For those not aware, the recovery lever is found under the plastic cover on the engine. Remove the cover and you will find the lever.

 

I would ask you to check the date your truck was built to ensure it wasn’t around the time Chelsea won the Eurocup, but it’s a moot point (unless there are more Chelsea fans in Slovakia than I estimate).

Good luck.

 

did you drive it water, like river crossing etc? if you have mud in the engine bay, was the vehicle submerged in a good amount of time? if you did, did you change the oil every time it hits deep water?

 

Thanks all for the well wishes on the situation.

I definitely understand it happens. I'm more disappointed in corporate's response than anything, really.

The question was asked if I'd taken it through water or submerged it in mud, so I'd like to clarify on those points. I have never had it in water higher than the lower lip of the wheel and never been in mud any higher either. The places I off-road are mixed sandstone / limestone and the mud is very sandy and sticky. The spots we're talking about in the picture were literal splash spots of mud inside the bay from going through a shallow puddle here or there, which is why JLR's response was so ridiculous.

And before anyone mentions it, I know that sandy mud is not great for joints or brakes. Immediately when we get off the mountain I take a pressure washer and clean the undercarriage, wheels / brakes and all of the suspension joints. So overall I feel like I'm taking care of the vehicle considering what I put it through on the weekends.

 

Did they by chance do a compression test? Seems very odd. Would be good for all of us to get some data on this failure so that we can inspect our own P400's (especially since some dealers may not be as cool as yours).

 

No idea on what tests were done. I'll definitely report back once I know more.

 

Hi, I'm also wondering what caused the engine failure. I have the same engine, so I'm really curious. It is surprising when Land Rover presents the Defender as a vehicle into extreme terrain, floods the internet with promo promos and then, under warranty, contradicts the repair when the car is muddy.
Good luck with that.

 

Well, I heard from the dealer yesterday. They did receive an engine sooner than expected, so that's good news. Expecting to have the vehicle back next week.

They told me that Land Rover wanted the engine back for failure analysis and they had no information for me in regard to failure at the moment but they would push to find something out from Land Rover after the analysis was finished.

Now for the bad news. I had the dealer install the AUS spec bull bar, a winch and the front skid plate. Since none of that was shipped on the vehicle, Land Rover will not pay the dealer for the labor time to remove and replace all of that equipment when they take the front end off to replace the engine. The dealer says they don't want to do it for free, so they're trying to come up with a price that isn't insulting to me. At this point I'm a little annoyed as I don't think I should be paying for any of the labor related to this effort. I'm waiting on them to come back with a number before I decide what my argument will be. Ultimately I don't believe the tech being paid for the labor is my concern.

 

I'd be pissed and I'm really pretty easy going. The dealer is being paid, by JLR, a fortune in labor already to put that engine in. How hard could it be to have their tech just take care of it?

 

@Varalith - You need to fight that hard as that is complete B.S. To pull the engine out they have to completely remove every cable, hose, wire, etc from the engine bay. They also need to remove the hood and most everything on the front end to pull the engine. Only a true artist can pull an engine without removing some of the front. If they could, they wouldn't be whining about the roo-bar. So obviously they are committed to lifting out the front coolers, plastic, trim et al. So the ONLY delta with the bull bars are the four bolts holding it into the winch cradle and the two wires for the winch. If they can't lift it over the winch they are further morons. An ape level artist could do that once everything else is extracted. Even then there are like 4 bolts per side holding the cradle in. Tell them you are going to file a claim for diminished value because the original engine numbers no longer match the vehicle and when you resale they have significantly knocked your resale value. That's a true thing and most people don't push it on auto accidents. Tell them you will offset the STEEP diminished value you are going to experience with a replaced engine for the roo-bar bolts and two wires.