Land Rover Defender Engine problems by year

finally died. We had to have it towed to our home as it was late and dealships were closed. Gearbox malfunction light, check engine light, system malfunction, suspension warning, drive with caution lights are what appeared. This was very traumatic to me and my kiddo. Hope this doesn't happen to anyone else. We are so lucky that we wer not in any type of accident. Thornton PD did show up to help and direct traffic.

26V248, then recall 26V599. The manufacturer acknowledges this is a defect that causes loss of 12-volt charging. My vehicle displayed "Charging system fault detected" rather than the "Stop Safely Electrical Fault Detected" in JLR's earlier technical documentation. I am concerned that the warning may not adequately communicate the severity of the potential safety hazard. I did drive the car 5 miles to a day care and back. With 2 dogs in the car. The voltage on my radar detector display got as low as 10.x volts so I returned home and parked the car instead of taking the ferry. What makes this particularly unacceptable is the manufacturer's documented history of this defect. In LR's April 2026 filing, the company reviewed increasing DC-DC converter warranty claims in Sept 2024 but determined initially that the issue idd not present an unreasonable safety risk. The recall was initiated after JLR finally agreed with NHTSA about the safety concerns in April 2026. Despite this recall, owners like me continue to experience failures of a critical component while awaiting an actual recall remedy/repair. This vehicle is used to transport my family. A failure like this would progress to complete loss of lighting, power and all systems: putting my family, passengers & others at risk. Sudden immobilization is concerning as we live on an Island, where travel regularly involves the ferry, rural roads, dark roads & no mobile connectivity. Where's the remedy JLR?

reoccurred approximately one month later. The front driver's side headlight had failed and was replaced by the local dealer. The contact stated that one month later, the front passenger's side headlight failed. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was 40,000.

vehicle. The exhaust manifold is integrated with the turbocharger and is part of the emissions control pathway. This assembly operates at extremely high temps. Based on the pattern of failures, repeated thermal cycling and inadequate fastener material appear to cause bolt fatigue and fracture. When bolts break, proper clamping force is lost and hot exhaust gases escape directly into the engine compartment rather than remaining sealed within the manifold/turbo assembly. This presents serious safety concerns: Fire risk: Escaping exhaust gases from a turbocharged engine can exceed 1,000°F. These gases are released near wiring, plastic components, insulation, and other materials. Loss of sealing increases the risk of localized overheating and engine compartment fire. Exhaust gas intrusion: Exhaust leaks at the manifold can allow exhaust gases to enter the passenger compartment. Emissions defect: As this leak occurs upstream of emissions control components, unmetered exhaust gases escape before entering the emissions system, affecting federally regulated emissions compliance. This costs thousands to fix and owners are going to ignore it due to cost & unawareness. Multiple vehicles across varying mileages have experienced this issue, suggesting a systemic design or material defect rather than normal wear. Exhaust manifold fasteners should not fracture under normal operating conditions on a vehicle with 30,000 miles.

this recall but clearly exhibits the same issue as described in that recall. This is a MAJOR SAFETY issue! The car shuts off without warning and wont restart. This is engine electrical system and transmission related. It drains the battery and leaves the car inoperable

could not get the car restarted, not once but twice. I have owned the car for less than one week, and it's been back in the shop now twice. The first time ( Wednesday) was also for electrical issues, including sensor issues.

in my opinion - because it has now happened at busy intersections, highway on ramps, and other places where you do not want people aggressively honking or worse hitting you from behind if they are distracted. I thought perhaps I just needed a software update or something, but my car is confirmed to be on the newest Land Rover software systems for everything in the car. I have not taken it to the dealer for this problem yet (no appts avail) but will be taking it in later this month. The reason I decided to submit this to you is that I went on a Defender group on Facebook, and there are many posts on there with other people in the United States having the exact same problem. With both P300 and P400 engines in Defenders. So I believe this may be a fault with software or hardware (and not just an isolated issue with my Defender... which by the way is my favorite car I've ever owned!) - that needs to be rectified with some sense of urgency with Land Rover. Also, my novice testing of why and when this is happening has concluded one workaround that I believe prevents the issue: if I press the button on the dash to turn off the auto start/stop, this problem does not occur. However, the car defaults to auto start/stop being on at each ignition cycle - so that would need to be something that users would need to remember to do each time they started the car.

(check out the edmunds blog, townhall-talk) in that the engine is ruined if it overheats. I recalled having had a mysterious problem with the engine overheating - in the dead of a chicago winter, no less - within a couple of years after purchasing it. The repairs, which I did not understand, were made under warranty. Apparently, the repairs were not adequate. In any case, after pestering land rover for a few weeks until I reached the "customer service manager" in new jersey, an individual who identified herself as the "executive liaison" called with a "one-time, goodwill offer between us" that she would not reduce to writing - to reduce the engine replacement cost to $2,500 for me since land rover corporation would pay the other half of the dealership service center's cost of $5k, treating the engine replacement as if it was covered under warranty. That's real nice except that I should not have to pay anything for land rover's use of an engine with a faulty design. From what the dealership service center has told me, they replace the ruined engine with a remanufactured engine produced by the same manufacturer that sold them the original faulty one. Swell. *Jb

them they told us to leave it with them for a few weeks and refused us a loaner car. Also, the rear driver side window would not roll up and they replace it because it was 'under warranty'. At 46,000 miles the engine began to over heat. I took it to the nearest mechanic and was informed that the oil again was 'gunked up' because anti freeze had been leaking into the engine. After 3 weeks, the dealer "land rover of tulsa' first told us that the engine would have to be replaced. Then land rover inc tried to tell us that the engine would be our expense. They tried to inform us that the vehicle had not been properly serviced (even though we had taken it in several times at considerable expense). They kept the vehicle for 3 weeks, and then replaced some part, told us to watch the coolant and to have the oil changed every 6,000 miles. After 247 miles, half a gallon of antifreeze was gone and the engine started to run "funny again". Even though the dealer claimed that no anti freeze was in the oil, they forgot to clean the oil cap after their "service". I had it tested by an independent mechanic and anti freeze was found in the oil cap, which proves anti freeze was in the oil. Also, they claimed a wheel bearing was going out and they would order the part and fix it 'under warranty'. They seem confused that their 'warranty is not a pick and choose type warranty. This vehicle is obviously a lemon. *Jb

fire was burning the ac equipment and enclosure, vehicle wiring and hood, fenders, etc. The vehicle suffered destroyed wiring harnesses, the engine, the entire ac unit, hood and various other body parts, resulting in a total loss. Some parts are no longer available. The cause of the fire was a pin hole leak in one of the oil cooler lines. The leak sprays a fine mist of hot engine oil directly on the hot exhaust manifold. The result is an oil-fueled engine fire. Not being able to shut the engine off keeps oil spraying on the hot exhaust manifold, continuing the fire. I have come to find out a large number of defender 110's have had this problem. When the lines rupture, the effect is sudden and catastrophic is no warning. Land rover offers no recommended schedule for checking or replacing these lines. In fact, land rover will not discuss the issue saying the vehicle has been discontinued. Land rover's only assistance was to point me to a third-party that sells land rover parts. The same catastrophic problem, although in lesser numbers, has occurred on defender 90's as well. Land rover discovery's, manufactured in the tens of thousands, also utilize the same engine. As the vehicles age, and without any maintenance schedule for checking/replacing these lines, could it be only a matter of time before these fires become much more common? Conditions: sunny, warm summer day; ac off; driver's window open; radio on; normal driving conditions. *Nm