Oil leak showing up behind alternator?

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PDXLR3

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2011 LR4. I notice a small drop of oil under the car yesterday after I did an oil change the day before. I cleaned that up and came out again this morning and there was another drop. Backstory, I pinched a gasket on the oil filter housing this summer and oil leaked everywhere and ended up killing the alternator so that was replaced. I am careful about not pinching that oring and double checked that it is not leaking there this time. I pulled the pan and took some pictures of where it appears to be. The photos are on the passengers side while laying under the car. There is a line with a metal connector that seems to be the highest point that I can find oil. Does anyone know what this line is? Thoughts on what else to check. Coincidence that this started right after an oil change?
 

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Rover Range

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Those are fuel lines.
There are lots of nooks and crannies on these engines that can trap oil. More than likely what happened.
Spray the area with contact cleaner and check again after a few hundred miles
 

f1racer328

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Aren't valve cover leaks common on these, that drip onto the alternator? I think a few others have had that problem here.
 

PDXLR3

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Well I took some of the covers off from inside of the fender well so I could get a better look and I looks like it is coming from higher up on the passenger rear side at back of engine so probably a valve cover. See pic below. This is laying under the car so the bottom of the pic is towards the front. You can see some oil on the heat shield close to the exhaust collector and then above that is oily as well.
 

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PDXLR3

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Just to make sure and see if I can narrow it down, I jacked the vehicle up so it was setting level and ran it for 15 minutes and let it sit for the last 36 hours. Came back and there was two drops under the rear drivers side of engine and 6-8 decent sized drips under the passenger rear side. Both look to be coming from right where the heat shield and exhaust collectors are on both sides and then running down onto the control arm and frame or at leas that is as high up as I can see. Sounds like a pretty clear case of valve covers leaking. Up until now it has never had a drop of oil leak and we came back from being out of town for a week to find this.
Will talk to the local independent shop this week and see what they can do. So far I have done everything myself but I just don't have the time available so will probably have to bite the bullet on this one. Assuming it might be a good time to have some other things taken care of if they will have to get that far into it.
 

gillygong

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Just to make sure and see if I can narrow it down, I jacked the vehicle up so it was setting level and ran it for 15 minutes and let it sit for the last 36 hours. Came back and there was two drops under the rear drivers side of engine and 6-8 decent sized drips under the passenger rear side. Both look to be coming from right where the heat shield and exhaust collectors are on both sides and then running down onto the control arm and frame or at leas that is as high up as I can see. Sounds like a pretty clear case of valve covers leaking. Up until now it has never had a drop of oil leak and we came back from being out of town for a week to find this.
Will talk to the local independent shop this week and see what they can do. So far I have done everything myself but I just don't have the time available so will probably have to bite the bullet on this one. Assuming it might be a good time to have some other things taken care of if they will have to get that far into it.
Howdy, was this resolved?

I happened to notice an oil leak on my '13 LR4 that looks very similar to yours. I haven't gone as far in diagnosing but the drips at the bottom are in the same places. For now I cleaned it all up, let the motor run for 20 ish minutes in the driveway and am letting it sit to see what's up.

Cheers
 

ktm525

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Start simple. My last Wix filter it looks like the oring for the filter housing got stiff and there was a leak. Mimic' d a leaking valve cover and was dripping down the front and along the valve cover edge. Start high (oilfilter housing) and work your way down. If you have oil on the filter housing base unlikely it is moving uphill.. Anyhow good advice here. Clean it up and keep an eye on it.
 

Cthehentz

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My 2011 Lr4 had the same leaks, I found both valve cover's leaking. Driver side only damp no drip but a slight oil streak leading behind the exhaust manifold but the passenger side was leaking real bad. I just picked it up yesterday from the INDY shop, two new valve covers, injector seals, other seals and odd parts, new set up spark plugs $1995 .00 OTD. It was booked as a 9hr job, it is a little steep but there is a lot involved when replacing these covers. I had oil on the alternator and dripping from the bottom of the passenger side LCA towards the back. Oil dripping onto the alternator can cause premature failure, just FYI..
 

gillygong

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Came back after a couple days and there are new drips present.
IMG_3546.jpeg

I can see it from as high up as the lower front outside edge of the valve cover. Having a tough time getting a visual on anything further back, or underneath the oil filter housing. Going to need to remove some stuff to get a better angle, but that might be moot...

I actually managed to obtain old service records from the previous owner's local LR dealer and found this lovely tidbit from an inspection October 2022 (I've only had the truck for a couple months):

* COOLING SYSTEM IS AGED. * BRAKE FLUID IS DIRTY. REC BRAKE FLUSH EVERY 3 YRS. * FRONT LOWER CONTROL ARMS HAVE PLAY, KNOCKING WHEN BRAKING, REC REPLACING LOWER CONTROL ARMS. * OIL LEAK FROM RIGHT FRONT UPPER TIMING COVER AND VACUUM, REC RESEAL AND REPLACE VACUUM PUMP. * AS PER SERVICE CHECK SHEET AND NO HISTORY, REC EVERY 6 YRS REPLACING FLEXIBLE BRAKE LINES. * FRONT BRAKE PADS ARE AT 8mm AND REAR PADS ARE AT 5mm. *

I'm a bit annoyed, because I did bring the vehicle in for a PPI to a well respected Land Rover indie shop in southern California - British Car Service in Inglewood. I was told there were no oil leaks present.. control arms and brake pads were replaced before I bought it. Obviously I should have looked for leaks myself more thoroughly, but what the hell man. Can’t really trust a PPI even with with an obvious leak like this I guess
 
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