Hello all. Have always wanted one so last week I got a 2002 Dicovery. It has 140 k miles but motor is freshly rebuilt. Body and interior are excellent. I was lucky in that the sales manager at the local Land Rover dealer bought this for his wife. It was babied its entire life - garage every night and highway miles. The only problem I had was a faulty turn signal and an ignition key that needs wiggled. Got both problems fixed with help from this forum. Thanks guys.

 

I hope you enjoy it, but be aware the "rebuilt motor" might simply mean the head gaskets were replaced. If the front cover and the oil pump are working well and oil pressure has been maintained, the bottom end bearings might still be in fair shape. But it's a common problem to have low oil pressure and scored bottom bearings. If the rebuild didn't include new bearings and a sorted oil pump and front cover, then it could become a problem. The cam bearings are also known for premature excessive wear and migration.

I would be reasonably sure the head gaskets have been changed, but bear in mind one of the main reasons they fail as early as they do on these years of Rover V8's is because the blocks crack behind the cylinder liner and coolant is forced up the outside edge of the liner, eroding the head gasket. This can also cause a liner to slip. It certainly causes coolant loss (out the exhaust), and makes the engines prone to overheating due to low coolant levels. Overheating contributes to block cracks, slipped liners, and blown head gaskets.

A true engine rebuild, with all new bearings and "top-hat" or flanged liners that solves these issues runs about $10K ballpark with labor. If the dealer had all that done for his wife and sold it to you, he probably took a big loss.

Be sure there's loads more problems lurking in there from leaking sunroofs, worn unit hubs, leaking brake boosters, oil cooler lines that have cold-flowed out from the crimp fit ends and leak, worn bushings, and steering box issues. But if you have a good aftermarket engine temperature gauge (like an Ultraguage or other ODBII reading guage) and keep it from overheating, you'll get by for a while.

 

The motor was pulled and rebuilt entirely by a guy that builds race engines. The temp guage is a good idea. Will do that.

 

Welcome to the forum.