Oil bathed engine

[hobbit]

SOunds like the only sure way to track it down is to get the whole engine bay steamed off right down to the front diff is necessary, the red tinge means its either power steering fluid or auto box oil.

[muddyjames]

oh damn :(

there was ALOT of oil around the front steering props when the oil stat leaked but I got an "expert mechanic" to mend that for me. In his own words there from muddysteve :lol:

So I am guessing it is prob as you say power steering or transmission fluid :(

I wil try and blag a local person to have a look for me or go to Safri engineering and get them to look

[Xtremeteam]

i rekon its one of the pipes going from the auto box to the cooler at the front that has a pinhole init

[muddyjames]

im not going to know where to look for that so will go to safari and ask them to look. if it is that how easy is a new pipe to replace?

BTW the uto fluid level is on max.

[muddyjames]

im not going to know where to look for that so will go to safari and ask them to look. if it is that how easy is a new pipe to replace?

BTW the auto fluid level is on max.

[extreme90]

i suppose that was a bad thing to say if you dont know what you are looking for.
your best bet is to get it steam cleaned dont worry bout drowning the engine i reguarly steam mine and falk lift trucks and have had no problems, and the engine has been fully submerged under water for a hour stuck in a watery bog  :shock:  some one never told me  :shock: huskey isnt the fastest rear winch in the world lol, and the just leave the engine running at fast idle for half an hour on a nice clean bit of ground so you can see

[Damonski]

What are the pipes they say you should replace on high mileage disco's ?  

i seem to recall reading an article in one of the mags about a common thing is a pipe failing at high speed on the motorway spraying fluid and then it catching fire as its sprayed onto the hot exhaust?

Ill have to dig out the mags and find it, was quite some time ago.

[Tyke]

rekon its one of the pipes going from the auto box to the cooler at the front

One of the large 'crimp/swages' on the oil cooler end of the engine oil feed pipes, where the flexible pipe joins the solid metal one, leaked on mmy 300 TDi. Just a very fine spray of oil but it coated everything - looked much worse than it was actually.


At least it helped keep the rust away.


The oil was black by the way - sure sign it was engine oil.

[extreme90]

the crimps break up on the oil feed pipes to the oil cooler which lets oil seep out and then gradualy get worse...did some research  :lol:  a bit scary now tho, mite change the pipes, dont fancy dumping the oil on a motorway  :roll:

[muddyjames]

I will write all these ideas down and pop along to a landy garage tomorrow

[muddyjames]

Right then. The puzzle goes on!!!

Been to Safari and as soon as I put the bonnet up he went ooooh thats engine oil. Didnt touch the oil just looked at it from a distance. I said oh it is really bad then. His reply to that was an egg cup full would make a worse mess. Doesnt that contradict himself? He said it could be coming from anywhere and could be the crank seal. As some one on here recomended he said go and wash it with a jet wash and leave the engine running and it is a big enough leak to find.

So I combined cleaning and fun together and free and went to my local 2ft deep ford and drove through it twice! Stopped the other side and had a look. Did a fab job of cleaning the oil off most stuff. Water pump / air con ider is lovely and shiny now :lol:

I couldnt see any oil dripping anywhere so I drove home the 8 miles and thought if it is bad surely there would be some kind of evidence of of the oil as last time it was all over everything. Got home, popped the bonnet. only wet ness was a little bit of water left over from the ford.

I looked in the rad bottle too and that was full to the top of murky water. Best give that rince through at some time. Wonder why the level didnt go down as I filed it to the brim last week as it was low and the way Matt_h fils water bottles for the rad is to fill to the top then what ever the enginedoesnt need it goes out the overflow pipe in the expansion bottle. May have a blocked expansion bottle. Thats another problem for another day.

[davidlandy]

if the crank seal has gone the oil would be coming out from under the engine from the wading plug hole - it tends to leak all over the axle case to the right of the diff as well as spray back around the sump and the sump sides were the bolts are.  Cant see it getting any higher than that.

also rad bottle shouldnt be full right up - you have to fill it about halfway to the line to allow for expansion

[muddyjames]

would going through a 2ft deep ford 4 times with no wading plug in cause the oil to leek out :(

[davidlandy]

2ft, shouldnt do -

oil will only leak out of the wading plug hole if the crank or camshaft oil seals have gone.

[muddyjames]

oil will only leak out of the wading plug hole if the crank or camshaft oil seals have gone.

sounds very expensive.

But as it has ended up around the fan I am guessing that wont be the problem as it is too low?

[davidlandy]

it is, as the timing belt has to come off as well

but if your oil is on the topside of your engine then i cant see that it is these leaking.

[muddyjames]

Cam belt was only changed about a year ago by the previous owner. He took it to Kieth Gott to get the work doen so the seals should have been fine a year ago or I would hope Kieth Gott would have spotted the leeky oil seems?