Hope I am putting this in the right area. We purchased a 97 Discovery for our daughter 6 months ago. At the time the dealer we purchased it from said it needed a new oil pump. We had his shop put it in. Now 6 months later it starts fine and then once we have been driving for a while (5 min) the oil light comes on and we get engine noise. I am not mechanical but in reading some posts we are going to change the oil and do an engine flush and see if it is sludge clogging the oil return channels. Any other ideas? Please help

 

This is an engine killer, so no more driving.

Possible that a new filter will fix it. At cold start filter bypass valve shunts oil around the filter media. In a few minutes, oil is warmed up, and bypass valve returns to normal and oil is passing thru the media. If really dirty, valve should shunt the media and allow full flow of un-filtered oil. May be related. Don't use a FRAM filter. Wix 51515 or 51773, or Purolator L40316.

The pickup and pickup tube in the oil pan may be clogged up from previous oil flush attempts. 17 bolts and Right Stuff gasket maker.

An oil PSI mechanical gauge test would be good to perform. The light goes at about 7-8 PSI. What happens if you are only making 12 PSI, instead of 40 as expected at rpm?

BTW, my daughter is enjoying her second year at college with her 97.

 

Going to change the oil and put a new filter on tonight. Someone just told me it might not be a good idea to do the engine flush. Any thoughts on that? Thank you for your input!

 

okay another question. . . what causes this. I am mechanically very challenged. The oil was changed 3000 miles ago and our daughter doesn't do a lot of hard driving. My only thought is that the Rover sat for 2 years without being driven. I need a book "Discovery Engines for Dummies!"

 

Here is what the inside of a high miles 97 can look like. Since Rover has baffles in the valve covers you can't see the sludge build up. A flush can slowly solvent some of this and the oil filter will catch it and oil turns very dark in a short period. But a flush can also make chucks come off, which become blockages on the oil pickup screen in the oil pan.

The technician can attach a mechanical oil gauge in place of the sensor. When warmed up, it should read 10 PSI or more at idle, and 40 PSI or more at 2000 rpm.

Would not drive to shop with oil light on, would have towed.

BTW, the 97 also has an oil cooler in the radiator, on the same side as the battery. I had one that was restricted, and oil light would not go out. The fittings could be removed an something like WD 40 or carb cleaner sprayed through to make sure it is not plugged. Could even be bypassed with sturdy hose and clamps for testing.

Note that pix of oil pickup is for info only, it is not a Rover.

 

thank you for the insight! I will let you know what happens after changing the oil tonight.

 

Changed the Oil and the Filter. The oil light has gone off!! Going to take it for a short drive. However, the check engine light has come on. Any ideas about this? Thank you for your help thus far!! Baby Steps

 

Go to your local parts store and have them do a free check, make sure to get the fault code numbers and get back to us.
If that oil light comes on again, quit driving it.
By the way, what weight oil did you install and who's filter?

 

I put 10W-30 oil in her and used a WIX filter. The existing filter was a NAPA house brand filter that was put on at the shop that installed the oil pump. My thought was that since there was a problem to change the oil and filter in another 500 miles and do that once again at another 500 miles then go back to every 6 months or 3000 miles. Does that sound like a good plan? I'll get the codes hopefully today and let you all know. Thanks again for the advice I was pretty worried yesterday.

 

Plan sounds good, but would move up to 15W40 Rotella oil. The Rover shop manual shows that 10W30 only rated for use up to 90F.

You may wish to invest in a code reader scanner, best value is the Ultra Gauge at $69. It will display live data like coolant temp and battery volts. Can also be programmed to make an alarm noise if coolant temp was to go beyond your desired range. The heat gauge in a 97 like mine can't be trusted above 8:30-9:00. My normal temp range is 183-187 (with a 180F stat). There is no way 235F should be mid point in the "normal" area of the gauge. Trusting Rover instruments has allowed many trucks to be damaged by long term slow roasting over hickory coals. The owners would have taken action, if only they had known.

Pix of an Ultra Gauge, and pix of my 97 heat gauge and my scanner.