Just bought my first DII, a 2001 with around 144k on the clock. It's not in the best of shape but runs ok. I'm planning to take it to a really awesome rover shop here in town soon to get a full inspection, but I'm planning to do all my own work to it ultimately (outside of head gaskets). And about that...

I have this oil leak at the back of the engine just above the block to tranny seam. Not sure if its an old leak but it's really sludgy and a bit shiny which makes me think it's current. I was wondering if anyone might be able to shed some light on what caused this. I was hoping it wasn't indicative of maybe a blown HG on the last cylinder. I'm not familiar enough with these rigs yet to know if there's another common leak in that area that would sling oil up top rather than down below. I went about checking all the common symptoms of HG failure. No coolant in oil, no white smoke, seems to idle fine, no CEL etc. Anyway, here's some pics, hope they make sense.




Passenger side of engine in rear.

 

Pic #1 looks like valve cover to me. New gaskets are an easy fix. Loose bolts are common too I think, mine were.

 

Welcome to The Nut House! Remember to take and share your meds.

Sorry, but the head gasket is leaking(pic3). Valve cover too, but that's minimal. All common for this mileage.
You have no CEL yet, but with all the oil on the orange connector for the O2 sensor, that will cause the CEL to go on. So it's off to the shop for you and your new toy. Good Luck!

 

Bummer. I had a feeling. It had new valve cover gaskets done in March so I had hoped some of it was residual from that leak.

 

Before I did anything...I'd degrease the whole engine...to the point you could eat off it. Get in there with Simply Green or whatever degreaser you fancy, but clean that area up spotless. Oil can travel in peculiar ways. Could be coming from the valley pan and valve cover gaskets. If you are still unsure, do a compression test before tearing into anything serious.

Brian.

 

Great advice, thanks!