Well I recently purchased a 97 Discovery Camel Trophy Special Edition, 141.000 miles. Before I purchased it I went over it pretty good before purchasing. Found nothing serious just a few wore parts and minor oil leaks. relaced the leaky power steering hose, changed oil, drove it for a few weeks. All good!!

So I decide to go on a road trip with it, 500 miles in I blow a heater hose, overheat. In Wyoming. Got it fixed, drove another 200 miles, low oil pressure light, engine vibrates bad, I pull over, it dies. Check everything, start it and inside it is not good.

Talking with a few Rover mechanics, the basic story is when it overheated the oil pump failed, the engine starved of oil, and started to shutdown. They say rebuilding it would cost close to what it's worth. Best bet would be find a used engine.

So I am looking around at options. I am a fairly competent mechanic, I have done many engine swaps, driveline swaps, etc. I am a wheeler, I also own a rockcrawler CJ-5, 1984 FJ 60, 85 Scirocco, blah blah blah.

Should I be looking a newer Disco engine to replace it? What years are the best?

Looking at GM engine swaps looks a little more involved for the ride than I am interested in, I would save that for my FJ

What do you experts recommend?

 

Changing your screen name might be a good place to start!

 

I don't understand how that will help a thing but thanks!

 

Is this a religious forum or a land rover forum? Would anyone have been offended if he had a screen name like "Budha Da Man"? I hope that no one would really not help soemone because you did not approve of their screen name.

 

I dont think the oil pump failed I think that you dropped a cylinder liner and baked the oil to death thus clogging the oil passages and then staving it of oil.
However, I tend to agree that a used engine would be best unless you are going to keep the truck for a very long time.
If you did drop a liner then you will need a new engine, if not then just a good rebuild will do the trick.
It might turn out that all you need are new rod bearings and the like, the cylinder walls may still be good and you may not need new rings.
Until you tear it apart you wont know the extent of the damage.
But here are some links to a couple of places that sell used parts.
www.roverlandparts.com
www.autosportsunlimited.com

 

Get a good used one. You will have to use a GEMS 4.0. you can use a Bosch, but you will have to swap the front cover. A Bosch 4.0 or 4.6 can be used, but you will have to convert to electric fans and make some mods. These are al Rover engines BTW, just different years. The last GEMS made was in early 99. Also make sure to get a 96 or newer, and the previous will have a distributor drive on the cam.

 

A 85 Scirocco,,,,not Alpine white?

I bought one new was my last VW for many years my luck with it is as your luck is with your Disco.

But now time to help,,, you can get used motors or a remanufactured motor from Motor Cars LTD their add is on this web page 4.0L V8 $3248.75. plus core plus shipping. Shipping from Houston Tx to Dallas Tx was $125 with insu,, I picked one up a few months ago for the starting point on a preformance motor its going in the shop for the work this Saturday,,,"Its a long block and could just bolt in if you wanted" if they find anything that you or anyone needs to know about I can let everyone know Good or I hope not Bad.

 

Was this truck a diesel? I thought all camel trophy trucks were.

If not, get 200 or 300 tdi diesel shipped in from canada or the UK.

 

No it's a 4.0 gasser.

This is what I have. Taken from wikipedia-

1997: Land Rover introduces the Special Edition Discovery XD with AA Yellow paint, subdued wheels, SD type roof racks, and a few other off-road upgrades directly from the factory. Produced only for the North American market, the Special Vehicles Division of Land Rover created only 250 of these bright yellow SUV's. Official formation of the Camel Trophy Owners Club by co-founders Neill Browne, Pantelis Giamarellos and Peter Sweetser.

 

We don't have diesel Rovers in Canada