considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
#1
considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
I know from the forums that 2003 Discovery's are a bit dangerous as LR installed the 4.6 ? engine for the first time and hadn't allowed for enough breathing room for the oil pump, causing many to fail and hence causing many engines to prematurley overheat.
Now apparently LR fixed the problem a few months? into the 2003 manufacturing schedule.
Does anyone know exactly what months are the problem months?Is every Discovery in these months affected or only a portion?Is there asticker or stamp indicating the month of manufacture?
At what mileage do the affected engines typically fail? For example, someone who is selling a 2003 here in the Los Angeles area had his fail at about 60,000 miles. Fortunatley he had an extended warranty and LR replaced the complete engine with a 2004 design? This new engine only has 2000 miles on it now, and he's sellinghis clean S model Discovery with the new engine (still under warranty thru August) for $12,000. Last question- good deal??
Now apparently LR fixed the problem a few months? into the 2003 manufacturing schedule.
Does anyone know exactly what months are the problem months?Is every Discovery in these months affected or only a portion?Is there asticker or stamp indicating the month of manufacture?
At what mileage do the affected engines typically fail? For example, someone who is selling a 2003 here in the Los Angeles area had his fail at about 60,000 miles. Fortunatley he had an extended warranty and LR replaced the complete engine with a 2004 design? This new engine only has 2000 miles on it now, and he's sellinghis clean S model Discovery with the new engine (still under warranty thru August) for $12,000. Last question- good deal??
#3
RE: considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
You can take a Discovery VIN into any LR dealership and they can run a history on it which should include date of manufacture, date and place of importation and any other LR dealership service (including any recall type service) performed on the vehicle. I did that when I bought my 2003 model last year and discovered that mine was not manufactured until October, 2003.
#4
RE: considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
here's a link to the tsb
http://home.comcast.net/~bhcmbailey/lrna_tsb.pdf
VIN range affected is 3A771801 – 3A808362
http://home.comcast.net/~bhcmbailey/lrna_tsb.pdf
VIN range affected is 3A771801 – 3A808362
#5
RE: considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
The 4.6 was introduced in 2000? Not 2003.
The oil pump problem is because of bad quality control during certain manufacture dates. When the oil pump fails the engine dosnt overheat, it loses oil pressure which is the same as running it without oil in the engine.
The 4.6 is a good engine, the engine design has been around for 40+ years, just one year (2003)where quality was sub par in the engine build area.
The replacement engine should be void of defects and should last you well into the 200K range with little to no problems.
The oil pump problem is because of bad quality control during certain manufacture dates. When the oil pump fails the engine dosnt overheat, it loses oil pressure which is the same as running it without oil in the engine.
The 4.6 is a good engine, the engine design has been around for 40+ years, just one year (2003)where quality was sub par in the engine build area.
The replacement engine should be void of defects and should last you well into the 200K range with little to no problems.
#7
RE: considering purchasing a 2003- buyer beware?
Go talk to your LR dealer and tell then that you know about the TSB on the oil pump, have them run your VIN and see if you are in the problem time frame.
If you are then see what they will do about it.
Search the forum and you will find tons of posts about this issue.
If you are then see what they will do about it.
Search the forum and you will find tons of posts about this issue.
#9
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