Well, a day after my oil light decided to stay on, I stumbled upon a 2004 SE7 with 90,000 miles on it at a lot in Cincinnati and I nearly bought it. Everything works but I have some apprehension. I noticed lots of little yellow paint marks and black marker marks all over the engine and the coolant has been switched over to the green stuff. I think that the engine has been replaced. Has magnecores and the body is in great shape. SES light is on and the mech on the lot pulled the codes and came up with a lean bank left 02 code according to his scanner. They are asking 8900 for it which is about $2000 less than any other 03 or 04 in the Dayton-Cincy area. There is a Rover delaer down the road from this lot. Should I take it to them for an inspection?

What do you guys think? should I continue to pursue or should I run?



-aaron
2003 se7
already spent $8000 in repairs in 2 years
and now have oil warning light on........

 

i say do a trade. 03 for 04 + cash.

(with an inspection at the LR dealer, of course)

 

Is your 03 in the oil pump failure range? If it is stop driving, put a new pump in it tomorrow and it will be good for another 50k miles or so.

 

I thought the '03s with the oil pump problem had an inherent design flaw with the engine block that can not be fixed without replacing the block?

 

True, however the design flaw just adds stress to the oil pump and will eventually cause it to fail. Putting a new one in will temporarily solve the problem for around 50k miles, although I have heard some 03 oil pumps fail within 15k miles. You are right though, inevitably the only way to truly fix the issue is to replace the entire block.

If I were in your shoes, I would replace the existing oil pump in your current disco (if your disco's vin is in that range) and trade it for the 04.

 

Why not put a new engine in the 03, will be cheaper.

 

The 03 is at the shop this morning. Should have diagnosis/estimate later today.

-aaron

 

Just got a call from the shop. Oil pressure was tested and is ZERO. We are looking to replace the pump and go from there.

-aaron

 

A brand new 4.6 here in the US is $7500.

A used one will be less of course depending on miles and condition.
And then he would have to be careful not to get sold another '03 engine, and with the '04 and '03 using the same engine if it were out of the truck already how would you know?

 

Good question. Anyway, they are actually going to drop the pan and check the bearings and pick up tube before proceeding. No reason to replace the front cover/oil pump if the engine is bad from the low pressure.

-aaron