I have a 03 Discovery S with 41K miles and never had any problems. I am seriously thinking of selling because of everything I have read on this forum concerning the Oil Pump issue. I do fall within the VIN #s listed on the TSB. Should I get rid of it?? Does anyone have anything positive to say about this model. I guess what i need to hear are there people out there with this model within the VIN #s that have significant miles with no problems? I really do not want to get rid of it but if I am destine to have oil pump problems why keep it..

 

Sorry, but I would dump it. You will have a hard time selling it because of the MPG not to mention the moral issue of dumping it onto a unsuspecting buyer.
You would be more prodent to trade it in on a '02,'04 or a '03 outside of the VIN range.
Or you could be proactive and replace the oil pump every 50k.

 

Are you the original owner? If so and you never had the oil pump changed, just be safe and go have a new one put in. If you are not the original owner check the maintanence book and see if it has been changed, if not go have it looked at and changed. There is no need to dump it yet, and the SUV market is crap right now so you will not get anywhere near what it is worth. If you change the oil pump everything should be fine. If you are really worried about it and dont want to have an 03' anymore, consider trading for an 04', you can go wrong there, and like I said SUV prices are a bit lower right now and you can work them down even more.

 

For what it's worth, I just picked up an '03 that had the oil pump fail at 49k.

I plan on keeping it until thereplacement pumpfails, should it ever. If it leads to engine failure, then I'll pick up an '04 and keep the '03 for parts. If it's salvagable, then I'll simply put a new pump in. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

To me, it's tough to justifyparting with a functional Disco in this market.

 

We have an 03 that falls within the vin range. It has approx. 70k miles.

We bought it without much research. I read about the same oil pump failure and the front drive shaft issues and bought the extended factory warranty for peace of mind. So far we've only used the warranty for a couple minor issues that would have only cost a couple hundred to repair without the warranty.

I personally think the vehicle is fine. I asked my dealer service writer about the two issues I posted and he said that he had never heard of the oil pump issue and the only drive shaft issue was from customer neglect. The customer replaced the original shaft with a Dodge shaft and it failed.

With all that being said, if it fails within the next two years I'll get it fixed for free. If we keep the vehicle past the warranty and it fails I'll part out the truck. It'll cost more to fix than it would be worth.

 

Mine is right in the middle of the VIN range. It has 108,000 miles on it and never had a problem.

At this point if it fails I'll probably get a new motor and keep driving. I certainly wouldn't want to get rid of it.

It's your decision, though, but consider the real cost of trading. You'd likely lose thousands on the trade, and then end up with a vehicle that likely has other issues you'll have to fix. Also, I see people post problems over and over again with their pre-2003 Discos that I've never had with this one becausemany of those issues had been fixed by 2003. If you keep your 2003 you MIGHTspend a lot ofmoney on your motor. If you trade for a 2004, then you WILLspend a lot of money on the trade and fixing the other problems that come with that used truck.A trademay be worth it to you just to get CDL capability, but just try to understand that either way isgoing to have risks and costs.

 

I too have an 03 D2 that falls in the failure range. It has 83k on it (only 2k from me so far) and was never once serviced at a LR dealer (not even for the free services under warranty).

When I got it I had a local LR shop run through a complete 60k mile tuneup and fluid change as well as fixed allleaks. Cost me about $1500 up front. Now I just keep an eye on the garage floor from time to time and will make sure to change the oil like clockwork (Picked up my 3 ton fast jack yesterday to make garage changes easier). Will it fail? Maybe, maybe not. Can't lose sleep over it. Just keep an eye on the oil light and the temp guages. Never let a D2 overheat.

As Mike told me "hey if it got to 80k miles with poor service it will go a lot longer with good service".

Your milage may vary.

I really like the idea of getting an 04 when my 03 breaks and using it for parts. If only I had more garage stalls!

 

I googled "Land Rover Engine Failure" and came across this post. This is my exact problem. I have an 03 Discovery in the vin range. Last wk end I heard a clunk, my oil light came on and I decided to continue to drive my car home (a few miles). On the way home the engine seized and failed. Quote by the Land Rover Dealer is $8000 to replace. My car has 55,000 miles and all service has been done by the dealer. Ipurchased it with12k through the LR dealer and the warranty expired in Dec 07. The dealer has really not advocated for me at all and basically just asking what I am going to do (replace engine, replace car, or tow it away). I called cust svc and they were very aloof, telling me they will investigate and get back to me in 1-2 days. I live in Oregon and may be willing to joing a class action. I agree that I can't believe that this is the expectaion for a $45K car that is supposed to be a luxury brand. I was seriously considering replacing with the LR3 but now am having doubts. Please update me if you get any traction with Land Rover North America.

 

I don't have any previous experience in this situation with these 03' oil pump failures so this is just off the cuff but it doesn't matter what kind of vehicle you drive, when the oil light comes on or the oil pressure guage needle drops below what is considered normal, you stop the car/truck immediately. I believe the oil light (picture of an oil drip can or something like that) in every vehicle relates to oil pressure (not oil level) and when there is an anomaly in the pressure, that means instant trouble to the healthof an engine. When pressure dips, heat rises quickly and these aluminum engines cannot withstand that heat for long at all (not even a few miles). You might have to chalk this one up as an expensive mistake. I highly doubt LRNA will help you at all. It would be similar to your engine having problems b/c you did not change the oil when recommended. But I sympathize with you that a $45K+ vehicle should not be having oil pump failures this early in its life. I hope you can sort this out as cost effectively as possible. I would hate to see a $8K bill for a new motor. Good luck.

Pads Fan

 

[quote]ORIGINAL: beaver72

I googled "Land Rover Engine Failure" and came across this post. This is my exact problem. I have an 03 Discovery in the vin range. Last wk end I heard a clunk, my oil light came on and I decided to continue to drive my car home (a few miles). On the way home the engine seized and failed.

Dude, your an idiot. You blew up your engine. When the oil light came on you should have put it in neutral and shut off the engine and coasted to the side of the road.
$1200 later you would have been back on the road. You ignored the idiot light and now it is going to cost YOU $8000, NOT LRNA, YOU, because YOU drove with the oil light on.No sympathy here.
I hate to be a jerk, but it is your fault.