Yes, I know. Did you read and comprehend where I wrote, "some '03 owners never have any problems at all with the oil pump, ever."?

Exactly, now you are starting to use your noggin! Why do you think we don't have a sticky thread titled, "SO you've decided to buy a 2000?

This is very true, I completely agree, but it does not matter.

You mean the sticky on the top of this forum, the TSB, the hundreds (maybe thousands if you count other forums) of complaints about the '03 oil pump/misaligned dowels/engine failures is not hard enough numbers for you?

Spike is exactly right...this "holy grail" of hard numbers you seek does not exist AND IT IS NOT THE WAY REAL LIFE DATA IS ANALYZED ANYWAY! I am educated in statistics and manage medical data for a living. When we do a study, for example like, "What are the root causes for congestive heart failure (CHF) for men over the age of 50?", do you think we look at data for every 50 year old in the country that was diagnosed with CHF and then do our analysis? NO, we take a sample, say 1% or 5% of the total population of men over 50 with CHF and analyze that sample to come to our conclusions as to the root causes.

And the community of '03 owners on this forum provides a very adequate sample for me to come to the conclusion that statistically, an '03 has a much higher failure rate than any other year DII's were made. And I can back up my conclusion with hard evidence, a root cause in the form of a TSB issued by LR explaining they F$cked up the dowels on the oil pump in trucks within a certain VIN range.

Now, back to your original questions;

Prevalent enough for to know the problem and ask here before purchasing. Prevalent enough for us to put a sticky on the top addressing this very issue. And then when I answered your question about what you can do to really prevent it from occurring by simply not purchasing an '03, you write I'm a smartass because you did not like my answer?

So, are you really trying to prevent this from occurring or are you contemplating rolling the dice, buying an '03 and looking for some "feel good vibes" to come your way to help soothe your obvious anxiety about purchasing one?

If its the latter, that's cool...but don't call me a smartass because it was not the answer you were looking for.

 

I agree with everything you wrote except for it being "not common". Statically, it is QUITE MORE common in the pool of trucks within the VIN range stated in the TSB vs. any other VIN range and/or year. With 2004 being a close second.

I am also quite aware of the info you posted on why this happened; how lucky are we to have current and past trained LR techs on this forum help us with such great knowledge? Not to mention all the fellow '03 owners on this forum, like bosshogt or bundu, for example, who swears by there '03's and have no problems at all.

But how do you explain Chris's predicament? Vandev is the poster child for perseverance as far as I'm concerned. I bet my bottom dollar he teaches his daughter how to read the oil pressure gauge he installs!

IMO, anyone who purchases an '03 within the VIN range with intimate knowledge of this well known problem of the misaligned dowels is taking a chance.

bigjai obviously recognized the chance he is taking evidenced by his post. Now all bigjai needs to decide if he is a gambling man. If it works out, he looks smart and he will concentrate on the other well known problems like HGs and front driveshafts and I will eat crow; I'm a man. If it does not work out?

 

With 67k miles on the vehicle whats the gamble? If the oil pump blows at this point it's not from misaligned dowls, it would be from some other cause which could affect any other disco at any time.

 

2003 Land Rover Discovery II Oil Pump Failure Engine Replacement Alert - Motor Trend Pickups & SUVs Forum

I dis agree with the "they all blew up in the first 10k" statement.

LAND ROVER DISCOVERY ENGINE FAIL

Land Rover Repair: 2004 Land Rover Discover II - Oil Pump Failure, land rover discovery, oil pressure loss

You guys ever heard of Google? Its pretty cool.
You just type in what you are looking for and it gives you like all kinds of things to look at.
I'm going to look up boobies now.

 

Perseverance.....I can barley spell that.. I am a idot ..as i own one...iam a bigger idiot as now.... i have to fix two...and three...no oil pressure gauge...dont want to give her a mental phobia to have to have her eyes glued to that and not the road....

Chris

 

Maybe 10k was an exaggeration but if the pump is truly misaligned, the gears would have imploded long befor 67k miles. Even though google is the final word on things, you still can't believe every thing you read on the Internet.

 

I call it "the lazy eye rover syndrome"...I've trained one eye to constantly stare at the temp guage and the other eye to constantly stare at the road. I switch my eyes every other day so they don't stay that way permanently. Don't feel sorry for me though, I also use my disability to check out hot girls so they don't think I'm gawking at them...

 

I didn't pull the trigger. Now I'm on to 04's. Too much background noise (in my head) about the 03's.

 

Hey bigjai, I want to apologize for being so harsh with you. Most people purchase an '03 with ZERO knowledge of the oil pump/misaligned dowels/engine failures and I respect you for investigating further.

Good luck in finding the rig of your choice.

 

That is not a safe bet either....I have a 04 that looked as it was in great condition...i heard a tick that no one else heard...it blew up 2 months after i bought it....If i had to do it over again i would look for one blown up ..get it cheep...and put a new rebuilt engine in it and drive it like i stole it...Any car or truck purchase is a roll of the dice..and a LR is like shooting craps with every you have on one roll.. as you can see from reading threw these forums...it's not pretty....

enter if you dare... Chris