QuestionTwo months ago, (about 2,000 miles past the warranty), I was driving our 2004 Land Rover Discovery on a busy freeway with my baby in the back when the oil light came on and the engine completely shut down on me. The vehicle had been in for every scheduled maintenance appointment and had previously been to the dealership for an oil leak. After a $2200 diagnostic test, I am told that the oil pump is faulty. They claim to have no idea why this happened.
I came across a technical alert from Land Rover regarding this same issue on 2003 models. The dealership claims to have no knowledge of this problem. Are you aware of this same problem occurring with 2004's, and if so, has Land Rover taken any responsibility? I am being threatened with storage fees if I don't get this resolved soon.
AnswerThere was a problem with alignment of the holes between engine block and front cover on some 2003 Rovers, but that resulted in oil pressure loss when the enignes were new. It did not produce symptoms out of the blue 4 years later.
If your engine lost oil pressure now, I'd guess the issue is sludge buildup or some oil system failure. There is no way to know how or why that happened without dismantling and examining the motor, which would be costly, and it would probably end up in the same place . . . the truck is out of warranty, so you have to pay to fix it.
With respect to the dealer, you should be aware that none of those issues are the responsibility of your dealer. Land Rover was recently bought by Tata of India, and I doubt the new owners will feel much obligation for an out of warranty rig.
My guess is that you need to make a fix or scrap decision and move on. We fix trucks like this every day at Robison Service. If the engine suffered total lubrication failure I'd guess you have 7-12,000 in damage.
I'm sorry I don't have a more positive answer, but that is the reality as I see it.
