Well, after much toil the timing cover is off. Some useful tips for those that want to do this, after removing the water pump, there are 5 other bolts securing the timing cover. The sump is also attached to it and will need to be removed to get the timing cover off.

The screws holding the oil pump apart and large and on there VERY tight. I haven't stripped any yet, but if I keep trying I will. I have them soaking in some anti-seize solution and have my torch ready. I do have access to an impact gun tomorrow when I got to the shop, should I wait until then?

Thanks everyone, you've been very helpful!

 

Aren't you going to replace your timing chain set, you should at that mileage.

 

Yup, already have the chains and sprockets.

 

Did you find any cracks in your oil pump gear? I just found 3!. I suspected this as I have a digital oil pressure guage installed. I never had the oil light come on but noticed my pressure decrease over the last 6-8 months especially at hot idle. I decided its best to fix this as my max pressure was about 39psi min was about 7-8psi at hot idle. My 2003 is in the defective VIN range. All should be back to spec pressure now. I'm doing the timing gears too. I can't believe how much play there is in that chain. I will be switching to Peak Global coolant and replacing O-rings in the oil pickup and oil filter port.
Land Rover should put out a TSB and say replace oil pump gear every 65,000 miles. I bet there are plenty of people driving around without an oil pressure gauge and noticing nothing till they have a terrible knock or ticking. I've never had a tick or knock. Now I have a lot of cleaning to do. Ugg.

 

I know! Replace every 200k my a$$ lol. Should be done ever 100k. Btw, I haven't been able to get those screws holding the pump together on the back of the timing cover loose. How did you go about it? I'm afraid I will strip them, I've already almost stripped one already. I can't see if they are cracked, but I'm pretty sure they are. The gears snag when you move them instead of being real smooth.

I found out that you are supposed to put the oil pump gears on in a specific orientation, one side has a chamfer and the other is flat.

 

The chamfer side always faces down into the cover recess. I found this out after I had mine back together. On the screws use a very large screwdriver fitting, bigger then the standard size and push hard. I had no trouble with them stripping on mine.

 

I used a power drill on #1 setting. Its a pozi drive #2 bit with a flat tip. Press down really hard. All mine came out with out a fight. I dont think I could have done it by hand. The torque of the drill is the key.

 

94svt50 did you pack thin grease in your oil pump gear for reassembly? I've heard others on here use Vasoline. What about priming the gear with oil? I was thinking of cranking the engine a few revolutions to prime the gear, but didnt want to unplug every spark plug. Any thoughts?

 

Impact driver set from sears, you also need the 1-3 pozi driv set of bits - it's not phillips its pozi driv

 

FUN.... Ended up using a smaller bit, and attached it to a breaker bar, screws came right off. Over kill, but it worked.

That was going to be my next attempt, but I was impatient and didn't want to go out to my shop.