I had a blinking oil light at idle and ended up replacing the front cover and oil pump all at once. My pump was not broken. Evidently fixed the problem as the light has not come back on since. That said these trucks can have spooky low oil pressure at idle in hot weather or after prolonged highway runs. Mine will drop to about 10psi in these conditions but my motor has 180k on it and I know its on the tired side.

 

Wow $3000
I had mine done here in Canada bus rover shop that cost me $1600 cdn taxes in.

You need a new mechanic fast

rover engines ain’t cheap

 

That is pretty close to normal. At hot temperatures (204-210) on new engines oil pressure will be 10-12 psi at idle. The idle on a Disco is pretty slow, and they did not put a huge volume oil pump in these stock. Unfortunately very limited options for improving it (actually none that I know of other that external dry sump pumps).

 

Glad the cam bearing option has been mentioned. That's the exact symptom my '03 displayed when my #3 cam bearing walked.

Hell, even cam bearings can be done (in the truck) in less time than that. I bet 16 hours on cam bearings. You can replace all but the last one with the motor in the truck.

If the oil pump is in fact the cause, you can bet the front cover is probably wiped out too. Not worth the risk of doing the job twice; I'd replace it in this case even if it looked fine.

 

I have had a couple with broken oil pumps, no damage to the cover. Normal oil pressure after replacement

 

Thanks Extinct, that makes me feel better about my engine health. I monitor two vitals in real time, oil pressure and temp. I figure if those are in spec I can rover on.

 

Well, just wanted to give an update. Engine is almost toast at this point, but it's STILL running at 6000 miles later.

It will be replaced soon.

 

Almost? keep it going man! My motor sounds like crap at times but is still running fine 10k later since buying the truck. No codes, no overheating, acceptable oil pressure, classic tick, etc. Ok I lied, I get a P0160 code every other day but I think it's the wiring and the drivers head is starting to weep coolant. Drives fine.

 

The pressure relief o-ring can be replaced without removing the front cover. If that leaks it can reduce oil pressure on the low end. The spring could be renewed as well, but that effects high end pressure. If the plunger sticks open, that will also effect low end pressure, obviously. Looks like the D2 is same as D1 in this detail. My o-rings were completely flat (145 and 191 k miles). It's a simple job if you have the right tool for the C clip. You might need to remove an oil cooler pipe to get to it. Alternative is stop leak chemical additive that renews seals or swells the o-ring.

 

Maybe you’re there already, but the stop leak additive will swell all your o-rings and the engine will require a complete rebuild. It may buy you a year or even more, but beware.