'04 Land Rover Shell Rotella Syn 5w-40 3200 miles

[Geoff]

From Blackstone:

Aluminum 5
Chromium 2
Iron 10
Copper 2
Lead 2
Tin 6
Moly 11
Nickel 6
Potassium 2
Boron 2
Silicon 9
Calcium 2747
Magnesium 8
Phosphorus 1015
Zinc 1133

Visc 73.0
Flashpoint 405

Total miles 19,700. Changed with Chevron Delo 15w40.

 

[SSDude]

Your tin looks high as does your nickel. When was the last time you changed your air filter? Something is causing this wear.

 

[Brons2]

What kind of engine does this vehicle have? Is Land Rover still using derivatives of the old Buick engine they bought in the 60's, or are they now using Ford modular motors after the buyout a few years back?

 

[windnsea00]

The `04 Discovery would've still been that OLD school GM V8. Now the `05 and newer LR3 uses a Jaguar based 4.4L dohc V8. They also offer a 4.0 V6 which I would imagine may be from Ford but not sure.

 

[Geoff]

Buick based 4.6L. Bottom end now with bigger journals and fully enclosed 4 bolt main bearing caps. You can still bolt a 63 Buick head onto the block. Flat tappet (no roller followers) cam.

The bearings are traditional tri-metal babbit style (nickel/tin/lead). Not sure if the wear is from main, rod or cam bearings.

The wear rates are pretty good for this engine from what few comparatives I have seen. I think silicon is OK, lowest value yet. The engine is covered with light dusting of fine limestone from all the constuction around here however.

Still looking for the right oil, although a high ZDDP xw-40 appears right. 5w-40 SL is the recommended grade. 20w-50 is commonly used, including by my dealer under the free service program. Had slightly better numbers, except lead with Castrol 20w-50. 30 grades to 85F only.

 

[Geoff]

windnsea00: Yes, the LR3 offers the Jaguar 4.4 V-8 or the Ford 4.0 V-6. The '04 was the last of the traditional body on frame, solid axle designs.

 

[SSDude]

The engine is covered with light dusting of fine limestone from all the constuction around here however.


It is time to check your air filter. This could be the problem.

 

[ccdhowell]

Geoff, this actually looks like a great UOA for a Land Rover engine. Mine looks much, much worse than this. Do you off-road your Disco at all? I do, and my silicon was conciderably higher last time, I took measures to fix it though.

Rotella Syn 5W40, I may give it a try after I run the Lubro Moly 0w40 in my '02 Disco.

I don't think there is much room for improvement in this old design engine. I got some guys over on D-web to send me their UOAs and yours is as good or better than any of theirs. This may be the oil for the little V8. I'll post my results from the Lubro Moly, but it isn't even in the engine yet. I have 1,600 miles on Redline 5w40 right now. I'll sample it at 3,000 to see what's going on.

Funny thing about these old school aluminum engines. I've never seen a really good UOA, but you rarely hear of these things going bad either. The rest of the vehicle always seems to go long before the engine's mechanical components give any issue at all; different story with the electronics though. Good to see another Land Rover UOA up on this board.

 

[Geoff]

Chris, the Rover V-8 is a nice, smooth engine. It definately is not modern however in terms of design or materials used. They can last to 200K, but these engines are really 150K engines if you think cam, bearing, and timing chain with decent maintenance.

Thanks for the info and I'll check over at D-Web.

 

[m2200b]

And did you find any leaks in the air filter , intake or pcv system?