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View Full Version : Disco II engine oil consumption - help



Colorado Rover
07-17-2008, 11:19 AM
Have a 2004 disco II with Bosch engine. Had oil changed at 52,150 and dealer service done as per manual. No problems noted from service. Checked oil after service to be sure topped off at 6.8 qrts, it was. Checked oil at 58,322 was low by 3.5 qrts. :eek: (i was following dealer service intervals on oil, but that will now change to every 3000:thumb-up: ) Having oil changed today (58,420) and replaced with 15/40 for summer heat. Dealer suggested this too. I plan on monitoring every day for 1 week and then every 500 miles to see what consumption rate is. no visislbe oil leaks on engine or underneath, except for slight oil residue on top of left valve cover near PCV valve tube. There is also no visible blue smoke or burnt oil odor. Do these engines use oil? The dealer told me it was not uncommon to see 1+ qrt usage between oil changes.

Carpe
07-18-2008, 07:57 AM
Tighten down your valve covers with a 6 or 8 mm spanner - you'll be amazed at the difference. I believe there are a total of 4-6 bolts squished in between the plugs. That's also what causes a significant percentage of the oil spots underneath a rover. You might also check your drain plug seal and replace that.

Colorado Rover
07-18-2008, 02:56 PM
Thanks. I will definitely look at that to see if any difference occurs in oil consumption.

Colorado Rover
07-28-2008, 10:49 AM
Well - valve cover bolts were tight. The dealer could find no leaks. Using 1 qrt per 1000 mi since oil change with 15w 40. There is no blue smoke.

I removed hoses from top of valve covers that go into air intake - wet oil in the hoses. I am not noticing a PCV valve. Have I missed something? Are there PCV valves on the Disco. WHile looking on line for parts to verify the pCV valve I found an oil separator - where does that go?

Carpe
07-29-2008, 06:46 AM
You know, as much as I hate to say it, that's not terribly atypical of Disco's. My SI certainly burned through 3 quarts per oil change (3k miles), and my SII probably burned through 1. I could speculate and guess, but that'd be wasting both of our time. I'm sure there's someone out there smarter than me that could start to answer this. Certainly the guys on Discoweb would know where to start.

Colorado Rover
07-30-2008, 10:11 AM
Thanks Carpe - What you provided is the type of information I am looking for. This is my first Rover (I have no idea why a waited so long) and I know that they can be particular, but I was not sure about the oil issue. What you describe is very similar to what the dealer told me too. I have been monitoring every day now and it seems it will average out at 1 qrt for every 1600 miles or so. It also appears that highway driving uses a little more oil. So, if this is normal and not out of the realm of a typical Rover I am ok, but while I still had an extended warranty I wanted to get on the issue.

Thanks again four input.

Carpe
07-31-2008, 10:53 AM
You might check your disco for temperature. I started to see heat build up in both of my disco's. They both ran hot and the coolant hose was a problem in both of them. When you look at oil consumption, there are 2 things that can generally go amuck. 1 - oil can leak out. That's generally the case w/LRs. 2 - the engines can actually burn it up. When your cooling system has a leak, it's not out of the question for that V8 to start cooking. You'll notice a little smell.

Considering that the Disco's can take just shy of 7qts of oil per change, burning through 3 or so between changes isn't detrimental, but it does put more stress on an already large and hungry engine. Land Rovers have made me aware of the practice of checking your fluid levels, to be sure. Unfortunately, the best solution is often 1) making sure your coolant is topped, 2) making sure your dipstick is showing that you have enough oil, and 3) placing a large piece of cardboard on the floor of the garage underneath where you park your disco.

Colorado Rover
08-01-2008, 02:50 PM
Carpe - thanks man. I htought about hte coolant issue as rising temperature. I just had the 60K service done with coolant replaced. No leaks, etc. In fact, I still do not need cardboard yet. It is funny you mention they run hot. I noticed that and wondered if the disco run hotter than most vehicles. I also noticed that after driving for an hour or so if you remove the oil filler cap there is "steam" that comes out of the engine. I presume this is oil cooking off.

TNdisco2
08-10-2008, 09:18 PM
Colorado, you're last statement got my attention. I have always been told that if you have coolant or water leaking into your engine one way to tell is by taking off your oil filler cap and if steam comes out or there is condensation on it then that's definitely a possibility. Are you ever low on coolant when you take your Rover in for service? I'm having to top off my coolant and oil every now and then because I need to replace my head gaskets. I'm going to be doing that later this year. But I have heard stories of the coolant and oil mixing inside the engine causing the engine to run very hot and eventually blow. I'm not trying to alarm you, but with your earlier comments (such as seeing no oil leaks) that makes me think you may want to ask about that. When researching whether or not I should change my head gaskets these are the type of things I heard from mechanics. But just so you'll know mine is an '02 SE7 with the 4.0 engine, so your's could be different. I have changed to a synthetic oil that gives me an anaysis and I'm changing my oil anywhere from every 6,500-8,000 miles. I'm having to put in about a half quart to three quarters of a quart in between changes. I hope this helps. And I hope you definitely don't have the problem I described.

Colorado Rover
08-11-2008, 04:46 PM
TN - coolant is fine. No oil bubles, etc. I am not loosing any coolant. In fact the dealer just did the 60k service and I have been monitoring oil, coolant, etc every night. My next thought is to do a leak down test and see if I have valve guide issues, etc depending on where the air can be heard. Over the last 1200 miles I used 1.5 quarts of oil.

If you, or nayone else, have any suggestions on doing the leak down test that would be helpful.

Colorado Rover
08-20-2008, 01:50 PM
Well, I think I found the issue. :thumb-up: After noticing the oil residue inside the intake manifold from the passenger side valve cover vent tube to recirculate gases, etc, I began pondering what was done with the PCV valve concept. It appears that Bosch/Land Rover redesigned the PCV valve concept, replacing it with a short vent stack with a small hole in it to regulate vapr flow back into the air intake. :nono: Perhaps not bad in concept, but with the advent of emissions controls and restrictions the recirculation of the air back into the air intake for the engine to breath allows oil vapor/mist into the intake perpetually. It would seem that the air flow through the intake creates a vacuum on the vent stack hose from the valve cover, which causes oil to be consumed, depsite the equalization of pressures in the intake and engine when driving. The typical PCV valce with the ball detent prevents this vacuum when the pressures are not required to be vented from the engine.

Remedy - I got a PCV valve for a 4.6L mustang (figuring engine pressures would be similar) as a tester. I rigged up the PCV valve on a hose and attached it to the vent stack and then reconnected the hose back to the intake. THere was good vacuum at idle, as expected. After driving the disco there is no visible oil consumption on the dipstick, which had been 1/8 quart or more every 100 miles (checking it daily). As I noticed oil residue only on the passenger side I am only testing the PCV valve on that side. Of interest, the other vent stack on the driver side valve cover is at the front of the engine and not the back. There may be something to the location of the vent stack and allowing oil vapor to collect on the inside top of the valve cover and not entering the intake. Now I only need to clean the inside of the intake. BG makes an intake cleaner you spray with engine running - more research and talking with BG, but this is likely next step and BG usually has good products.

Anyway - hope this helps anyone else having oil consumption issues. Thanks to all who replied adn pndered the issue.:D

mferdinand
08-24-2008, 12:59 PM
I think you need an oil separator part LLJ000010 ... inside the tube running from the vent stack.