This is the day my wife's rover appeared. She was so happy.



Two weeks later, after changing the oil, massive ticking ensued. Not sure what the previous owner filled the engine with, oil wise, but whatever it was...it held on long enough for us to get it home. They were the nicest couple, too...never would have figured them to pull a stunt like this. Anyhow, out came the engine. It was not rebuildable, slipped sleeves, crank looked like someone had tried to dull their chainsaw on it.



So, l was forced to look for another engine. Luckily, Eric at 4X4 Trailhead in Ohio had an engine/trans/transfer case out of an 04.



Live and learn, they say...paid premium, like yourself, super-seemingly-trustworthy owners, wife breathing down my neck, "l love this one, l love this one" and next thing you know...I'm elbow deep in an engine removal.

Anyhow, on to your issues...

Yes, the oil pick up tube is the only source for the pump.

The oil screen only keeps out the larger particles of material from entering the oil pump, the tube connects directly to the oil pump housing. Normally (do not have a LR 4.6 oil passage diagram in front of me), oil is picked up through the oil tube by the pump, then travels through the oil cooler (if the engine has one), then to the filter (which removes even the smallest particles), from there it travels through machined passenges in the engine to lubricate the crank, then cam and upper end (valve train), then returns through passages to the oil pan.

Again, this is how "most" engines are lubricated...LR may do it completely backwards...lol.

To visually inspect the rod/crank journals (suggest starting with the rod caps, the mains are somewhat more difficult because the caps are bolted from two different directions...vertically through the cap and then horizonially through the block), mark the end cap on each connecting surface (cap and rod) by using a center punch (one dot for number one and so on), then just remove the retainer nuts/bolts on the cap, do one cap at a time and don't mix them up, then gentle tap the end cap side-to-side to loosen...next...pull it down away from the rod. Your looking for exessive wear, similar to your oil pump gears and housing. If they all look good, mainly gray in color and void of any wear...you are probably, maybe, hopefully in good shape. Post pictures as you dissassemble the caps, we may be able to help you more with visual aspects.

Yes, you can reuse all nuts and bolts involved in this process.

Brian.

 

Pulled off a couple main and rod caps. All are stamped .010 which makes sense assuming first rebuild and likely not severe wear on original motor. The mains are shinny and evenly wore throughout the bearing surface. The rod bearings are a little discolored (darker silver) in the center but no damage. Very good condition in my opinion which makes sense given the engine has 20k miles since rebuild. I stopped there rather than risk me tearing it down more.

Where I'm leaning is replace the front cover which includes new cover, oil pump, pressure reliefs, o-rings, etc. Put it all back together and see what I got. My logic is I shouldn't have to pull the front cover again which was most the work. If still a problem I'll take a look at the valve train. If I need to go back to the mains/rods it's easy enough to drop the oil pan.

 

My guess is previous builder found a broken pump gear and thought it was ok to change the gear and not the front cover. A lot of people think minimal scoring is OK, but it's not.

Chances are that front cover was like that the whole time hence the PO noting the oil light showing up occasionally.

Put a new front cover and button it up. Don't forget to pack gear with Vaseline for quick prime.

 

Normally, upper valve train assembly will never cause a low oil pressure condition. Think of the rocker arm as the relief/exit portion of the system, oil gets pushed through the vital areas first, crank and rod bearings, cam bearing/timing chain assembly, then upward through the push rods and rocker assembly...then returns to the oil pan by the way of gravity...completing its mission.

Places that cause low oil pressure are excessive bearing tolerances or warn/damaged oil pump.

I agree with abran...if you are seeing good conditions on the bearings...reassemble with new pump housing and gears. And don't come down on the previous mechanic to hard, if he didn't replace the whole assembly before...been there, done that...for customers that can't afford to make the correct repair. Normally, a good mechanic will pass on to the customer what needs to be done and how much. And normally...it's the customer that cuts corners and hopes for the best. Now, if the mechanic says they're installing a new unit...and they don't...then we got a problem with that.

Brian.

 

Here's an update. I replaced the front timing cover with a new one. Inspected a few rod and main bearings but in my opinion not that worn. Hot idle now 14 psi, hot 2,000 rpm 45 psi. That's nearly double what I had before. Using a $15 Equus manual pressure gauge so will look for an electronic gauge to compare accuracy and continuous monitoring from inside. Thanks for all the advice.