Land Rover Repair: Land Rover Discovery II Engine Repair, land rover discovery, 2004 land rover discovery

Question
Hello Mr. Robison:

I have a 2004 Land Rover Discovery II with a 4.0L engine.  We purchased the vehicle last year.  It has just over 11,000 miles on it.  We do not drive it off-road, only normal on-road conditions.

Last week, my wife was driving it on the highway at normal highway speeds when the oil pressure light came on.  She didn't know what the light meant, but within two minutes the engine began making awful noises.  She immediately pulled over and the engine died and refused to start, turn over or anything -- dead as a doornail.

Land Rover says that the vehicle needs a new engine, but they say they won't break the engine down to find out what caused the problem.  You should know that we did not have the oil changed at 7500 miles as recommended in the manual.  My questions are:

(1) Have you encountered this problem with Discovery II's before?

(2) Do you have any idea what the cause of the engine failure could be?

(3) Do you think it likely that the lack of an oil change at 7500 miles is in any way related to the engine failure?

FYI, the dealership has another Land Rover Discovery II in the shop that also needs a new engine, and they said that the oil was changed in that vehicle at 7500 miles.

Any insight you could offer would be most helpful.  Thank you very much for your time.

Regards,

Paul Walker-Bright

Answer
Certain Land Rover 4.6 engines in 2003 and 2004 were made with a misalignment in the pins that located the oil pump in the front of the motor.  The result of this can be oil starvation and subsequent failure of the engine.

Land Rover recommends replacement of the complete engine in that case.

The first notification of this was Land Rover's March 14, 2003 Technical Alert to its dealers.

With respect to "not breaking down the engine" . . . you should be aware that Land Rover requested the complete engine back for study in these instances.  Dealers are not supposed to take it apart, and that's why they told you that.

I have received several other mentions of this problem and I may publish this question and answer in expanded form in my tech tips section in Land Rover Lifestyle magazine next issue.