I bought an '02 Disco II last week. Now my sister-in-law wants one. She had a '96 Disco that she sold.
My concern is with the oil pump issues that I've read about on the '03. Was there a particular production run of vehicles that were affected? Is there anything I should be looking for on the '03's.

I'll continue searching the forum. But, any info you could you could give me would be greatly appreciated. There's one that's getting ready to go through the auction this week. So, I guess I'm trying to see if it's worth pursuing.

BTW, the truck in question has 67,000 miles.

 

Hey Marc, thanks for the report btw.

Some say it was the first run, early '03 vehicles. The local dealer said all of the '03s have issues with pumps getting noisy then failing. Some of the early ones, from reports I'vwon't get noisy, and then your oil light comes on, and then you have about 10 minutes to catch it before your engine asplodes.

If it has service records for 30k and 45k, I would say go for it, it makes a nice daily driver. She just needs to keep 2000 dollars set aside for any needed repairs, because it is really a given that you have to do some fixes when you first buy them. After that, if they are serviced they are great.

Get an oil pressure check done on it if possible, the spec is on this forum somewhere. Listen for it rattling like a diesel. That's the sound the bearings in the oil pump make over time as they get worn out.

 

So, if you do a preemptive pump replacement, does that correct the problem? I found mixed responses on the forum.

 

I've had no problems with mine so far. I remember seeing one guy post about his problems with a 2003 some time ago, and he said it was very common, but I've not seen any of you other 2003 owners say your oil pumps are failing over the past year I've been on this forum. I've seen a lot of posts from people who don't own a 2003 telling people to stay away from them though. I asked my Rover mechanic about it last year and he told me he's never actually seen oil pump failureshappen to any of his 2003 customers. He acted like I was worrying about nothing. It's now got 98,000 miles on it and going strong.

 

The oil pump issue usually gives plenty of warming in the form of a warning oil pressure light on the dash. Most of the problems occured when the 4.6 first came out. New changes were mae which pretty much resolved the problem. If you can stretch it a little and go for an 04, the best of the Disco line and she will be fine.

 

Good advice Mike.

I'm going to check this '03 out. If it's cheap enough, I may hold up my hand. If not, I'll look for an '04. It looks like the Black Book spread is about $3000 per model year. I'll see how this one plays out.

 

Try to find one without Secondary Air Injection, it's a pain and makes most services take an extra hour or so.

 

I had an 03 and the pump did go out. I was o.k. with putting miles on the service loaner while the dealer had it for about 2 weeks. It was also under warranty that helped

 

Sky, do you mind elaborating your story, in particular what were the circumstances and did you avoid engine damage?

 

Well, my wife was driving the vehicle, so I didn't see exactly what happened. All I know is she said, suddenly the engine light came on, lost power, and then it died. This was on a return trip for a friends house 2 hours away from home. I came and met her, and hadour truck flat bedded to Rover. They told us the oil pump failed and we got a new(or maybe rebuilt) engine. This was @ around 15k.