Bosch VE pump shaft seal leak.

[Tony]

That's bit of a mess.  The only time I've seen a belt go like that was from a tensioner pulley bearing failure (starting to seize) which I'm pretty sure was caused by the belt being too tight.

[Julian]

All done, can't see any bio dripping out, but I'll check more thoroughly in the light tomorrow.

I can't put it down to the seal, because it's a different pump, but the difference in performance is quite marked (for the better).  Although if the body of the pump is supposed to be pressurised to 90 psi, leaks of the size I had on both pumps may well have made a significant difference.

Comparing the old and new seals, the wear on the old one is considerable.  The new one has two distinct, sharp lips which have all but worn away to a flat surface on the old seal.  I don't think bio had a hand in it's degredation as the rubber is still pliable but shows no signs of being over soft.

I know the VE pump in various formats is used on many cars.  I took photos of the operation and will happily put a wiki page together if people think it will be of use.

The shredding of Julianf's belt is, I believe a common problem (I had it on my Disco).  The solution is to change the bottom pulley for a new design with flanges which makes the belt run true.  Without the new pulley the belt can run off center and rub on the casing, hence the shredded bits.

Julian, hope it all goes back together OK and you get mobile soon.

[K.H]

Every thing on a bloody Discovery is a "common problem" !

[Julian]

Us Land Rover owners are just martyrs to the marque, and we'll all go to heaven.

[julianf]

I haven't  even been posting here, and yet, it seems, my woes are known.

I was on the hard shoulder within eyesight of J17, travelling clockwise. 

Anyhow, ordered all (i hope) the parts this morning, and im told they will be here tomorrow.  Rachel and the whippets are staying with friends in Devon, who are giving her lifts to work, and im with family, so it could be worse.  Things can normally be worse...

The thread on landyzone that Mark linked to has all the details, so i wont go into them again here.


Julian -

I know youve got the pump re-sealed now, and you did it cheaply, but, if id seen the thread earlier, id have mentioned that i paid GBP 60 to a company (small chain) in Devon who did the same for me.  Jules used the same company when his went.

Like i say, youve got it sorted, so its all redundant information, but, if you cant be bothered to do the next one...

[julesandtash]

Oddly enough, I just went to post this as JulianF did, but will post it anyway

Sounds like a good deal there Julian, I paid £60 to have a new front seal fitted on a Bosch VE pump at Electro-Diesel in Bodmin. That was with me dropping the pump off and picking it up.

Strangely enough, a new front seal on the VP37 on the RangeRover (I got a new seal fitted as a precaution when I fitted the secondhand pump to cure the fuel quantity adjuster fault code) only cost me half of that.
I wonder if that is because the VP37 is keyed and doesn't need any setting up or whether they were just feeling more generous that day

[Julian]

With my super-duper printed tool, you don't need to set the pump up, it's really quick even with me doing it!.  You can very accurately fit the flange back in the same position it came off.

The seal can be had even cheaper from China if you can wait for delivery and are happy with a minimum order of 30!


Julianf ... have you established a cause for your issues?  I'd venture some of the rubber fluff and chord got between the belt and a pulley, causing the tooth stripping and subsequent engine damage.

When my belt went, damage to the rockers was limited to a couple that snapped, I couldn't find any bent ones, so may be you got away lightly.

[K.H]

Us Land Rover owners are just martyrs to the marque, and we'll all go to heaven.

Only if someone gives you a lift

[Julian]

Very good!

[julianf]

Julianf ... have you established a cause for your issues?  I'd venture some of the rubber fluff and chord got between the belt and a pulley, causing the tooth stripping and subsequent engine damage.

Its hard to know the final sequence, but i think it was just a matter of time, either way.

What is clear is that the belt largely (but not entirely) stopped moving, and, as the crank sprocket kept turning, it stripped off the teeth.  The stripped section got just past the cam sprocket before  the crank sprocket lost purchase on the belt.

As mentioned on the other forum, there was a flapping sound, as if somthing was caught in the blower fan.  I had time to turn the fan up, and then off, before concluding it was not the cause.  I slowed, and pulled into the inside lane, whilst the flapping sound stopped, then started again a couple of times.

The whole thing was probably less than 60 seconds before engine failure, so quite what the exact details were, im not sure.


None of the pulleys etc. seem problematic.  The idler seems a little gritty, but spins on fine.

Obviously (now) the cause is the wrong crank sprocket, and belt movement, but how it actually played out in the end is not clear to me. 

[Chug]

if it had no lips anywhere to keep it lined up, then it probably just moved over the edge of the teeth and it got abraded on the edge which caused the belt to fray and weaken and eventually go

[Head Womble]

Good to hear you're back on the road Julian.

I had a power increase when I changed my pump, more power when on boost but less off boost, soon fixed with a tweak, followed by a few more tweaks just for fun.

I still need to pull the old pump apart to see why if failed.

JulianF, hope you get yours fixed without too much drama.

[Head Womble]

Us Land Rover owners are just martyrs to the marque, and we'll all go to heaven.

Only if someone gives you a lift

Cheeky git.

[Julian]

Us Land Rover owners are just martyrs to the marque, and we'll all go to heaven.

Only if someone gives you a lift

Cheeky git.

Cheeky, cutting, smug, cruel, hurtful, snide and churlish, but still very funny!

[Head Womble]

Us Land Rover owners are just martyrs to the marque, and we'll all go to heaven.

Only if someone gives you a lift

Cheeky git.

Cheeky, cutting, smug, cruel, hurtful, snide and churlish, but still very funny!

I agree with all of the above.

Plus there is an element of truth in it that none of us can deny.