1997 Disco I Oil light on

[DigginDisco]

Hello all-

I’m looking at purchasing a 97 disco I with 92,000 and had a question. They are asking 2500, but stated the following:

I have driven it very little for the last year or so because I've had extra vehicles. I went to charge the battery and start it up last week and heard an engine noise while it was idling. My oil light came on so I turned it off and checked the oil. The oil was fresh and full. I called my mechanic and he looked at it and thought the oil pump was going out in the engine. I left it parked and did not want to drive it if it was the oil pump so that I didn't do any engine damage. I'm not certain what the condition of the engine is...it starts and runs but sounds like the engine isn't getting any oil circulation.

My questions is could it be the oil pump or possible head gasket? Any advise would be appreciated.

Former owner of a 00 Disco II

[Elemental]

Does it have a Fram filter?

[DigginDisco]

I'm not sure. I just drove by to take a look at it. Could it really be something that simple?

[Disco Mike]

Some one is going to need to spend the money to verify the problem. Other then electrical the best place to look is at the oil pressure by doing a oil pressure test, both at idle and 2000 rpm's and cold and at operating temp, then make your decision.
Mike

[Elemental]

It could be the filter....

[DigginDisco]

So has anyone had this problem?
I would really like to get feed back from people that have experienced this type of problem. I guess I’m looking for best and worst case scenario. Not sure I’m interested enough to pay for an oil pressure test at this point.

Would letting one sit for a long period of time with out starting cause ticking or knocking? I put low grade octane in my 00 Disco and it ticked like a time bomb.

[Buddy Lee]

I would think it might be a plugged up oil sump. Easy enough fix and something you could check before a purchase is made.

This happend to someone in our group at MAR the bumping around must have knocked some sludge loose and it clogged the sump. His engine started knocking and his oil light would stay on. He dropped the oil pan cleaned the sump and put in new oil problem fixed.

If the Rover sat for a long time it could have loosened up some sludge when he started it back up and the same thing could have happened. It does not take long to drop the oil pan and check if you're really interested in the truck.