Hi everyone. I am hoping to enroll those willing to assist me diagnosing a very slow oil leak from my 2004 Defender 130 TD5, by starting with a Rorschach test of sorts! It took about two months of sitting still to produce this much oil on the garage floor, so a little faster than the pitch drop experiment. Given the active membership and collective wisdom in this subreddit, I wouldn't be surprised if someone would be able to identify the source of the leak from the oil drip pattern alone! Photo below.

I have put more detailed photos in this album, with highlights I thought noteworthy.

Ultimately I am trying to figure out if this is something I can fix myself, or if its above my paygrade. The biggest DIY projects I have done so far include swapping out the clutch master cylinder, and a full stage 2 upgrade. Thats probably the maximum of my skillset at this stage!

Thanks in advance!

 

I cross-posted this to reddit and got a response in less than 5 min. The person bet their last £1 that the cause would be a bad rocker cover gasket. Thoughts?

 

My first guess would have been the valve cover gasket, also. Oil leaks can be a bugger to figure out. Looking for the highest signs of oil on the block, usually helps eliminate other areas.