Hello all,

Two months and 1200mi ago, I bought a Great Plains Rover long block top hatted engine and had installed in my '02-D2(60Kmi). Until 3 days ago I have been pleased with its performance. But then...I first noticed small drops of oil coming from somewhere around the oil filter head but after wiping it off and driving a little I could not tell where it was coming from. It got worse a few days ago and I had to stop in a gas station and take the filter off thinking that 700mi into my first oil change maybe the O ring on the filter was bad...turns out it is fine. Oil was dripping out at a steady rate and was pooling above the filter mount on the housing above where the oil cooler would be mounted on other models. I could not for the life of me tell where it was coming from. No signs of leaks at the timing cover gasket, oil pump, the oil pan gasket, head gasket or valve cover gaskets.

I dropped it off at my local shop who installed the engine a couple of months ago. It was then covered in oil all over the under carriage, exhaust, wheels, back door and window. Upon inspection they said that the oil was coming out from a cap that appears to be the top of the oil pressure relief valve. They have worked on these motors for years and all the guys in the shop say they have never seen oil leak from this location. Currently it looks like the entire timing cover will have to be removed (~$900+ labor) to fix the oil filter housing because it is all one piece. Don't know if new parts will have to be ordered but likely. They did attempt to move the cap but it would not budge. They still have my old engine in the back and it is what the photo below is of (easier to see on the shop floor than the one installed and leaking in the truck now). They tried taking the old cap out but the whole thing looks to be spring loaded and perhaps one piece as well. I am wondering if the oil pump that Mike and the guys at GPR installed is causing too high of oil pressure? Did they rebuild the oil filter housing and not see this issue? What could have caused this? Has anyone else had a similar issue? Especially on a new engine?

Needless to say I am as most of those who frequent this forum, very stressed out over this. The truck is my daily driver and I am waiting for Mike to get back to me. I see no reason why my 3 year warranty with this new engine would not cover this issue. Just a few months after spending $8K on a new engine ($12K w/ install) I will be seeing how good his warranty is asap.

Any suggestions or thoughts are always greatly appreciated.

 

I will follow this with great interest, as I too just installed a GPR engine and have a slight oil leak from somewhere near the front of the engine, and I think, possibly a rear seal leak that is ever so slight.

The motor runs great, but I'm disappointed that I have these two slight leaks. I'll be under it in a few days installing a CDL and some new O2 sensors, so I hope to be able to locate the source of the leaks and I will definitely look at this location as a possible source.

 

did you buy a new front timing cover from GPR's, because the problem your talking about is associated with the front cover, normally not part of a GRP rebuilt engine.
usually you would reuse your old front cover, i know he sells and upgraded motor with a new front cover, water pump and oil pan and oil pick up tube.

 

Not sure about the OP, but mine was complete from the oil pan to the lower intake plenum, including front cover, oil pump and water pump from GPR.

 

Sure enough, I went all out and got everything new on the engine, the upgraded one...front timing cover & oil pump-all new everything. I even got all new coolant system 180 stat and new radiator. The only thing that was not on the engine when he sent it were the valve covers because he supposedly couldn't find any so I had to use my old ones.

Mike sent me a message apologizing for the situation and says it will be covered under warranty. I am anxious to see how this will play out for obvious reasons. He has to meet with his builder tomorrow and find out what the best solution to this problem is...

 

Has anyone ever replaced the Oil Pressure Relief Valve on a Disco2?

The cap in the pic that I posted above seems to be secured by a snap ring which when removed, the remaining cap is very difficult to remove yet it appears to be where the oil is leaking. I assume then that it only comes outward and cannot be moved inward?

I was told by Mike from GPR that it is actually a 5-10 min job and is really easy to remove. He suggests taking unplugging the crank sensor taking the snap ring out and cranking the engine a few times to build up pressure. He says that the cap should just pop right out.

This seems sketchy to me so I really want to know if anyone knows anything about this removal/replacement process before I move forward. I cannot find a single thing about the Oil Pressure Relief Valve in my RAVE manual...

 

Holy Jesus $900 to remove a timing cover, I'm in the wrong business!

 

I'm growing increasingly confused as to why I cannot find anything about replacing the oil pressure relief valve 'cap'.

Nothing in the RAVE manual. Nothing in a Google search. Nothing in any of the Land Rover forums...

No one has replaced one or knows anything about them?

 

Dont have an answer for you man but being that Im may be ordering an engine in the near future, I may re-consider other vendors...... the price of these used remanufratured engines is a bit to high. Especially when you can purchase a early LR3 or 2004 Range Rover for roughly 12k! I would be super pissed if I paid that much on my D2 engine just to have this problem......

 

its under warrentee why are you messing with it? have Great Plains Rover pick a place near you to have it repair.