We just purchased a low mileage 2004 Dico with only 39K miles on it.
This thing is in mint condition and runs great except..
It's been dripping oil on our driveway.


I took it to my Local Land Rover Mechanic in Salt Lake City, and he swears that the problem is the previous owner just switched over to synthetic oil and that was a BIG mistake.


So based on his recommendation I switched back over to conventional 5 W 30 oil and 2 weeks after the switch it's still leaking.


I took the Disco back to the mechanic and he said that even though I switched back to conventional oil it may take some time for the synthetic oil to dissipate. He said it was leaking out from the engine seals and just to keep driving it and it should stop leaking.


My mechanic also said there is no way that the seals could fail with such low mileage.


Any other suggestions?

 

the seals are old. they are dry. An engine needs to be run to keep it in good order. Your 2004 with low mileage is seeing dry rot. My suggestion is to replace all the hoses vacuum and cooling. Also i would add the white shepard stop leak for oil. rear main seal. it works to reinvigorate the rubber seals from the inside without harming your oil. as for your oil I would switch over to the rotella 15w40. these engines do well with the added zddp and extra detergents.

 

Thanks for the tips Jeff, yeah that's what I was afraid of. I will for sure try the white Shepard product

 

39k miles wow that is low mileage....probably leaking around pan. Take it to Bill at GBR in Salt Lake City is my advice...these things leak bottomline. You need to get under it to see...

 

Is it dripping off the oil pan, bell housing or where is it coming from?


Oil may be leaking from many different points. It could be easy like valve covers, oil pan, or the valley pan or it could be the rear main seal and that would require pulling the transmission or engine to change. Like another member said, you need to open the hood and crawl underneath and try to locate the source of the leak.

 

clean it, replace you oil with 15-40 and then start locating the leaks one at a time, after 10 years there is sure to be a few loose bolts under there

 

Yeah...first, ditch that 5w30 oil fast... they don't like that thin oil at all! As far as the leak goes, probably has nothing at all to do with synthetic oil. All Disco's leak to some degree. Pressure wash the bottom of the engine very thoroughly and you can crawl under there and spot the leak. Most likely oil pan or valve covers.
Also, if I was you I'd be looking for a different mechanic. That bit about "... take time for synthetic oil to dissipate." was total hogwash. Plus if he's much of a LR mechanic, he'd know you don't want to run 5w30 in it unless you're in the Arctic.

 

First of all, I find it highly unlikely that running synthetic oil would cause gaskets and seals to leak and then magically reseal after a period of time running non synthetic.

I also disagree that 5w-30 is the problem. You are apparently near Salt Lake City and it can get cold there in the winter, that oil would be appropriate for winter driving but probably not the best choice for summer temperatures. I live in Houston and run Shell 5w-30 synthetic from about November through April which usually puts me at the right time and mileage for a change and I go to Shell Rotella 15w-40. These oils are popular with other members of this forum and some have other favorites that work for them.

I would agree that your car is 10 years old and unfortunately Land Rover engines are not known to be leak free forever. As mentioned, seals and gaskets deteriorate over time and can get brittle and shrink. Quite often the valve cover seals are the problem as they are not high pressure areas and over time the material just dries out and shrinks due to the heat of the engine.

How much oil are we talking about? A few drips on the pavement or something more substantial? I would suggest giving the engine a good cleaning with a solvent designed for safely degreasing and a power washer where necessary. Then you need to look at the engine, especially the back of the cylinder heads as this is often where valve covers leak. Get underneath with a good shop light of flashlight and find the leak points and ensure they are from the engine and not the transfer case which can also leak. Usually you can tell by the smell of the oil, gear oil has a strong sulfur smell.

 

First of all, awesome find with those miles!Fortunately for me, I've only had ONE oil leak, and that was when the seal on my power steering blew out. Fixed that, and I'm now clean and dry again. I'm now at 104k or so miles. It was well babied before I bought it.In my experience, the Synthetic will find it's way out easier. I don't believe it can cause a leak, but if there's a passage out, it tends to leak easier, and faster. Even if that only means going from a single drip to a dozen drips. I'm running good 'ol Dinosaur Oil in mine, and no leaks to date. Knock on my head...

 

Hopefully you didn't pay an arm, and a leg for something with only 39 K on it. I run 15w-40 from April to October (Denver area) and then go 10w-40 from October to April. Always shell. Always Mobile 301 filter because its bigger. I would look to see how much oil you are leaking... It will leak. I just resealed my whole motor, heads, pan, front cover, and it still leaks from the oil pan....