It has only 85,000 miles, a very pretty blue color and the famous 2003 engine ping, so I got it real cheap.

The body and interior are great. The undercarriage is a little rusty. I took it to a Land Rover mechanic and he said I needed a new engine. It only pings when warmed up, so he thinks it's the slipped sleeve. I'm under the impression that you can drive it with the slipped sleeve indefinitely if you don't mind the noise. Head gasket is good, coolant doesn't leak, no 3 amigos, no misfire and the truck pulls strong.

Brakes are bad, so replacing them right away. When I first got the truck, it pinged like a jackhammer when warmed up. I put in two bottles of Prolong and it quieted it down significantly (it's chlorine, I know). Next I'm going to change to the Rotella 15w-40 and get the oil pan cleaned up. Oil pump is probably ready to go, so I'll probably change that too.

Anything else?? It's a super fun truck that needs a new engine, but even my mechanic doesn't think it's worth putting money in it. The guy fixes $80,000 Defenders, so I'm sure he think a $2,000 Disco is a waste of time.

Also, I'm thinking about painting my grill to look like the attached picture. Anybody know the color of the Land Rover gray?? Thank you!

 

I'm not in the same camp as all of these people that run the Rotella 15w40 engine oil in these vehicles, especially if you live some place that gets cold in the winter. It might be OK just for the summer, but even then, I think it's more likely to cause extra wear on the engine when you first start it up. I think the 5w40 they sell is a better choice, year round. They have also recently started selling a 10w30 conventional, and they are suggesting it to fleet owners to improve MPG.

 

Do you have more pics of that truck? Looks like someone got paint-happy. Painted grille, foglight surrounds, mirrors, bumper, probably flares as well.

 

If you do not live in Alaska the 15/40w is fine. My advice run 15/40 during the warm months, and something thinner during the cold months.

I live in TX and 15/40w is perfect year round.

 

I think he said he wants it to look like that picture. That's not his truck.

First thing to do would have it properly diagnosed as slipped liner. You need to get more into the specifics of when how what etc. but there is a chance it isn't that.

First thing, is to read your temps and see what temp it does, doesn't do it.

I also run 5/40 like Jafir. It gets cold here, and I'm sure I could hear damage happening at startup on winter. I'm not leaking so bad, so 5/40 is ok for me.

If you do confirm slipped liner, consider pinning it. If you identify the cylinder, there are a number of agricultural ways to stop it doing it.

Oh, welcome.

 

Lots of thread on the oil. If you look at the spec' sheets, 5w30 is too light in the hotter months. The engine really likes w40.

I used to run 15w40 in the summer and 5w30 in the winter. However, I don't daily drive the Disco anymore and I started to get concerned about premature cam-wear on cold-starts (since the 15w## is actually too heavy of an oil to meet spec for cold starts).

So now I pony up the money for 5w40 and call it good. You could probably get by with a 10w40, but most modern unleaded 10w40 oils aren't formulated for the flat-tapped motor and may also lead to premature cam wear.


Now you can also get the synthetic ZDDP addative which is supposed to be "cat converter" safe and add it to your oil, but not a lot of people have reported on that yet, but it is supposedly marketed to muscle car owners, maybe research their forums?

So most here have gone to 5w40 Rotella which is what I do now, but it is an HD diesel oil and the ZDDP which is good for our flat tappets is also not supposed to be good for cats, so eventually they are probably going to clog.

So choose your poison, I guess.

I'm not sure about driving on a slipped liner, but if you want to keep the D2 the following MUST be done ASAP:

1) Servicable Drive shaft. (so your sealed unit doesn't blow up and take the tranny with it).


and


2) 180F Thermostat with an OBDII temp reader such as the Ultragage. Make sure your typical driving temps are in the 185-195F range under all conditions. This will save your headgaskets.


Then there are plenty of other good maintenance threads out there.


Once you have your maintenance up to date, then you can worry about mods/painting grills, etc..

Oh, and it is far cheaper to put $$ in to a $2k project you intend to offroad rather than an $80k one...

 

specifically, the Rotella 15w-40 is used for several reasons. One is the zinc, 2 is the detergents and cleaning ability. 3 is the weight. These oil pumps work best on a very heavy oil. One guy that I talk to recommends 50 weight and he's been working on/driving LR for 40 years. Use the heaviest that you can get away with and stick with the conventional. Synthetic is not beneficial for the 55-year old design of this block. Your factory temperature gauge is not to be used or referenced at any time or in any way. The only time that this gauge is displaying the correct engine temp accordingly, is when the engine is off and stone cold and the gauge is dead. You will have to purchase an aftermarket version that attaches via the OBD hookup under the driver-side knee panel. You will want to know what temp the engine is operating at before you even begin driving it around. The dash-cluster gauge may be showing "normal" but in actuality it could easily be 220-230 degrees, which is why these vehicles have no resale value and are so often parted-out due to blown engines. You should do your research here if you want to keep your new purchase running on down the road. Too many faults/fixes/hiccups to even list.

 

Yes, that's not my truck. It was on eBay. I just liked the color scheme. Reminds me of the updated Defenders. Looks better to me than the current LR3 & LR4s. Here's another pic...

 

I'm firmly in the Rotella camp. I run 15w40 in the summer and I mix 5w40 with 15w40 in the winter. Definitely want to go through the whole major service sticky. Do everything.

As for the slipped sleeve, it can be "fixed". The best option is, of course, a top-hat block. That said, that's super expensive. There are two more options. One is pinning the sleeve. I think that's an ok option. The other is welding the sleeves. This is the option I prefer, and RoverMasterTech did a wrote up here on the forums. In essence, you go underneath the valley pan and drill a hole through the aluminum so that the iron sleeve is revealed and you weld a little booger on it. Fill the hole you drilled, high wire speed and low enough temp to not burn through. That would be very very bad. Just fill it up and that will hold the sleeve in place.

As far as being able to drive indefinitely with a slipped sleeve... No, I wish. The problem comes when it allows a passage between the cylinder and your cooling system, allowing exhaust gasses into the system and (I believe) leaking into the cylinder. This causes BIG problems as I'm sure you can imagine. At least, that's what I've been told and have read.