Engine oil leak (valley gasket?) HELP
 

Hello All:

I have a leak coming from my engine. I have a 1997 Discovery SE. New engine put in 5 years ago with about 75,000 on it now. I bought this Rover not long ago and thought the guy I bought it from would have taken care of it. When he told me after I purchased it that he used regular gas I was worried. My mechanic is not a Land Rover mechanic but is competent. He asked me to put this on the forum to help him. I am a woman and worry that I can be BSed a bit buy dealerships about the extent of repairs to a car. He talked to a Land rover guy (over the phone) and he thinks it is the Valley pan gasket. One of the pics shows the pooling of the oil.
Here is picture. It runs fine but is leaking oil obviously. Not peeing it out but loses about a half a quart of oil per 250 miles driving both street and hwy miles. I am not a lead foot. I downloaded the workshop manual to help my mechanic. This is a great forum I have read bits and have enjoyed the conversations and expertise. Thanks for your assistance. Klandrover

The end seal is leaking, however, not one quart in 500 miles worth. Get your guy to put some UV dye in the engine oil, and that will give him the bigger picture. Good Luck

See attached, item 2 is the valve covers, sometimes their gaskets leak enough to drip in many places, they can be snugged up at each oil change with an 8mm 12 point 1/4 inch drive socket (mechanic will know that one, but may not have one). Also, item 22 is a lip seal front and rear on the valley pan, if loose they can leak. The valley pan gasket itself can be leaking because the bolts from the intake manifold (item 10) into the engine block are just finger tight (a number of posts on these being found loose). Gasket alone is about $35 (see Gasket - Intake Manifold Valley - New Style (LKJ500020OE Same Fit As Part # LKJ500020) - Land Rover gaskets and seals from Atlantic British)

BTW - there are many other places to leak oil on a Disco. Parking over clean card board can pont toward some areas.

Good thread! I have the same leak. I thought it was the oil pump seal.
Good thing I got the whole kit to re-do all gaskets. :cool:

I have to agree it is the valley gasket leaking.

Before you do anything else:

I had the same exact condition on my 97. I read everything I could find, was sure it was the valley pan gasket, bought the entire gasket set thinking I would need it sooner or later.

Then I finally found a 12 point 8mm socket and snugged down the bolts in the valve covers and PROBLEM SOLVED!

There are four bolts on each valve cover, two down low and two on the upper side of each. They are where the little curved out areas are on the valve covers. These tend to loosen over time and will cause exactly what yours looks like.

Save yourself a lot of time, money, and frustration and get a deep socket 12 point 8mm. A 1/4 inch drive if you can find one. or Lowes has them in 3/8 drive with the front "necked down" to a smaller diameter that will work with some finnese. They need to be snug but do not overtighten.

Best wishes.

Is the Positive Crankcase Ventilation system clear/clean and in working order? Have mech check.

Just to provide a little more info on this so you understand what he said.
There are two vacumn hoses that connect the valve covers to the intake.
The one on the passengers side has a little plastic piece inside it called the oil separator. It's purpose is too allow fumes to pass but theloiquid oil drips back into the valve cover.

This gets clogged with gunk buildup and if it is clogged, the engine oil pressure goes up and forces oil out. The hose can be pulled off and the plastic piece cleaned and put back in.

I would do that AND tighten the valve cover bolts.

That may resolve the leak, it did on my 97.

Also if those hoses are original I would order the new ones and replace them as they will cause problems if they leak.

OP takes their vehicle to a mech Danny and not a very competent one at that since this is hs auto shop 101 low tech. I'm capable of explaining when asked and the OP has not. I know you mean well, sometimes too much info can overwhelm which is why I keep posts short.

A valley pan gasket is easy to replace. Probably only a couple hours work.