I'm probably one of the "funny" guys. If so, not meant to at your expense. It's just that there is no lawyering up wrt JLR, there's only arbitration. Regarding your original points, I don't recall if there was an outstanding Q. Your last statement was that the dealer was warning you of charging you to remove the roo bars at great expense but no figure given. The Workshop manual clearly shows that they don't have to remove the front end to lift the engine, so not sure why they said that other than to just charge you. If they have a consumer grade lift with a short lever/lift arm, they might but there's far cheaper ways to extract the engine than to go thru all the bother of removing the front end.

To get back on topic, I think the consensus opinion was that they were trying to charge you for something not necessary and you were waiting on the estimate. Did you receive it yet? Did they back off? It's been about a week so maybe they haven't gotten around to responding (oops, that was a joke again).

 

Grouse, I think your input has been helpful!

I don't think the overall conversation has been unhelpful, it was more the one or two sentence replies from Disco where a statement was made with no extrapolation on the point. If there really was a need for a class action I'd like to know more about the thought process behind that since I'm dealing with this situation actively. I've never understood the point of jumping into a forum thread and just making a random statement with no clear reason or context so it particularly frustrated me as I always assume there's a point behind the effort taken to make the post.

As an update, I still haven't been able to get in touch with the dealer. Typically if there has been a fee, since the first misunderstanding with the skid plate and ladder install, they have been on top of calling back with a price, so I'm really surprised I've not heard from them. They set an expectation that I should be able to pick it up this Friday, as well, so I'd like to hear back from them sooner than later as it's not an insignificant amount of time round trip.

I'll update if I hear from them today; I left a voicemail Friday and this morning.

 

If the new defender and jrl wasn't such a joke we would be posting on cnn - oh wait

 

Just spoke to the dealer and, as I had expected in regard to the dealer working something out, the service advisor is planning to submit the total cost to JLR and push them to pay. I'll update further as I know more.

 

Dealer just called and they're running the tests on everything to ensure the replacement engine swap went well. They're still trying to push Land Rover to pay for the full replacement cost for removing the accessories.

The service advisor did note that the engine had seized. Land Rover is requesting the engine back and oil samples. I'm sure I'm about to have an argument with them about using the very specific recommended Castrol oil.

 

In other threads, owners have mentioned not being able to source engine oil thru Dealers. If true, then I would suspect you have been forced to get a non-recommended oil of comparable features. I'd go that route that the form/function/fit of the alternative were within listed specifications.

 

To prepare myself, I called the shop that has been performing the changes (again at 2.5K and every 5k afterward) and they've been using Valvoline Synpower. Looking at the specs, the performance seems in line (and in some cases better) than the Castrol Edge Professional, it just doesn't have the STJLR.03.5006 spec attached to it. The VI is slightly lower but the Kinematic Viscosity is higher; the ash is lower; density is the same.

The big difference I see is that the Valvoline is still ILSAC GS-5 vs ILSAC GS-6, but that spec appears completely based on fuel economy rating.

Either way, in the time I spent trying to type all of this, the auto shop called back and said Valvoline is prepared to get involved if needed, so I guess I've gotten all my ducks in a row if it comes to that, hopefully.

 

I was just at that new dealer today and I should have taken a picture. They had a back room with giant oil tanks - looked like 300-500 gallons with large pumps. Labeled "new oil" and "used oil". Delivered in bulk obviously so the bottles are just for retail.

 

I hope and expect the reason for collecting the oil is to examine the quantities and types of engine particles in it to understand which parts failed, so they can go to factory and their suppliers to identify which mfg. process was changed or went out of a state of control.

If tne oil pump still functions and the oil viscosity and quantity are close to correct, the exact oil selection should not be a topic of Interest

 

What grade is the recommended oil? 0/20 or 0/40? I don't see those specs in Valvoline synpower?