Oil light - I'm scared!

[jmrivera]

Hi All,

So I searched and search the forum for info. and like the title says, I'm scared... But I am hopeful...

So the wife and I decided to take a last minute camping trip this past Friday (7/25) about a 2 hours drive north of us (about a 2000 ft. elevation climb)... All was well until I pulled into the campground and was letting the Disco. sit idle with the A/C on and the tranny in "D" - the oil light came on... When I hit the accelerator, it went off...

So I assumed the oil level was just low due to the trailer being hooked up and the truck not level... Checked it in the morning and it was fine, right in the middle of the 2 marks...

I hooked up the trailer this morning and I could hear a ticking noise in the engine, but it went away as soon as it reached normal temp.. But, the same thing happened, oil light came on... I took the leap of faith and drove home - 2 hours @ 65mph, 90 degrees, 5500lb trailer, 3 kids. :stupid:

We made it home with no issues other than the light coming on @ idle with the A/C on and the tranny in "D"...

Immediately I began to read the threads regarding this oil light and found some things... But I'm scared...

So I started with the easy step - flush motor and change oil....

When added the motor flush, I could hear the ticking noise, but no light... Once the temp. was at normal idle level, light came on and ticking went away...

Drained oil and added new oil - Castrol 10W40, BOSCH filter... So far, so good... Checked for leaks (none) and took her for a spin to heat up... No light...

QUESTIONS:
1). So, I was going to drop the oil pan and clean the sludge - can this wait until the weekend or am I putting myself at risk if I drive the truck this week (~250 miles)?

2). My VIN falls into the oil pump Technical Bulletin - is this a sign of oil pump failure to come? Can it be beat by replacing the oil pump now?

3). Could it be an oil pressure sensor? I have read they either work or don't, nothing in between...

I'm figuring that if the oil pump (Technical Bulletin related) was going to fail, the trip home was going to be its demise... I'm leaning more towards sludge on and around the pick-up tube! Am I being too optimistic since that's the cheapest remedy?

Thanks in advance!

Jonathan
'03 Discovery HSE7 w/SLS, ACE, and 55500 miles - no mods!

I promise I will give an update when I actually get under the truck again!

 

[marc olivares]

drop a quart of ATF in the motor and idle it for a bit (20 mins or so)
if it starts to knock a bit stop sooner. then drop the oil pan and clean out.clean the pick up filter too.
dont waste any money on fancy synthetic oil or spendy filters.
i run Delo 400 in mine, but any 10w40 will be better if changed often, than fancy oil that's never changed.
betcha a beer this will fix it, i've done this to a few rovers, damn sludgy things.

 

[scottjal]

Could also be as simple as a malfunctioning oil pressure sensor. Get some real pressure readings at several different RPM's and let us know what we are really dealing with.

 

[ptschram]

Could also be as simple as a malfunctioning oil pressure sensor. Get some real pressure readings at several different RPM's and let us know what we are really dealing with.

Get yourself an 1/8" BSPP to 1/8 NPT adapter and throw an oil pressure gauge on it. I suspect you're gonna find some lowered oil pressure, but likely nothing to get too upset about.

 

[white disco]

I tried the ATF idea. I tried oil flushes. I tried everything that anybody could give me. In the end, I had to get a new engine. I also was subject to the dreaded oil pump failure. I would start looking at a new engine from Land Rover. It's going to be a fight but, they are suppose to replace the engine at no cost to you. You can find the Technical Alert message on this forum. If you need the actual bulliten email me and I will send it to you. I hope all works out.
-Steve

 

[jmrivera]

I tried the ATF idea. I tried oil flushes. I tried everything that anybody could give me. In the end, I had to get a new engine. I also was subject to the dreaded oil pump failure. I would start looking at a new engine from Land Rover. It's going to be a fight but, they are suppose to replace the engine at no cost to you. You can find the Technical Alert message on this forum. If you need the actual bulliten email me and I will send it to you. I hope all works out.
-Steve

Did you have the misfortune of having the oil pump fail and damage the engine while the engine was running? Were you under warranty? How many miles on your truck when it happened?

How long ago did your ordeal begin? Did your problems start exactly as mine did?

I am the 2nd owner of this vehicle, so I do not know if there is any chance that LR is going to repair this for free... It's worth a shot...

If you can give me some more information on your engine swap, I'd appreciate it.

Jonathan

 

[jmrivera]

Get yourself an 1/8" BSPP to 1/8 NPT adapter and throw an oil pressure gauge on it. I suspect you're gonna find some lowered oil pressure, but likely nothing to get too upset about.

Jumping way ahead of the process, if I do find lowered oil pressure, the next step is to drop the pan and inspect the pick-up tube and pan for sludge? Or is an oil pump in my near future?

 

[ptschram]

Jumping way ahead of the process, if I do find lowered oil pressure, the next step is to drop the pan and inspect the pick-up tube and pan for sludge? Or is an oil pump in my near future?

If I could make predictions like that, I'd either be in Vegas or at the corner quikee mart buying lottery tickets.

It's hard to tell. You might have wiped out bearing from poor oil flow, you might have a dodgy pressure switch, you might have a wasted oil pump. At this point, all we know it the light comes on intermittently.

 

[CandiMan]

What's the psi rating for the oil presure switch? Isn't it around 4-5psi? I just completed an ordeal to increase the oil psi on my 98. Mine had sludge on top of sludge and a little more sludge on the side.

 

[ptschram]

What's the psi rating for the oil presure switch? Isn't it around 4-5psi? I just completed an ordeal to increase the oil psi on my 98. Mine had sludge on top of sludge and a little more sludge on the side.

Should be around 5 psi, but I had a truck in the shop last week with an oil light and 8-10 psi at idle and plenty off idle.

 

[jmrivera]

If I could make predictions like that, I'd either be in Vegas or at the corner quikee mart buying lottery tickets.

It's hard to tell. You might have wiped out bearing from poor oil flow, you might have a dodgy pressure switch, you might have a wasted oil pump. At this point, all we know it the light comes on intermittently.

No, I think we know at this point is I asked a stupid question!!! :banghead: But thanks for bearing with me on it, I appreciate the help...

So I am taking the truck to get the oil pressure checked, but there are only 2 places here in Albuquerque. One is the dealer nad one is a former head mechanic from the dealer...

I called the dealer to get a hourly rate quote and the Service Advisor ended our conversation with, "You need a new engine"...

How about that? Anyone got an engine I can buy?:ack:

Jonathan

 

[arrowphoto]

I called the dealer to get a hourly rate quote and the Service Advisor ended our conversation with, "You need a new engine"...

Back in 2005 when I got my second 96 Disco I bought it because it was a near give away. The stealership told the previous owner that he needed an engine so he sold it with that warning on the bulletin board of my wife's company for $1,000. I bought it nearly sight unseen.

I got it home, limping and crawling the entire way because the engine really did sound like it was about to explode every time I stepped on the gas. I let her cool down, popped the hood and diagnosed the actual problem to be loose bolts on the exhaust manifold:rofl: . Tightened them up and she purred like a kitten. I had to drive to Louisville (80 miles for me) the next morning so I decided to take the risk. And the Rover ran like an absolute champ. For giggles I called Land Rover Cincinnati (the offending stealership) and told them that I had bought this guys Disco that they said needed an engine and I wanted to get the work done.

I took it up and they said "you don't need an engine, you need an oil change". Right. I showed them their paperwork :flipoff2: for the estimate on the engine swap. I told them what was actually wrong. They did the 50k service for free. My wife (not knowing any better) told the guy that I bought it from that it was just a couple of loose "screws" and the truck was now perfect. He was PISSED!

A lot of words to say that you should never trust the dealership, especially when they are diagnosing your problem over the phone. It's not like these Rovers are as plentiful as Chevy's. Every time these guys (at least LR Cincy) get a rig on the rack they seem to come up with a list of shit a mile long that just HAS to be fixed.

Take the thing somewhere else if you can't get it sorted on your own.

 

[smelly pirelli]

The dealer only wants to RaPe YoU ! for every thing your worth!

 

[jmrivera]

The dealer only wants to RaPe YoU ! for every thing your worth!

Shit then, they're gonna have to close up shop!!!! :smilelol:

I just wanted to check their hourly rate versus Southwest Rovers... They owner there ended our conversation with, "It's probably jsut sludge in the pick-up. If it were the Technical Bulletin, it would have exploded by now".

That's where I'm taking it.... Unless I can get a hold of the diagnostic tools myself!!!

 

[marc olivares]

Unless I can get a hold of the diagnostic tools myself!!!

huh?
start by dropping the pan
that wont cost you a thing

 

[ptschram]

No, I think we know at this point is I asked a stupid question!!! :banghead: But thanks for bearing with me on it, I appreciate the help...

So I am taking the truck to get the oil pressure checked, but there are only 2 places here in Albuquerque. One is the dealer nad one is a former head mechanic from the dealer...

I called the dealer to get a hourly rate quote and the Service Advisor ended our conversation with, "You need a new engine"...

How about that? Anyone got an engine I can buy?:ack:

Jonathan

No Jonathan, you've not asked any stupid questions. Stupid questions are dealt with much more definitively, just ask Hondawhat'hisname!

Having been a Service Advisor for a Rover store, I'm embarrassed that I was deemed unfit for the job when I hear such stories, but trust me, in my short tenure working for a dealer, I saw and heard worse!

In the five years I've been doing this, in my shop, I've only replaced one engine and that was due to a poor head job. It was cheaper to swap an engine than fix the carnage to the heads! These engines will put up with so much abuse it's silly. Those who've really blown them up (including a really good friend who went through three in less than 50K miles on an '04) either got bad ones or did NO maintenance, or POs did no maintenance. All they really want is frequent oil changes and a functioning cooling system.

As for test equipment, you're looking at no more than $35 for an oil pressure gauge and the adapter.

PT

 

[Ed Cheung]

No Jonathan, you've not asked any stupid questions. Stupid questions are dealt with much more definitively, just ask Hondawhat'hisname!

PT

Damn, PT, I wasn't expecting that, I was expecting some technical stuff! Now I got to clean all the coke I spited out .... and I am getting a sticky keyboard for weeks...

 

[arrowphoto]

that was due to a poor head job.

I hate poor head jobs.

Wait. What were we talking about?

 

[white disco]

Did you have the misfortune of having the oil pump fail and damage the engine while the engine was running? Were you under warranty? How many miles on your truck when it happened?

How long ago did your ordeal begin? Did your problems start exactly as mine did?

I am the 2nd owner of this vehicle, so I do not know if there is any chance that LR is going to repair this for free... It's worth a shot...

If you can give me some more information on your engine swap, I'd appreciate it.

Jonathan

Jonathan,
My oil pump went slowly so the engine damage was gradual. It all began with the oil light flickering. I immediately flushed the engine, check the oil pump pick up tube screen and so on and so on. I wasn't driving the truck very much then so it took about a week and maybe 50-60 miles before I started noticing a ticking and a constant illumination of the oil light at idle. While driving it home the engine began to rattle while driving on the highway. I then slowed to keep the rpm as low as possible. By the time I got home the engine was rattling quite badly and it threw about a dozen engine codes. I refused to believe that Land Rover would make an engine that fails at 53k miles. So, I began searching the internet and discovered the oil pump failure problem.

Now for the complication. I'm in the U.S. Navy stationed in Italy. This presents more of a problem than you would believe. After two months of arguing that my problem merits a new engine, and then who is going to pay for it. LRNA would tell me that LR Italia must pay for this and vice versa. Finally I called the factory and talked to someone of apparent importance because I got an email from the president of LR Italia who told me that LRNA will pay for this and LR Italia will install the new engine and cover those costs. From the time it happened to the time I picked the truck up was about three months.

Believe me this is no easy task but, it is a new engine and the total amount was about $9000 USD. My new engine is running great and I have established a great relationship with my dealer here in Sicily. It's pretty easy when you're one of two americans that go there.

Good luck, Steve

 

[jmrivera]

Re: Oil light - I'm scared! UPDATE!!!

i finally took the truck to be pressure checked and it is below spec. at idle, fine off idle... I began a claim with my warranty company...

So the a$$holes at the Warranty company denied my repair claim because the oil pump is not physically broken, so they consider it working...

Anyone replaced an oil pump on a 4.6L engine? I have looked at the RAVE manual and it seems pretty straight forward... Anyone know where I can get an oil pump for a good price?!

I consider myself very mechanically inclined and can pretty much fix anything - should I give this a crack? I figure the worst part is if I hit a snag, I can have the truck towed to Southwest Rovers and have them finish the job...


P.S. Stay away from Warranty Administration Services for a third-party warranty. That's who denied my claim. What good is a warranty if you can't use it???