Hi, been having trouble with my oil light appearing on at idle. Was told by mechanic that my oil pump "probably" needs to be replaced at some point and then quoted me with like $3000 for 20+ hours of labor. They then suggested to me "it's not worth fixing" and "to drive the discovery until you need a new engine", and to just go to an LR specialist for an engine replacement. This was about a month ago, put on only like 400 miles since then. The truck recently sat for 2 weeks and when I drove it yesterday the oil light on the dash solidly started to appear below 1k rpms. While I was at the stop light I had to put the trans in neutral and keep the revs up, just out of fear that the truck would suddenly die. Got home, parked it and haven't touched it since.

Main question; is it over for the oil pump/or gear that might be cracked? Has anyone else experienced something like this? I'm definitely weary about starting the truck and driving it now. Please help!

 

Definitely not a 20hr job. Best case is it's the oil pump and not the front cover. Either way still the same amount of work and way cheaper than a new engine. I'd pull it apart and if you haven't done a new water pump recently I'd replace that and all idler pulleys while your at it. Once apart it should be relatively clear if the gears or the cover are to blame.

 

Only recently started? Suddenly or gradually? First step it so to do an actual pressure test and verify low oil pressure, there have been cases of bad sending units. If you don't want to go through that hassle you could just throw another sending unit in there and see if it also turns on the light. How many miles on the truck?

Low oil pressure causes are typically:
1. Broken oil pump - usually starts suddenly one day, easily repairable. Oil pan and front cover have to come off. About 4-6 hrs to R&R. Plus cost of gears.
2. Walked cam bearing - usually starts after major overheat event. Can happen somewhat slowly. Pan, front cover, radiator, intake, rockers, all have to come off to repair. This can be seen from below with the oil pan off.
3. Worn bearings - very rare, high mileage, oil change abuse. Unlikely.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not mechanically inclined/have a place to work on the Rover, also don't have a rover specialist near me. Would you recommend shopping around for a good mechanic in the area?

 

It's an '03 D2. 132k Miles. I did have the oil pressure tested, I think the numbers were much lower than usual. I'll try the sending unit. The oil light has been on/off over time, when it started to come on my mechanic suggested putting higher viscosity oil and a better filter in, which worked for a little while. Now it seems to have come back.

 

I would recommend calling a reputable rover shop (Roadside Werx is a good one) and ask how many hours that job would take just so you have a baseline to see if you're getting jerked around. I suspect you are as 20 hrs of labor is way too much imo, so yes I'd strongly suggest shopping around for a different mechanic.

 

$3K and 20+ hours is the "I don't want to do it but will if you pay it" price. find another mechanic. What's your location? It'd even be worth a tow to a bigger city to the right mechanic.

 

"drive it until you need a new engine"...wow...that's some f'd up advice right there.

 

With those miles the engine is not worn out, so it is one of the first two. Does not sound like sending unit. What were the oil pressure test results?

Under no circumstances do you take it to anyone other than a Rover specialty or Import specialty shop. It will cost your more in the long run, almost guaranteed. Get AAA premier, 200 miles towing for free after a 7 day waiting period. Cost about $100.

 

In the seventies, a bad oil caused the pressure regulator in the oil pump of my BMW stuck partially open from residues build-up. Same symptoms. Castrol paid for repairs of several fleet vehicles then.
I would have the oil pump removed and cleaned or replaced after firing that lazy 'mechanic'.
Can also be a bad oil pressure sensor. Worth checking/replacing, not an involved surgery.