I took my 2001 Discovery Series II in for a check-up as I thought it was time and the breaks were a little slushier than usual. It has just under 60K miles. I bought it 10 months ago from CARMAX (a hugh U.S. car store). To my horror, my mechanic informed me that my "slushy" break problem was being caused by a leaking rear hub assembly and gear oil had leaked onto my rear break pads contaminating them. The estimate to fix the problem was close to $2,000.00 US dollars!

Is this a normal problem with LR's with 60K miles?
Is it hopefully a recall item? Afterall, dumping oil on the breaks is not a very safe way for parts to fail?
I'm in shock! Any help, suggestions, advice, etc. appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Mason Stewart

 

It is not common, and yes, I did have one of mine replaced. I know there are no recalls on your truck for this problem. I also believe they are way off base on their quote. I would suggest you call around and get a couple of other estimates, call some of the smaller Rover shops.
Let us know what you hear.
Mike

 

Mike,

Thanks for the quick reply. the major cost items in the repair estimate were:Rear Bearing Hub assembly (two @ $513.11) and R&R Rear Hub Bearing (2@ $120.00 each. That's $1,300 dollars before you get to the contaminated pads and rotors , which is another $300.00 in the estimate. What costs for these items would you consider reasonable?

Thanks,

Mason

 

I havent been to the point were I had problems with the wheel bearings for the LR. But I replaced all four wheel bearings on my corvette and it was pretty easy.
The price for the wheel bearings that you mentioned is about right, if you are going to buy LR wheel bearings. Im not sure who makes them for LR. But I gaurantee you can buy two rear bearings for about $200 a peice or less if you shop around. The main thing is that you never buy "made in china metal", Timken is an awesome bearing company. They make the bearings for the huge freight trains pretty much world wide, their products are as good or better than the LR ones.
LR dealerships are going to charge you crazy rates for labor.
$2000 is a ridiculous price.
But again I dont have experience with LR wheel bearings. If they coma as a hub (an enclosed unit) I would do it yourself. If they do not you could always get them repacked and refurbished for a lot less. Good Luck!!!

 

I thought you mentioned you has one leaking, don't need to replace both cause one is leaking, and yes, you will need a set of good pads, $65, shouldn't need rotors for an oil leak unless yours are under sized and if they are, they can be found for $40 to $80 a piece.
May want to check some of the Rover web sites like, Atlantic British, DAP, Rover Connection and you'l find better pricing.
Mike

 

What about just buying a new bearing, pulling the troubled hub out, and pressing a new bearing in? My explorer front drivers side and rear drives side failed after hitting a huge pothole on the highway. I just pulled the both of them, bought new bearings for something like $50, pressed them in myself and it was fine... new hubs plus bearings is sometimes overkill when you can just swap that bearing out youself for a fraction of the price... Again, that was on an explorer, so who knows with the disco.

 

When Rover hubs leak, there is usually no repair based on their design.
Mike

 

Interesting, good to know.

 

OK here,s the scoop. It sounds like you have a outer rear seal failed. Rovers North have this for $4.99 Part #RNH001, but to be sure confirm with them First the phone #is 802 879 9152. Now usually when a bearning seal goes its just the seal. Not always but usually. The bearing itself is ajustable, it is of a tapered type and therefore you can take up the slack by turning in the big nut {the inner one, there are two of them} The other good news is you do not need a Land Rover mechanic to do the work. Any reasonable mechanic should be able to do the job [one side, which is all you need] in less than 3 hours. In case you are not sure what all the talk about the bearing is. The main reason these seals fail is because the bearing gets play on account of normal wear in the bearing. You should probably replace the brake pads also because of contamination. I am cheap so I just clean them with varisol and let the heat from braking do the rest, but you would probable get a argument from most mechanic about the wisdon of this. They are used to spending other peoples money on new part and therefore money is no object
good luck and let us know how you get on.
The people at Rovers North will be happy to talk to you about your problem.
Irishrover.