Hello All,
This is my first time posting on this forum, I usually just read your posts on topics that I am having issues with as well but I desperately need your help and advice.

My husband and I purchased our 2011 LR4 Land Rover from the Land Rover dealership in Greensboro, NC in 2018. It had previously had only 1 owner and had about 106,000 miles on it when we purchased it, but the dealership told us that we would easily get over 300,000 miles and several more years out of it. Well to make a long story short we started having issues with the LR4 the first year, but we liked it so much and couldn’t believe that the dealership would sell us a lemon so we kept it.

In 2021 we had to get the 4 control arms replaced and the axels and boot’s replaced. We we’re getting the front brakes and rotors replaced last month after the brakes worn message came on but before the mechanic could bleed the brakes another like came on saying low battery and the LR4 started having issues cranking so we bought a new battery, but we couldn’t get it cranked anymore. We thought that it was because the brakes need to be pressed in order to start the LR4.

Unfortunately we had to get the LR4 towed to a shop. The Land Rover dealership lied and refused to take it saying that they longer work on vehicles older than 2015 models even though they sold us the LR4. When we finally got an appointment the shop put the LR4 on a diagnostic machine and said that the engine was locked up and needed to be replaced for $30,000.

Have anybody heard of an Land Rover engine going out in 11 years?
Please Help!!! Any advice about this option of getting it repaired or other options?

 

Hi,
Sorry for your troubles with this. unfortunately some dealerships will tell you anything to make a sale...A couple of questions: does the engine turn over at all when you try to start it? does the dash displaay "press brake to start"? Did the engine ever lose coolant or overheat? Overheating from low coolant especially cracked or broken coolant crossover tubes is the typical killer of the 5.0 JLR engine.
Are you using a LR independent shop? Confident in thier abilities?

 

Hello,

Thank You for responding! No the engine does not turn over at all and the brakes worn message shows because it is still thinking that the brakes are worn because the mechanic was unable to bleed the new brakes.

No the engine never lost coolant or over heated while we have had it. Yes the shop is an independent LR shop, the Land Rover dealership recommended the shop called Eurobahn when they refused to service it. No at this time we are not sure of their abilities because this is our first contact.

 

I would ask them how they diagnosed the bad engine. Not normal for this V8 to sieze unless it is either overheated or run with no/low oil. The cam chain tensioners can wear prematurely and valve timing can jump but usually engine will shut off with a bang-clack as valves collide with pistons if that were the case.

Otherwise, it sounds more like a starter circuit/possible ground connection problem if it will not turn over at all.

Also, i understand the brake worn message but was asking if when you try to push the start button, if you are getting a message that "depress brake to start" shows as that could indicate a worn out or faulty brake pedal switch which will cause car to not engage the starter. [this is also a typical LR3/LR4 fault]
Sorry dont know anything about Eurobahn. I am down the road in CLT and do know some of the shops in the GSO area. We have a great indie known as performance rover in indian trail. I know that is 120 miles from you but might be worth a phone call and tow if your're considering engine replacement.
also might ask foreign accents in GSO for a second opinion. Not sure if they repair LRs but decent mechanics, fair ownership group and they do a lot of european car stuff

 

My husband and I called your shop to try to speak with you in more detail, but your phones are not working at the moment. Angie sent me a message that she will get back with me as soon as the phones are back working. Would be great if we could touch base today.

 

hi, thanks. sorry for the confusion. Performance Rovers is not my shop nor do i work there. I have used them and would not hesitate to again. I hope you are able to connect with them.

 

Okay we assumed that with you being knowledgeable about other possible solutions for our LR4 that you were a mechanic that worked on LR4s and someone that could give us some hope for more reasonable repairs. It is still hard for us to believe that the engine is only 11 years old with no other major issues just stopped working.

If you don’t mine how are you so knowledgeable? The tips that you gave us will be things that we may ask other shops to look at since Eurobahn is sure there are no other options and of course they will ask us how did we come up with that option. Also you mentioned that you knew about some other shops in Greensboro that may consider looking into these as options for repair and are knowledgeable about LRs. Do you have any other suggestions?

Thank You!

 

i am a part time mechanic but do not specialize in LRs; however, we do own a 2011 LR4 5.0.v8 and I have done a lot of work on it so am fairly familiar with its quirks etc. Your engine may very well be siezed but usually the JLR v8 will give some warning or accompanying sypmtoms that this is happening like loud rattling cam chains ffrom worn tensioners, or loss of coolant and quick overheat usually from failed coolant crossover pipes [factory ones are abs plastic and do become brittle, crack, leak or just split]..almost instantenous loss of coolant and siezed engine due to overheat. The v8 is not really prone to cranshaft breakage like the diesel LR4s mostly in europe. It just sounds like your shop needs to answer more questions as to how they determined the engine was siezed.
As mentioned before, you might want to place a call to Foreign Accents [Market Street] and ask if they would render second opinion.
Also, did your shop give you a printout of disgnostics? might be a clue on it what tests they ran to determine the engine was toast.

 

Thank You for sharing your experience and we really appreciate you trying to help us with this issue that is very frustrating! No we haven’t received the diagnostic details invoice yet that cost over $300 and I asked my husband to see if the shop will check out the possible issues that you suggested, but he said this shop Eurobahn is set on the decision of engine replacement per their conversation.

I have reached out to Foreign Accents in Greensboro and Performance Rovers in your area for a 2nd opinion, waiting for responses.

 

Unfortunately, more and more JLR main dealers are no longer servicing vehicles over 5 years old, one of the main dealers here actually considers 2015 and older to be "vintage". Various factors account for this including lack of experienced technicians, parts on these vehicles become brittle after 5+ years and taking things apart can lead to further damage to the vehicle which then becomes a "grey" area as to whose liability this is - a $2K repair could balloon several times due to this, etc. As for the engine replacement, this is another main dealer policy, it's less costly and less time consuming and more profitable to offer only scheduled maintenance service with large profit margins or complete assembly replacement rather than troubleshooting and repair.