That red oil can light.......

Driving down from Paris to home very late last night in the TD5 ( I live near Poitiers in western France) the red light in the shape of an oil can suddenly came on.... Fortunately there was no other traffic around, so I turned off the engine within about 15 seconds, and stopped on the hard shoulder. The car now sits in a garage about sixty miles north of home, to be transported to an LR dealer Monday morning.
I gather from my nearest neighbour and fellow Disco forum member Jason2 this could be an oil pump problem - to put it mildly, worst way a new engine.
Any comments or helpful suggestions gratefully received, I have to go into deep discussions with the garage on Monday morning.
gdb

I assume you checked the oil level before packing it off?

Oil pump sounds likely given the bolt problem on Td5's, but equally could be something as simple as low oil level as the warning lights can often mean several things - I'm not familiar with them on a Td5 so couldn't say without looking in a manual. My old van used to bring up the oil light and flash a huge "STOP" light when the oil got low - bit OTT I thought!

Are there any Disco owners left in the UK?!

Matt

mmaddock said:

I assume you checked the oil level before packing it off?

Oil pump sounds likely given the bolt problem on Td5's, but equally could be something as simple as low oil level as the warning lights can often mean several things - I'm not familiar with them on a Td5 so couldn't say without looking in a manual. My old van used to bring up the oil light and flash a huge "STOP" light when the oil got low - bit OTT I thought!

Are there any Disco owners left in the UK?!

Matt

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Your assumption is correct, I always check oil and coolant levels before a motorway run. The French breakdown mechanic did too, when we got off the motorway, and gave the Frenchest of shrugs, a technical indicator that there is a big and expensive problem!
If there are any Disco owners left in the UK, the received advice is don't break down in France......

Years ago I had a Morris Ital van the oil pressure warning light came on near Sheffield so Green Flag took the vehicle home to Hull. When I had a look in daylight the next morning the wire to the sender had come off and was earthing out against the block. I put it back on and all was well.

GRUNT said:

Years ago I had a Morris Ital van the oil pressure warning light came on near Sheffield so Green Flag took the vehicle home to Hull. When I had a look in daylight the next morning the wire to the sender had come off and was earthing out against the block. I put it back on and all was well.

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Aye had same thing on a ahem... frontera wire to the sender was fooked, didnt matter cuz the pressure release valve was fooked and i spent many a day watching that little red light flicker at tickover.

gdb said:

Driving down from Paris to home very late last night in the TD5 ( I live near Poitiers in western France) the red light in the shape of an oil can suddenly came on.... Fortunately there was no other traffic around, so I turned off the engine within about 15 seconds, and stopped on the hard shoulder. The car now sits in a garage about sixty miles north of home, to be transported to an LR dealer Monday morning.
I gather from my nearest neighbour and fellow Disco forum member Jason2 this could be an oil pump problem - to put it mildly, worst way a new engine.
Any comments or helpful suggestions gratefully received, I have to go into deep discussions with the garage on Monday morning.
gdb

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Hi Gerry

I know of so many cases of this "bloody bolt" come out that I think it's better getting prepared for the worst case scenario and then you can have & BIG Party if it's not
As you know I'm currently looking for a TD5 and that would be the very first thing that I would do regardless would be to have a new bolt loctited into that oil pump!

Good luck, fingers crossed & at least you stopped which will have limited the damage,I know my wife would have stonked on until it blew and locked all 4 wheels

It's a common misconception that yeh oil light will come on when your oil's low.IT'S A OIL PRESSURE WARNING! and usualy lack of! But also not uncommon to get faulty senders,bad conections as mentioned above!

Jason2 said:

Hi Gerry

I know of so many cases of this "bloody bolt" come out that I think it's better getting prepared for the worst case scenario and then you can have & BIG Party if it's not
As you know I'm currently looking for a TD5 and that would be the very first thing that I would do regardless would be to have a new bolt loctited into that oil pump!

Good luck, fingers crossed & at least you stopped which will have limited the damage,I know my wife would have stonked on until it blew and locked all 4 wheels

It's a common misconception that yeh oil light will come on when your oil's low.IT'S A OIL PRESSURE WARNING! and usualy lack of! But also not uncommon to get faulty senders,bad conections as mentioned above!

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Thanks Jason,
I had a happy day sitting at the computer looking up the prices of short engines and all the rest of the garbage that comes with such a problem. Even repatriation to the UK...which starts at about 800 pounds, I gather.... what I did uncover on the Land Rover solutions page was this page -
Land Rover Solutions - Oil Pump Bolt Problem
which even has a diagram of where the bolt goes, which I will be taking with me to the garagiste on Monday.
(Yes, they are called garagistes here in La Belle France........)
The site is South African, where I suspect your car is rather more important as a lifesaver than it is outside the M25, or even in rural France.
Will keep you posted.
G

The result is - not a new engine, just a new oil pump, and some bits, and everything is ok.
I must have spoken to ten people, and posted on the forum, I had lots of help and advice, especially from Jason2 and Fudge, however, today I picked the car up and drove it home - 120 miles.
I had been collected by the French emergency services in the middle of the night, towed (actually trailored) to a breakdown garage, and taxied home.
All as part of the car insurance policy, no cost.
The man who trailored me back had assured me that the LR garage he would be taking the car to was good.
Unsure, I drove there last Monday and met the workshop manager. Not a problem, he said, seen this loads of times, it won't need an engine.
With sinking heart I drove home, convinced that the ten thousand euro bill for a new engine (about 6800 pounds) was inevitable.
My trusty Disco specialist dealer in the UK who I consulted said it had to be an engine, always the case, he said.
The reality is the French LR dealer called this morning, said your car is ready, eight hundred Euros(530 pounds) for a new oil pump and bits, come and get it. Even made a point of showing me the old pump.
And it's fine.
Which poses several questions.
How honest are UK LR dealers?
I suspect not very.
And the French? The very best, in my experience
Every bloody time I've had a problem, they have been wonderful.
My recommendation for five star service is Garage Medicis in Blois, in the Loire Valley.
If he had said the engine is gone, I would have believed him, he could have but he didn't.
Vive la France.
Mind you, I hope they don't win the rugby......
By the way, I got caught on a new radar trap and got a speeding ticket about ten minutes before the oil light came on...143 kph in a 130kph limit. I didn't even know, but the fine arrived in the post on Wednesday morning, telling me where and when I had been caught exceeding the limit by 8mph.... cost about 27 quid.

gdb said:

Thanks Jason,
I had a happy day sitting at the computer looking up the prices of short engines and all the rest of the garbage that comes with such a problem. Even repatriation to the UK...which starts at about 800 pounds, I gather.... what I did uncover on the Land Rover solutions page was this page -
Land Rover Solutions - Oil Pump Bolt Problem
which even has a diagram of where the bolt goes, which I will be taking with me to the garagiste on Monday.
(Yes, they are called garagistes here in La Belle France........)
The site is South African, where I suspect your car is rather more important as a lifesaver than it is outside the M25, or even in rural France.
Will keep you posted.
G

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"The result is - not a new engine, just a new oil pump, and some bits, and everything is ok.
I must have spoken to ten people, and posted on the forum, I had lots of advice"

Dude.......do you have a private email address/phone number?
I'm a Brit now living in Slovakia and totally new to the forum.
About 20 minutes after reading this post I took out my TD5 piece of junk Disco and the red warning light came on!!!!!! The Disco is now sat here in my Garage and still starts (powered her up to reverse back in!) and I'm waiting for a mate to call around and start (once again) taking the sorry pile of crap to pieces. I bought her spanking new in 2004. She WAS my pride and joy until just after the one year mark when she started disintergrating, and she's spent over a year in various dealerships being worked on under warranty. This ran out last September and I just want her to be working long enough to get shot of her. would like to speak withy somebody before I start wasting more time(and money) on her!

mmaddock said:

Are there any Disco owners left in the UK?!

Matt

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No !!!

Do us a favour, turn the light off when you leave,

Cheers
Dave

Limousin, France

gdb said:

How honest are UK LR dealers?
.

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I'm not sure most of them are dishonest as such, but incompetent yes. I suspect they only think in terms of the manufacturer's warranty -ie pull it out, replace it, send it away for inspection. They also have a lot of "mechanics", so quality control can be poor. Also they only deal with new stuff, so they can't handle anything more than a day over warranty. Find a decent indy! Oddly enough, they often seem to have really good parts departments.