I'll sit and price up parts tonight. Will do the pump gears, timing chain (do the sprockets on the cam/crank shafts wear out and need replacing too?) and the oil pressure sensor just to be sure.

I'll also get in touch with the place that fixed the gearbox in the Freelander and see what they'd quote for it. Bit tight on on time at the moment :(

As for fitting a pressure gauge, this looks like the t-piece you mentioned: http://www.mattlewisracing.co.uk/product.php/855/42/gauge_adaptor___matt_lewis_racing

Just need to confirm what size the thread on the Thor pressure sensor is.

Did an oil change last night and went from 5W-30 to 10W-40 but it's still doing it.

Sounding like the oil pump?

Sounds like a good excuse to get the timing chain swapped as well. It was looking a little slack when I was in there last and it's done another nearly 40k since then.

If I'm delving in there again might as well do the oil pump, timing chain and fit an oil pressure gauge in place of the standard switch. I have an empty space in my dash board where my factory radio used to be. I'm now thinking it's a great place to fit oil pressure and water temp gauges. I know I have a temp gauge on the dash but it doesn't actually tell me what the temperature is, only when it's too hot.

Does anyone know the thread of the oil pressure switch? Is it 1/2 UNF?

Ah, the front cover. The front cover and I are great friends - I had that off a couple of weeks after buying the car.

The gasket split and spat all the coolant out of the top passenger side corner.

I'll price up a pump and a switch. I'm guessing the pump is one to not penny pinch on but is there any reason to avoid the cheaper pressure switches?

Called LR today and they £38 for one. It's not bank breaking but I can see others around for anywhere between £2.50 and £15!

I'm guessing it's the same switch that's been in use on these engines for decades and plenty of people have copied by now.

So, before I order one - did they change the sensor when they went from GEMS to Thor?

Seems to be two part numbers. STC4104 and NUC100280L.

I think NUC100280L is the one I want.

Ok, so I've done around 25 miles and I'm getting the light coming on at idle again.

If I rev the engine it goes away and if I put it in neutral it goes away, as the revs rise slightly.

I checked the oil level at a petrol station and it's around the max line. The handle of the dipstick was wet though, I've never noticed it being wet before. The bit of kitchen roll I keep under the bonnet is also damp, which I've also never noticed before. That lives between the EAS box and AC pipes. I've no idea if this dampness is related to my oil pressure issue though.

Headed off to work as I wasn't far away and borrowed a rubber glove to tie around the header tank filler hole. Ran the engine and it doesn't seem to be pressurising.

Checked the oil again and the level seems to be OK and the oil doesn't seem to be mixing with coolant. I was wondering if the head gasket had gone, letting coolant in to the oil and thinning it out.

The guys at work think it's the oil pressure sensor/switch.

Does this seem reasonable in you experience(s)? I feel unconvinced but that might just be me being over-worried about it. I can really do without a serious engine issue!

Topped up my oil yesterday as it was a little low. I've done around 100 miles since then.

As I was parking up this evening I noticed my oil pressure light flicking on an off every few seconds.

Parked up, let the oil settle and checked the dipstick.

It was right on the bottom marker. I topped it up again, around half a litre I guess.

I then pulled out the spark plugs to see if it's been burning it. They're all a light greyish colour with no visible erosion anywhere. As they were out I put my new ones in to see if my slight hiccup on LPG goes away. Once they were I started it up and had my assistant gently rev the engine while I checked the exhaust - all fine there.

So, I'm confident it's not burning it in large quantities bit there's no evidence of a major leak anywhere either!

Nothing dripping off the engine, rocker cover gaskets were nice and dry when I was changing the plugs. The coolant in the header tank is a nice red colour.

Any ideas on where that much oil could go that quickly?

The South Coast LROC and the Surrey Hills LRC should both cover your area. The addresses might be a long way from you but that's just the address of where the club is registered.

My club covers an area from Huncote to Grantham are nearly 50 miles apart and over an hour's drive.

I guess your AV software may be set a little too strict if it's filtering out the ALRC website.

If I were in your position id seek out their Facebook pages and ask there for recommended LR specialists in that area.

https://www.alrc.co.uk/alrc-member-clubs/member-clubs.html#anchor1

This is a list of the official ALRC Land Rover Clubs. There should be at least one that is local to you, maybe even two or three.

After I did my head gaskets last year I had a bad misfire on at least one cylinder.

Even at idle on the driveway this was enough to heat the cat up to the point it set the heastshield on the body on fire. I got a fire extinguisher on it pretty quickly but it stayed smoking and glowing like fire embers for hours after.

I assumed that the injectors on the affected cylinders were still staying fuel in that wasn't getting burned until it reached the cat.

I wouldn't want to drive 100 miles with a misfire unless I was certain the fuel was being cut off to that cylinder first.

It doesn't seem like there's many of us in your local area to make recommendations.

Have you had a look around for Land Rover/Range Rover specialists or even BMW specialists as recommended before?

You need to find someone that knows about this specific engine/pump in particular rather than a generic diesel/car mechanic.

My suggestion would be contact your local Land Rover Club or BMW owners club/forum and find out who they use or recommend in your area.

I know in my Land Rover club we actually have several members that actually have their own workshops/businesses specialising in Land Rover/Range Rover repairs. They're all Leciestershire based though.

Once you've found someone recommended, looked at reviews and decided in your own mind that you trust them and their opinions/abilities you need contact them about your issues and go from there. Try to find someone willing to look at the estimate you've been sent and give their opinion in the work done.

I think the biggest issue you'll face is getting your car away from where it is now. You won't be able to just have a tow truck show up and take it away. You'll need to negotiate what you will and won't pay with them before they'll release the vehicle.

I assumed George was another person that came to help!

Morat wrote:

Shipley -> your house.
Goodbye PowerDrivel.

I just did a quote on Shiply using the addresses on the estimate - came in at £128.

More quotes should come in soon.

Ah, cool.

I'm OK with my standard seat heaters, I've never found them lacking. Was just curious about the button :)

I hope you do get yours back up and running. It sounds like it has lots of little improvements all over the place to make it better than it started!

With the coolant in the foam, have you tried washing it out with fresh water first? I've found that the coolant that leaked on to my carpet at your workshop isn't properly drying. It still feels greasy and slightly damp. I think the coolant doesn't like to evaporate as well as water.

Washing it with water first will make it even wetter but it should hopefully dry out better in the long run.

Looks like fun.

Just been having a look back at the earlier photos and noticed a button on the seat that mine doesn't have.

What's the round button ahead of the long button?

Mazz's estimate (it's a PDF rather than a screenshot/image):

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yRAd4kS1CXnCNCtXlgpMlYB5D9ek-gzs?usp=sharing

From reading that, I'd want to know the diagnostic machine used, fault codes found, the fuel pressure reading they got and what the "required" fuel pressure is and what checks they did to determine it needed two glow plugs.

"Spend 1 hour investigating faults" followed by another hour carrying out investigations followed by a further 2 hours of investigations. I'd want to know what specific checks, specifically for the "pedal checks" and glow plugs) they carried out to use up 4 hours of time. Presumably they hooked up a fuel pressure gauge to determine the pump output was too low. There's not a lot there to justify 4 hours of labour IMO.

It sounds like they're charging you an hour to simply connect their machine and read the codes - which certainly doesn't take an hour.

I'm no expert but I really don't think the glow plugs will make a difference to starting performance in our current weather! They certainly don't in our diesel Freelander. They might have found something electrically wrong with them though. Open circuit, short circuit etc.

I'd also like to know what brand of in-tank pump they fitted as the price seems astronomical. I'd expect genuine LR for that price!

https://www.lrdirect.com/ESR1111-Fuel-Pump-Sender-Unit-P38-2.5D/

Hopefully someone more familiar with the diesel engine can comment on how reasonable the time to replace two glow plugs and the in-tank pump is.

Anything that has happened, changed or gone wrong since you told them explicitly to stop working on it is their fault and responsibility and they should fix it at their cost back to the state it was in when you told them to stop.

As for uploading a screenshot, install the Imgur app.

That will let you upload the images there and one of the links it gives you will let you put the image on here.

What might be easier than trying to explain how to do it through a forum post would be to email it to me and I can put it up.

Would that be ok with you? I'll send you my email address.

Have you told them to stop working on it yet?

I'd contact them and say you won't even think about paying for anything until you have the info you requested. You also won't pay for any further work they carry out as from this point forward it's without your permission.

Are you using a PC/laptop or a phone/tablet? The process for uploading a picture would be slightly different depending on what device you're using.

Morat wrote:

I once spoke to a traffic cop as he gave me a lift home to Liverpool (long story, I was a student) and he was very pleased with his P38. He claimed that he had hauled artic trailers off the M62 with it when necessary.

Sounds totally plausible. I've towed a 7.5t truck out if a snow bank with mine. I can see how moving something even heavier would be possible on dry, non-frozen tarmac

If they can put it on the final invoice then it's not too complicated to put on an estimate/proforma.

The words are the same regardless of which piece of paper they write them on. The only difference between an estimate and a final invoice is that you've already paid at the point you receive the final invoice.