Land Rover Repair: Dicovery II running on 4 cylinders, exhaust gases, coil pack

Question
Hi,
I was a few miles from home one day when my 2000 Discovery suddenly lost power and was barely able to limp home. I thought it was a blown coil pack but now I'm not sure since it appears to be running on cylinders 1,2,3,and 4, which shouldn't be the case due to the firing order. It occasionally backfires into the intake but not very hard.

The motor has about 35000 miles on it.

I was traveling at a normal speed when this happened, and it made a faint sort of whisp noise (like a sudden and quick release of pressure) at the instant that it lost power.

I hate to think it could be a broken camshaft, please tell me I shouldn't even think that.

What are all the possibilities?

Thanks,
John

Answer
Hi John,

could be a blown seal or headgasket.  Maybe exhaust gases were expelled and that's why some cylinders have combustion and some do not.  Pressure test the cylinders to verify this.  Most local garages could do this for you.

Best of luck,

JohnMc