OIl Leak - top of engine

[Rex Rekstad]

seems my 2011 LR4 has classic land rover issues.

This time i noticed oil on the front on the engine, dripping all the way down onto the alternator, power steering rack and frame rail. this is a new leak. only shown signs of a leak since after i changed the oil about 1 month ago.

i know i did not spill a single drop and the housing is not cracked. I changed the oil with a slightly, maybe too thin of oil (0w20) for my high mileage (140k) car. i have since swapped out the oil for Valvoline 5w20 high mileage oil. i did not remove the filter when i swapped the oil, so there is no chance of spillage in the area.

maybe the too thin of oil has created a leak? maybe it will fix itself now?...doubtful.

anyway, without disassembly, the furthest i can trace it to is the top of the engine. the crevice between the passenger side valve cover and the intake manifold has minor oil residue down the length of the block, but there was a small pool of oil in the same crevice right next to/behind the oil filter housing base. is the oil filter housing gasket known to leak? i kind of hope so as its a rather simple fix.

Ive read that sometimes valve cover gaskets leak, but since the leak was concentrated directly next to the filter housing, im hoping for the easier solution. Also, the valve cover gasket was replaced by the previous owner (at land rover dealer), albeit about 80k miles ago.


any advice is welcome. thanks in advance.

 

[Rex Rekstad]

You should add some uv dye to the oil, then use a uv light to see exactly where it is leaking from. Replaces the old way of cleaning everything up and then trying to look.

 

[MDJ2015]

Any chance this might be caused by a bad PVC valve? I've seen that on other vehicles. PVC valves are cheap and easy to replace.

 

[tennessee]

2012 LR4 and had oil leak at 98k. Took to local LR dealer. BOTH valve cover gaskets were leaking. To replace BOTH was $2k labor and $575 parts. Have extended warranty through ASC Warranty and they covered $1900.

 

[DaytonaRS7]

a couple hundred miles since replacing oil filter housing gasket, no sign of leaks.

For anyone who may be experiencing a passenger side valve cover leak, this is something to check before you fork out money for a valve cover job. $10+20 minutes.

and just to clarify, this is not the o ring/oil filter cap gasket. i replaced the gasket at the base of the oil filter assembly, part # LR010735.

remove engine cover, oil filter cap and filter.
vacuum oil ouT of hosing, or use a few paper towels to soak the oil up.
remove the (1) torx screw outside of the housing, below the fuel line. and the (3) torx screws inside the housing.
remove filter housing. clean area. replace gasket
Reinstall and tighten torx screws to 12 in lb.
pour a little oil into the filter housing, to replace what you vacuumed out.
reinstall filter, filter cap, engine cover.

 

[cperez]

pour a little oil into the filter housing, to replace what you vacuumed out.

Is that just an OCD flare, or are these engines really sensitive to ~3 Tbsp of oil level variance?

 

[DaytonaRS7]

Is that just an OCD flare, or are these engines really sensitive to ~3 Tbsp of oil level variance?

Lol, probably just ocd.
About 3/4 cup of oil between what dripped from the filter while in a container on the workbench, plus the oil i vacuumed out.

 

[cperez]

Lol, probably just ocd.
About 3/4 cup of oil between what dripped from the filter while in a container on the workbench, plus the oil i vacuumed out.

Good to know. I was also asking indirectly because I bought some BG MOA oil supplement and will be calculating how to work it into my next oil change and get the level right.

 

[DaytonaRS7]

just another follow up. oil housing leak has not came back. diagnosis and repair worked.

additionally, a minor rear main seal leak seems to have been stopped. i contribute this to the Valvoline Maxlife synthetic oil I an now using. ive heard that it works to seal minor leaks...and that seems to be true. This ream main seal leak consisted of 1 drop per week hitting the ground. however the seam between bell housing and engine always had a skim coat of oil on it. the area is now completely dry.