Having a real problem with my L405. Initially the secondary turbo failed causing it to smoke at higher revs. The failure was diagnosed by a Land Rover specialist and the 2nd Turbo swapped out, along with the oil feeder pipe. Interestingly enough the specialist did not change the oil let alone flush the oil system. Vehicle continued to smoke intermittently, so had it checked out by the specialist, who said it was normal, a few days later the engine revved up to the max and smoke billowed from engine compartment and tail pipes. Eventually managed to kill the engine and get it recovered back to the specialist for diagnosis. Long and short story it was diagnosed with a primary turbo failure, obviously alarm bells started ringing given the recent secondary turbo failure and spoke with the turbo specialist who was checking it and had been tasked with rebuilding the primary turbo.

Initially the turbo specialist claimed it was due to oil starvation as per the secondary turbo. I questioned the specialist who claimed that was wrong, spoke again to the turbo specialist who quickly changed his story to wear and tear.

In any event we need the car back on the road so turbo was repaired and refitted. At that time the crank started squealing. Given the concerns with that specialist the vehicle was picked up by another specialist for full diagnosis and repair. The second specialist tells us the reason for the failures was because of a seizing oil pump, which given the turbo failures makes more sense.

The engine has now been rebuilt, new crank, pistons, liners and oil pump etc and is back on the road.

My questions are:

1. Oil pumps seizing normal on these motors?
2. Should the Land Rover specialist checked/replaced the oil and tested the oil feed this during the initial repair?
3. Options to avoid this going forward (third party oil pressure gauge on dashboard)

Thanks in advance.

I know I spend more time on the L322 area, but I’ve never read of an oil pump seizing on the 4.4…. Folks running specialist garages will know better than me…. And I would have thought that the oil would have at least be changed as a matter of course.

Pleased to hear it back running…. But might have been way easier if it had been correctly diagnosed in the first place… but there is not point getting caught up in that now…

 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

When it was running away, it's possible the engine oil level became too low for the pickup and then various areas started to seize? It's the only way I can think an oil pump can seize, essentially they have perfect lubrication until there's no oil feed. Usually engines in a runaway state stop be seizing when the oil has been consumed and the level is too low for the oil pump to feed the engine. I have witnessed this twice now, not on my cars, both times it was scary and no way was going near either engine, horrible sound. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Fortunately managed to kill the engine within a matter of seconds, so there was plenty of oil left, and given the secondary turbo failure being caused by oil starvation it seems to me the oil pump was seemingly interemittent at that point or an oil channel was blocked or at least blocking up.

Service history on the car is not bad, with a mix of LR Main dealer and specialists performing services, so hopefully correct oil type and filters etc used. There was only one instance 3 services back, where by it was late by some 6k miles for its service. I would hope the garage involved would have flushed it at that point before replacing the oil.

t can only be something stopped the oil pump sucking oil up from the sump, as I'm sure youre aware theyre very simple devices and very reliable. Sorry to hear of your turbo issues, it must be a nightmare. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Thanks for your response. It has indeed been a nightmare and having been a happy owner of a older L322 for many years, I've been somewhat shocked by the build quality of the L405. Obviously had this problem and now with new turbo's rebuilt engine etc, we now have a issue with a very strange grinding noise from the rear when turning right.

All usual causes have been checked, and now running out of ideas short of stripping it back and rebuilding the rear end of the car with new parts.

For the grinding noise, has the transfer case oil been changed and the TC recalibrated in an attempt to resolve that issue?

Diff/transfer box and gearbox oil changed, not sure what you mean by recalibrating TC?

The transfer case sometimes needs to be flushed then recalibrated if the clutch hasn't been releasing properly which shows-up as apparent rear diff problems when turning. Just new oil doesn't fix the issue as the motor/clutch has to be calibrated. A diagnostic tool capable of issuing the recalibrate command is required.

Edit: I set-up mine to close the EGR butterfly for 15 seconds when the ignition is switched off to be able to choke a runaway engine hoping to avoid a very costly repair if the primary turbo fails.
I shut-down a runaway TD5 recently by clamping the throttle body inlet hose with multi-grips. Its sump had filled with fuel.

Last edited by GraemeS on 22nd Oct 2021 11:46am. Edited 1 time in total

Great, I've passed the details onto the mechanic working on it...hopefully this will cure the last of the problems. My only concern is its only apparently when turning right at low speed, never had it turning left strangely enough.

It may not be the cause but is easily done so worthwhile.

Maybe not relevant, but a friend's wife had a diesel X5 which was used almost only in town, slow stop start traffic. The turbo needed to be changed but also the engine was found to be full of tarry gunge which needed to be flushed out. Maybe grunge like that could clog an oil pump? Only Range Rovers since 1988

That tarry gunk sounds like the normal turbo diesel with EGR inlet tract malady which only affects the inlet tract.

I have a 2015 Range Rover Autobiography SDV8 that had an oil and filter change (with a well known branded oil filter), after 1100 miles the engine seized up. On further investigation I found the oil filter had collapsed and starved the engine of oil resulting in the engine seized. Has anybody else had an engine seize up after an aftermarket oil and filter change.