I have a '97 disco w/ 90k on it. The other day I had my oil pressure light come on. When I turned down the radio and rolled down the window I could hear a very noticeable tap/knock. So I shut it down and had it towed back to my house. The oil level is fine. I took out a plug/sensor on the driver side of the block I believed was the oil pressure sensor. It seems that maybe it wasn't the oil pressure sensor though. I've seen that it is probably found on the oil filter housing. Anyway, when I pulled the plug on the block I cranked it a couple times to see if oil would shoot out since I don't have access to a pressure guage and nothing came out. So I started by dropping the oil pan. The best I could tell was there weren't any metal shavings in the oil, however it was kind of dark in the garage last night. Screen on the pick up wasn't noticeably clogged either. I will probably pull the front cover this weekend and inspect the oil pump gears and cover housing. Anything else it could be and will it be obvious that the pump is shot by looking at it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am new to land rovers and don't have a whole lot of knowledge about them yet. Thanks

 

possible bearing but no shavings its possible its a bit clogged up, clean the pickup in parts washer and run clean oil and see if it runs bad again. It ain't cheap for a pump so a little cleanup goes along way.

 

since your in there I would pull off the front cover and inspect the oil pump, if the front cover has any damage then that should also be replaced and things might get expensive, check the rod bearings as well

 

The pickup is clear. I'm gonna pull the front cover this weekend and hope for the best. Thanks for the response.

 

Just wanted to post my outcome because so few people ever post after the problem is solved to let others know what the culprit was. I wound up changing the oil pump, pickup tube gasket, front cover gasket, oil pan gasket and oil filter. It went from zero pressure to good pressure. Didn't have a pressure guage but pressure seems fine. The oil pump actually didn"t look bad upon visual inspection at all when I pulled it but it was a few Thousandths worn more than recommended. I am not sure if it was a worn pump or worn gaskets but I don"t much care as long as it is fixed. The engine sounds great now. It is noticably quieter than the day I bought it. On to the next part/parts that need attention.

 

Thanks for posting the results. I had a front cover leak last year, and I went ahead and changed the gears. They "looked" fine, but I got an extra 12 PSI of pressure after.