New LR4 owner. General thoughts on servicing, engine oil etc. please

[Mozambique]

Hi guys,
After three Saabs I finally got myself a 2010 LR4 with 105k km's on it (Toronto, Canada). Have owned it for 2 months and absolutely love it! I thought my Saab 93 sportcombi V6 was a pleasure to drive, but this has it well beaten (maybe not on twisty roads).

Anyhow, a few questions / advice sought:

At the risk of sounding like a **** who has bought a car that is expensive to maintain, and then whines about maintenance costs - it is due the 96k km service. Primarily filters and fluids. $650 from dealer and $707 from indie.......the price difference I could not work out, given limited stuff to do and indie labour $40/hr cheaper than dealer (no detailed cost breakdown from dealer). Totally capable of doing filters and fluids myself (especially as indie quoted me $230 for non-OEM filters alone, and I can get them from Eeuroparts.com for $100!). That leaves the inspection part of the service. I guess potentially useful.........am in two minds........... Car has last two years of main dealer service history with it, so not like I am trying to maintain dealer service history from new. Interestingly it got a brand new engine from LR under extended warranty in 2015!.......$12k item!!

Engine oil............am I correct in concluding that the fancy Castrol 5W20 oil specified by LR primarily relates to its longevity re. allowing reduced maintenance frequency? Cannot find it in Toronto (apart from at dealer), so if I do it myself, correct in thinking Mobil 1 synthetic twice a year will be fine?

just did a trip to northern Ontario. Freezing rain, car felt great on Blizzaks.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, comments etc.!

 

[cperez]

Welcome and congrats. You may have the best of all worlds in a low mileage LR4 with a replaced engine. To answer your question about oil, which is related to the engine replacement...

Many of us who change our own oil do not subscribe to the extended change intervals in the owner's manual. 5K to 7.5K miles seems to be the consensus to ensure that everything stays copacetic. However, if you do stick with this change interval, the consensus among the group seems to be that Mobil 1 is fine. That's what I did in my last LR4. In my current one, I have committed to Castrol and the more frequent changes above. That fits my personal risk management profile.

How this relates to your engine replacement-- There was an issue with the timing chain guides in pre-2013 LR4s that led to premature wear and an expensive fix. The chain tensioner guides (and possibly other components) were improved in later years. Depending on when your replacement engine was actually manufactured, you could have the improved guides. One theory is that extended oil change intervals in the older engines may not have created the tensioner guide problems, but certainly didn't help them. Bottom line: whether you have the older or the newer guides, a more frequent oil change schedule is not a bad idea.

Surprised by the difference in cost between the dealer and the indie. Since the vehicle is new to you, it might make sense to get the service done there just to get into their system. Also, did the engine replacement begin a new warranty period moving forward (even if it's only on the engine)? I'm not sure how that works in a situation like this.

 

[Mozambique]

Hey,
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Hhhmmmm.......good to know about dodgy engine history. Yikes......prospect of it possibly being replaced with an equally dodgy design a concern.
Not sure on new engine warranty - but will check with dealer re. what it may be and thoughts on whether the engine fitted has improved parts (as if they are gonna tell me the one they stuck in there may fail too!).

At present have booked a service with the dealer for mid-March and am waiting a detailed cost breakdown from them so I can compare with Indie. May / may not still get it serviced there, but am intrigued to enquire further re. the new engine.

Do you have a link to service schedule you could kindly send me? Have yet to find one.

Thanks!!

 

[cperez]

Yes I would hope that the dealer would have the means to determine the new engine's build date and therefore whether it had improved tensioner guides and other improvements. Didn't mean to freak you out but there was a recent discussion here on the forum about oil change intervals and timing chain issues. You can probably still find it easily. Many owners with vehicles in that build period had the work done under warranty. Since you have a new engine, I would feel more reason to be optimistic than worried.

Sorry I don't have a link handy to service schedules but someone here might if you can't locate it online.

Enjoy your LR4. This is a great community of fellow Landy aficionados!

PS: You HAVE seen the video on changing your LR4's oil via suction pump from the top of the engine, right?

 

[Mozambique]

Don't worry, if the engine's a dud will blame the wife!
Yes, saw the video on oil change - thanks. Thankfully before I crawled under and saw huge skid plate where the drain plug should be

 

[Mozambique]

Any recommendations on a repair manual? Used to have the WIS manual for my Saab i.e. what the techs use in the shop. Trying to locate something comparable.

 

[Pfunk951]

Welcome, and congrats!

The best repair manuals I have had are:

1. This forum. By and far, we have repaired, replaced, and upgraded a ton of stuff together and written it up. There are gurus on this list that are a wealth of knowledge..

2. A Factory Service Manual (FSM) can be bought online on the auction site.

Search around here on the topics, and you will find a ton of diy stuff to save you some coin, and add peace of mind that it was done right.

Mike

 

[Mozambique]

Thanks Mike, much appreciated!
Yes, just bought a FSM off ebay.......
All the best,
Quentin

 

[ttforcefed]

if you are using mobil1 and not off roading you can easily go a year in between changes. its the filter that you are really changing, the oil cld go alot longer than a year. if you are off roading then i wld go every 6 months. my LR4s have been great, you will love it.

 

[Cdnrangie]

I live in Canada and own a 2016 LR4, which I'm really happy with. Most of my driving is highway so I'm quite comfortable going a full year on synthetic oil between oil changes. Regarding the cost of service: I just had my second annual service. The dealer warned me that it might take 3+ hours, so I took a look at the service checklist and found several things that don't need to be done. In the end the service took 90 mins including replacing the stop/start technology battery. So what did I ask them NOT to do:
1. don't wash the car, it's going to be dirty again by the time I get home (winter), and I have a very good car wash in town
2. Don't touch the tires, the winter tires have only been on a couple of months and will get switched for summer ones soon.
3. Don't waste your time checking the lights, the vehicle does that on start up, except for turn signals and one other. I can check them cheaper than the dealer can!
4. Don't top up the windshield fluid. Who the heck it going to do that that for the rest of the year; me of course, and again I can do it more cheaply.
5. Don't check the seat belts etc.

Bottom line: check the service manual and make adjustments to the list of things suggested according to your own situation. Next time I will be going to my local garage who has been looking after my Land Rovers and Jaguars for years for much less money and very reliably.