Member Since: 25 Oct 2006
Location: Lanarkshire
Posts: 1
Disco 3 Oil - HELP HELP HELP
I purchased a new Disco 3 SE in October 2005 and was delighted with the service received from the dealer. They advised they had received awards from Land Rover for their sales and service activity.
After a few months a heard a "ding" every few days from the control panel but no warning appeared on the warning screen. After a few weeks I noticed the oil light would flash on for a split second when the "ding" came on.
I had checked the oil level every few weeks and everything seemed OK, however, I checked the oil level again and it seemed OK. Despite this I purchased two litres of recommended oil and put one in the car.
With approximately 12,000 miles on the clock and before the first service the engine "CEASED" when I was on the motorway doing about 70 mph ... without power steering I just manged to wrestle the car to the hard shoulder without hitting another vehicle.
The dealer stated the car had NO OIL .... they did not want to strip down the engine to find out what happened .... they said it was my fault !!!
I have spent in excess of £7,000 fixing the problem with no movement from the dealer !!!
Any help from DISCO 3 owners who have encountered anything similar would be appreciated.
OUCH !!!!
Fairly sure this is a first
I think we all agree that the dipstick is a c--p design.
What have LR said about this?
Welcome to the site, shame it is under a cloud.Zermatt silver 06 reg.
Gone but not forgotten !!!
25th Oct 2006 5:57 pm
dylansdad
Member Since: 04 Apr 2006
Location: Solihull
Posts: 745
did you get any pictures or independant evidence of your engine appearing to have oil in it? recovery service guy etc.?
If you have spent the money I doubt there is anything can be done now. The time to act would have been immediately when issue occured. If the engine had seized and there was no oil warning light coming on you might have been able to get an independant engineer to inspect the car as evidence.2004 TDV6 HSE Auto Zambezi Silver
25th Oct 2006 6:12 pm
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72789
Surely if the oil level gets too low the warning light comes on??? It should do that even on the Mway?? I'm not a techie but it sounds like a catastrophic oils loss rather than just using it up. If you check the oil regularly & no warning light comes on how the hell are you meant to know??
If your dealer is not interested, I'd suggest going through LR Customer Services as they will want to know what happened even if your dealer can not be ar$ed as they have their money. One of our members got a new engine as he blew the gasket & LR wanted to know what happened. Good luck & don't take that crap from your dealer.
Where is the old engine?? It is yours if you have bought the new one. You will want that for an expert to have a look at if you want to persue the dealer or LR.
I know that there is a sensor that cuts the engine if you are off roading and you are at an angle that means that the low oil level would be a problem, it can only be reset by LR.
Might be worth looking into whether this should happen on the 'level' as wellZermatt silver 06 reg.
Gone but not forgotten !!!
25th Oct 2006 8:24 pm
Gareth Site Moderator
Member Since: 07 Dec 2004
Location: Bramhall
Posts: 26702
Mine used oil at first. It needed a couple of litres before first service. I would have expected a lamp though. Having said that, it is usually the case that if you see the lamp, its already too late
Sorry to hear about your misfortune. Maybe get the RAC or AA legal dept to comment. I also agree that the dipstick makes it very difficult to get an accurate reading.
The engine has to be stone cold and have stood for several hours to stop oil in the dipstick tube smearing the reading. The only case you may have is to have the guts to sue Land Rover, and prove this innacurate reading makes it difficult to ensure that the engine has enough oil.
25th Oct 2006 8:31 pm
lookatmema
Member Since: 24 Aug 2006
Location: Fife - it's a Kingdom doncha know
Posts: 47
Oh Les, I hope you went into D3 ownership with your eyes open. Nonetheless, NO OIL
Did you check the level every 600 miles - religiously - as it says inside the fuel filler flap You don't make it very clear how often you checked, and exactly when it blew.
My car has just 750 miles on it, and I'm starting to get a chime on startup which doesn't seem to be connected with anything in particular. I'm not sure your chime is anything to do with the oil.
DSL and Dylansdad are right. The engine is yours if you've paid for the work. At least get to see it, and check the serial no. against your V5 reg. document. You might just find some discrepancy Then once you're satisfied you've got a replacement engine, arrange for it to be securely stored, and bend LR cust. svcs. ear. Tell them what you did to check and maintain the oil level - point out the woefully inadequate dipstick, and just don't give up. Pick the smallest hole in their arguments, and if they don't answer your queries, ask to deal with a manager. If you need to, get the engine examined - but be prepared for a costly report. It'll need stripped down, and major components examined for heat stresses and abrasions- indicative of oil starvation. Try to get some opinion from the recovery bloke. He's not an expert, but you can bet he'll have a good idea of what went wrong.
Just hang in there. Don't be browbeaten. Use the dealer - if he's an ally - to liaise with LR, but remember you might want to deal with the organ grinder yourself. An engine's not much to LR, but it's a hell of an issue to you and the rest of us.If you wait for it to go wrong - it's bound to oblige
25th Oct 2006 9:31 pm
caverD3
Member Since: 03 Jul 2006
Location: Oberon, NSW
Posts: 6922
mine used a lot of oil just before the first service. LR should be aware of the issue. Someone on the for um said ot was due to the block absorbing some oil due to no liners.
Un fortunatly you have paid them money. It would be easier if you refused to pay and they had to prove it was your fault. It is still worth fighting them now but a bit harder and could cost more money to win. Good luck “There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely gamesâ€
Ernest Hemmingway
D4 3.0 Active Diff, Adaptive Lights, High Beam Assist, Surround Cameras, Privacy Glass.
D3 2.7:Adaptive Headlights,Electronic Rear Diff,ARB Bar,Blaupunkt Speakers,JVC Powered Subwoofer,Removable Snorkel,Mitch Hitch,Pioneer After Market Head Unit,Steering Wheel Control Adaptor,Remote Adjustable Supension Rod System, Taxside Dual Battery System.
Surely if Les was checking the oil level and did put in one litre, then even if over 12,000 miles it wouldn't of got that low to use up his one litre extra and all the original oil.
I know D3s can use up some oil, but not 'that' much. If it was using oil to that extent, the oil light should of been on over a long period.
My D3 has now done the same mileage and I've put in about 2 ltrs since new (from memory).Matt
26th Oct 2006 12:17 am
Airboss
Member Since: 07 Sep 2006
Location: Washington
Posts: 16
It was my understanding that the sensors monitored oil PRESSURE, not the oil LEVEL. If this is correct, as it is on most older cars, 1 quart of oil would be sufficient to maintain the correct oil pressure. This is why when you do finally get a warning it is usually too late.
Or maybe this is old-school thinking. You'd think that with all the technological breakthroughs the car would be able to shut itself down before the engine locked up.
Good luck, Les! I hope LR makes this right!
26th Oct 2006 3:36 am
caverD3
Member Since: 03 Jul 2006
Location: Oberon, NSW
Posts: 6922
Les H
What damage was done to the engine because if it was the head gasket it would be a known issue. Did the low oil actualy cause the damage or did a fault cause the low oil?“There are only three sports: bullfighting, motor racing, and mountaineering; all the rest are merely gamesâ€
Ernest Hemmingway
D4 3.0 Active Diff, Adaptive Lights, High Beam Assist, Surround Cameras, Privacy Glass.
D3 2.7:Adaptive Headlights,Electronic Rear Diff,ARB Bar,Blaupunkt Speakers,JVC Powered Subwoofer,Removable Snorkel,Mitch Hitch,Pioneer After Market Head Unit,Steering Wheel Control Adaptor,Remote Adjustable Supension Rod System, Taxside Dual Battery System.
26th Oct 2006 4:15 am
Smarticus
Member Since: 01 Jan 2005
Location: Northumberland
Posts: 655
For the engine to have used all the oil plus a litre there must have been a fault. That fault was compounded by the failure of the oil warning light. And that failure was compounded by the inept design of the dipstick to give reliable readings. That failure was compounded by the owner not realising so much oil was being consumed. Which ever way you look at this Landrover is mainly at fault - so should cover the majority of the cost of fixing.Disco 4 TDV6HSE
Defender 200TDi CSW
RR Evoque
if it was shields......bypass them and go staight to LR...calling them monkeys (as opposed to organ grinders) would be defamatory to monkeys2007 HSE Java Black.....sold
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26th Oct 2006 8:11 am
catoperator
Member Since: 29 Jan 2006
Location: hampshire
Posts: 149
ecu
would information such as oil pressure ,oil temp water temp etc all be stored in the vehicles brain,this is common practice on newer earthmoving equipment so "it had oil in boss" wont work any more ,excavators even record how many times they slew left or right ,a cat fitter plugged into a motorscraper to give a demo and that even showed up gearbox abuse handy for the dealer if a warrenty issue came up referance the transmission i would have thought that on such a new engine that oil sample etc would have been taken as a matter of course ,dont give up insist on having the engine returned to you and then you can have oil samples taken , and the engine inspected yourself
29th Oct 2006 9:55 am
DG Site Moderator
Member Since: 12 Dec 2005
Location: The Gaff
Posts: 50934
I hope that the lack of response from LesH is not an indication that this is yet another scare 'story'
Dry fill capacity for a diesel is 5.7 litres which I guess takes it to max. on the dipstick. If the dipstick is on minimum then the fill required back to maximum is 1.5 litres. The engine block will absorb around 1 litre of oil in the first 10,000 miles...so checking is very important during that time.
If Les had checked the dipstick and it seemed ok then why fill with 2 litres of oil ? ....this acton could result in serious engine damage as you should never over fill with oil.
If the dealer states that there was 'no oil' then that in itself indicates a malfunction which cannot be reasonably attributed to the owner especially if the owner has carried out oil checks and there was no other 'warning' indicator to suggest a problem.
Les we need more information please ...otherwise it's difficult to make sense of your circumstance.21 year LR veteran > D2 GS 2003 > D3 S 2006 > D3 HSE 2009 > D4 HSE 2013 > D4 HSE 2015 > D5 HSE 2018 > DS HSE R-Dynamic P300e 2021
Last edited by DG on 29th Oct 2006 1:07 pm. Edited 1 time in total
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said it was my fault !!!
You don't make it very clear how often you checked, and exactly when it blew.
Then once you're satisfied you've got a replacement engine, arrange for it to be securely stored, and bend LR cust. svcs. ear. Tell them what you did to check and maintain the oil level - point out the woefully inadequate dipstick, and just don't give up. Pick the smallest hole in their arguments, and if they don't answer your queries, ask to deal with a manager. If you need to, get the engine examined - but be prepared for a costly report. It'll need stripped down, and major components examined for heat stresses and abrasions- indicative of oil starvation. Try to get some opinion from the recovery bloke. He's not an expert, but you can bet he'll have a good idea of what went wrong.
i would have thought that on such a new engine that oil sample etc would have been taken as a matter of course ,dont give up insist on having the engine returned to you and then you can have oil samples taken , and the engine inspected yourself
