Well - it sounds like another new examiner/CFI full of his position and lacking a little common sense to me.
If you are steaming around at 2000 feet in your light single and the engine quits, the First thing to do is to establish best glide speed, the second is to determine the wind direction and turn downwind and the third is to find a field and plan your descent into it. If you are good, you should be trying to do all these things at once! Once you are following your planned approach, you can get on with checking the engine, making mayday calls and preparing for the landing itself. I always insist the doors are jammed open as, in the event of a hard landing the fuselage may well distort which could jam the doors closed.
Many years ago I was taking GFT 4 - circuits at night in a twin for my CPL. I was doing it at Oxford on a Twin Comm (if anybody remembers those) and was having difficulty remembering the Oxford pre landing check list which I think started with "landing light on" I managed the first two circuits O.K. then something happened which necessitated me working harder and my mind went blank with regard to the prescribed pre landing checks. By this time I was half way downwind and realised that if I didn't do something I would definitely blow a test fee and an hour for a twin at Oxford's prices. I called out "Brakes: off, Undercarriage: selected down - green light showing" e.t.c. e.t.c.
In the debrief my CAAFU examiner enquired why I started by putting my landing light on at the start of my downwind checks for the first two circuits. I told him. "Oh I cant really comment about that" said he handing me my pass certificate.
If "BUMPFF" was good enough for CAAFU ...............
P.P.