and cost more by smashing things to bits, so what should I consider doing and when? If it were your car, what would you do after the summer?

J

If it's running great then leave it and enjoy.

Agree 70k is nowt, just keep on top of your services and keep a eye on top end wear over the next 30k

[dswiscrazy]

She is a 97 4.2 had a topend rebuild in 2002 at 18000 miles
With new cam 10 years and 20,000 miles later
At 110 mph on my watch

[waveydavey1000]

Just to add to this...I have a 96 4.2 with 35k miles, yesterday I did a compression check to test the head gasket.
All the cylinders were around 7.4 bar, which suggests all is well in that department!