advice needed

Hi,
I have a big issue with my car and I need to advice.. please help!!!
(i will start with a short story with my discovery and what I need will be written in bold characters so if you don`t want to read this please scroll down)

I have bought a Land Rover Discovery 3 HSE (2008) model about one and a half years ago for £6k as this was my dream car. firstly I had the gear box service, and timing belt done ( around 100K miles ) at a specialized garage to ensure that everything that people talked about as common issues for this model were sorted, also a full service including transfer case and axles oil. As the car had no suspension issues I purchased the lifting kit, installed it and the car was looking amazing. I also got some 20" rims and tires second hand for a good price and kept the original rims with new M+S tires. i have had the rear breaks including both rear calipers replaced new brake fluid and I have also changed the coolant. I had the car professionally re-mapped and EGR valve delete.
Everything about this car was just perfect, I love both the interior and exterior and how the car is driving. i have a 2y old daughter and a big Labrador and the car is perfect for what we need. we went to many road trips and everyone enjoyed the car as there was always a fight in between me and my wife about who will drive.
This was honestly the dream that came true for me when talking about cars.
The car is having a coolant leak that comes from the coolant reservoir. I purchased a new reservoir and also decided to change the front brakes and I went and bought new discs and pads but never had the chance to change this.
now it s time talk about why I am on this forum..
About 5 months ago when my wife finished work and went to start the car she heard a big noise coming from the engine and the car failed to start. she rang me and I was suspecting that the timing belt snapped. as the car was still under the warranty that the garage gave us for the service, i had the car transported there to be looked at. Nothing was wrong with their new belt kit but one roller support snapped directly from the engine where the oil pump is.
Looks like the car needs a new engine.. the problem is now I had an accident and ended up loosing my left leg. I really love the car and so I ve done some research and spoke with some garages to have the engine replaced. the cheapest cote I got was £3k. at this moment in time I don`t have this much as I will be for some time out of work.
I really want the car back but with £3k for a new engine is not the perfect choise for me now. I had a look online to sell the car as a non runner but i was devastated when I had a £500 offer on the car. surely the car worths more than that.
can you please advice if there is cheaper option for the engine or what i can do to get some money back? ( taking the car apart and sale it will not be an option for me as I am using a wheelchair..)
your help will be much appreciated.

thanks
Alex

Sad to hear all your bad news, but if you do the research on the cost of a replacement engine 3k is very cheap if it was me Id be taking the srm off to get a deal like that, but having said that have they indicated what was wrong with the original and why it broke

Alex c1992 said:

Nothing was wrong with their new belt kit but one roller support snapped directly from the engine where the oil pump is.

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The oil pump should have been replaced when the belt was done, as there's a known weakness in the early pump bearing support lug.

Alex c1992 said:

I really want the car back but with £3k for a new engine is not the perfect choise for me now.

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£3k is so cheap for a replacement engine, I'd question as to the quality of it. A decent engine for a D3 with fitting could well be in excess of £6k, which exceeds the current market value of the vehicle.

Alex c1992 said:

I had a look online to sell the car as a non runner but i was devastated when I had a £500 offer on the car. surely the car worths more than that.

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Unfortunately not, due to the reason given above.

How about having the engine repaired, rather than being replaced.
It'll only need some cylinder head repair work, with a few new valves, a replacement oil pump, another timing belt kit, and that should get it running again for less than a questionable quality replacement engine.

You said the car was still under warranty, is this not covered?

Big boys toys come with eye watering bills !
Always do your homework

If the garage who did the timing belt were land rover specialist's as you say then I'm amazed that they didn't inform you about the oil pump risks. Are they the same people who you have the warranty with?

Having said that I doubt you could ever prove it was thier fault, they probably either used the old tensioner bolt, over torqued a new one or the oil pump casing was already weakened. And even if you could prove anything you didn't ask them to replace the oil pump.

The £500 offer is someone trying thier luck, the car is worth more.

It's worth scrap value only a sh engine is 6k minimum, the oil pump should have been replaced along with the belts there a known failure on these engines.

Search google for jaguar 2.7 engine for discovery 3, and have a read.

frostythor said:

Sad to hear all your bad news, but if you do the research on the cost of a replacement engine 3k is very cheap if it was me Id be taking the srm off to get a deal like that, but having said that have they indicated what was wrong with the original and why it broke

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Hi
Thank you very much for your reply
They said it was metal fatigue aas what failed was the roller support for the timing belt

backinblack said:

You said the car was still under warranty, is this not covered?

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Hi thank you for your reply
The warranty was for what they did with the timing belt

biketeacherdave said:

It's worth scrap value only a sh engine is 6k minimum, the oil pump should have been replaced along with the belts there a known failure on these engines.

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Thank you for your reply
This will be probably the best option, to sell the car for parts but the only problem that I have at the moment is that I have my left leg amputated and in a wheelchair I will not be able to take the car apart.

Nodge68 said:

The oil pump should have been replaced when the belt was done, as there's a known weakness in the early pump bearing support lug.

£3k is so cheap for a replacement engine, I'd question as to the quality of it. A decent engine for a D3 with fitting could well be in excess of £6k, which exceeds the current market value of the vehicle.

Unfortunately not, due to the reason given above.

How about having the engine repaired, rather than being replaced.
It'll only need some cylinder head repair work, with a few new valves, a replacement oil pump, another timing belt kit, and that should get it running again for less than a questionable quality replacement engine.

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Thank you very much for this, really helpful. I will try and find where I can have the engine repaired. The guys there never told me about the oil pump and they said the engine can’t be repaired and that I need to have it replaced
Thank you again

lynall said:

Search google for jaguar 2.7 engine for discovery 3, and have a read.

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Hi,
Will this be an alternative for a disco engine?

Dar ran Dar ran said:

Big boys toys come with eye watering bills !
Always do your homework

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Hi
I know, but this is my dream car, and also I know that you need to pay more in order to have a reliable car, but to be honest I had no issues with the car before this…
Definitely will be more careful next time but my question is…do you ever know what you will buy..?

TheMunster said:

If the garage who did the timing belt were land rover specialist's as you say then I'm amazed that they didn't inform you about the oil pump risks. Are they the same people who you have the warranty with?

Having said that I doubt you could ever prove it was thier fault, they probably either used the old tensioner bolt, over torqued a new one or the oil pump casing was already weakened. And even if you could prove anything you didn't ask them to replace the oil pump.

The £500 offer is someone trying thier luck, the car is worth more.

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Hi
Yes, they haven’t told me about the pump. The warranty was with them, just for what they did with the timing belt
Where the roller snapped you can clearly see that it snapped from the casing

Alex c1992 said:

Yes, they haven’t told me about the pump.

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If the place doing the belts knew their stuff, then they would have changed the pump to the later type as a matter of course, as the earlier type is a known issue.

Alex c1992 said:

I will try and find where I can have the engine repaired. The guys there never told me about the oil pump and they said the engine can’t be repaired and that I need to have it replaced

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It also seems they don't know how to replace damaged valves, which really isn't that difficult for a time served mechanic. Unfortunately lots of garages now employ fitters, which just replace things, as they lack the skills to repair.

Find a decent garage with proper mechanics, and have the head work carried out by them.