I've got a 1999 Land Rover Disco 2 with an engine knock. Low oil pressure is the cause. It's been in and out of 2 shops being misdiagnosed and improperly handled. The second shop, a quality shop, replaced the cam and lifters, the butcher shop did oil pump gears and timing chain and I did the main/rod bearings myself, (I'm no mechanic and this very easily could have been done improperly). I paid $7k for the truck and overall, I've got $10k into the rig after paying for repairs.

And independent Rover shop said that they would diagnose for a couple hundred dollars, but they're 3 hours away. Best case is about $500-700 if it's rod/main bearings or $7500 for a newly rebuilt engine replacement. I have the money for the engine replacement, or I could pick up a 1993 Land Cruiser with factory lockers for $8000 so that I have another rig to drive while the Rover is in the shop. If it needs a motor, I park it until I can save, (6 months?).

Would you buy THIS LAND CRUISER, and have the issue diagnosed and possibly fixed for under $1k or fix the Land Rover once and for all to be a daily driver?

I could also buy Land Cruiser and try to sell the Disco 2 at a great loss with a knocking engine. I'll likely be picking up the Land Cruiser Thursday if it comes to that.

Thoughts?

 

Buy the Land Cruiser, and then sleep on it for a week or so and determine the Rovers fate then.

 

I'd find a good used engine for the rover and then drive it for a few years to recoup some loss.

Just make sure the cooling system is squared away.

 

Maybe just the rocker arm bar is on there loose or such.
What is the pressure when actually measured.

 

What kind of oil PSI readings do you get? Also, as mentioned, rocker arm assembly can be a loss of pressure point. Did your mains show copper?

 

That Toyota seems like a heck of a buy.

 

Yeah. The rods and mains were showing copper. The mechanic that worked on it, who I really do trust, talked a lot about how carefully he inspected the rocker arms. When he finally told me the oil pressure, he mentioned the numbers for cold idle, cold 1500, warm idle, warm 1500 rpms. They were all within spec except for warm idle was around 7-10 psi.

I'm going to buy this FJ-80 tomorrow and that will give me a chance to park the Rover and take a step back to think about what to do.

I would let the Land Rover go for $4k right now. It's not even in my name yet, so that's about $1000 out of pocket to sell. I'd be getting $3k out of $4k.

 

engine knock is lower mains or rod bearings.
Replace them right away - before you spin the crank and then the engine is done.

 

I didn't know you could get an lc with factory lockers? I used to own an fzj80 and the 1fzfe is a great motor as long as its been taken care of. Don't get an 80 with the 3fe. It's slower than a rover!!

 

You have a lot in the Rover. So I would pull the motor out. Strip out the crank, pistons And rods. Take the crank to a reliable engineering shop and ask them to check the wear on all the bearing journals.. If need be regrind the crank down to 0.010 under size. You could go to 0.020 then get new journal bearings to suit. A new set of piston rings would also help. Hone the cylinder bores as well. Use a honing tool for the cylinders.
You will also need to get a new oil pump. When you assemble make sure you clean,blow,flush out all the oil galeries to get rid of any crud/metal shavings. Can't see any other way to fix your Rover unless you can source a good engine for the same cost of the rebuild.