Hi Guys.

First quick background.

Son was given (as in free) a pristine 2004 D2 (120K mile CA vehicle) with a slipped sleeve.

We pulled engine and did a total rebuild, starting with top hat sleeves and all the way down to polishing the crank.

Stupid as it sounds, though we replaced everything else, we did NOT replace the PCV/oil separator. We tried to remove it, it would not come out (easily), so we just left it. We even removed the baffles, did a full Berryman dip of the covers to remove all varnish (solvent ran straight thru the PCV) and even took it to a buffer wheel polished the outside to a chrome-like shine, but didn't remove the PCV body. Crazy stupid I know, but that's what we did.

Well, after 3,000 miles we have a leak at the what appears to be the rear seal. At the advice of the shop that re-machined the block and pressed in the flanged sleeves, we used genuine Land Rover parts for the front and rear mains and the cruxiforms (at 4-6x the cost of aftermarkets). Even used the Roll Royce Aircraft engine speced hylomar (sp?) sealant at $25 a tube. The rear main bearing cap fit very snug: it had to be tapped on with a mallet and piece of wood.

As we were so careful with everything except the PCV, I am wondering (hoping) whether we have pressure build-up from a blocked PCV that is causing the leak. There is NO leak at the valve covers, front or sump seal or anywhere else, just thru that "crack" at the bottom of the engine where it meets the bell housing.

So a couple of questions:

1. What the probability that pressure buildup in the engine might be the source of our leak?

2. Is it reversible? If we correct the pressure, will the rear seal "recover"? or once it is distended by pressure and fails, it will never return to its original state?

3. I have read that these PCV bodies break pretty easily, does anyone have a "trick" to removing it? Is it just held in-place with an o-ring on the valve cover or is it more complicated than that?

4. I can't seem to find a replacement PCV "body", only a replacement for the oil separator that fits inside the body. Does anyone know where I can get a PCV body as I want to be prepared when it breaks.

Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

-Are you sure it's the rear main and not the oil pan gasket? You are supposed to use RTV on 4 locations of the oil pan gasket when installing, did you get that done? I personally use RTV all the way around the oil pan gasket just to be sure I have a good seal.

-The oil separator fits in there kind of snug but I just removed mine with some needle nose pliers. Don't try and twist it very hard but if you pull straight up it should come out (if you're lucky and sweet talk it the whole way). Worse come to Worse you will have to pull the valve cover back off, remove the screws on the top inside of the cover, and hammer it out.

-Depending on how bad the leak is your rear main (if that's the leak) may already be toast but a small leak might be able to be fixed with some blue devil type stop leak after you've found and fixed the problem.

-Have you done a compression test to make sure everything still looks good with the rebuilt engine?

-Here is the oil separator- http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/LLJ000010

 

The leak is most likely from crosefix seals on back of engine, not the main seal,,
Yes if pcv valve doesn't work properly it does that,
I had similar problem , after cleaning original pcv valve , leak is minimum now,
By the suggestion of another forum member (which I read somewhere, and is an excellant idea). I removed the inside piece from original pcv , & left the outer metal tube on valve cover, then bought a (FRAM FV237) pcv valve, (I hope I remember part# correctly)
And connected in between original tube & intake using the rubber hose,
The FRAM piece has a valve inside and will not clog as easily & if you feel the need to clean it, it will be very easy,
It was one of best suggestions on forum that I used , with excellant results,

 

I'm not familiar with the "crosefix" seals. Do you have a picture or link so I can see what you are talking about?

I do like the idea of adding an aftermarket PCV valve if it doesn't effect anything. I looked up that part number PCV valve and it looks to be cheap and easy to install. All you would need is about 1 1/2 feet of hose and 4 hose clamps. Ii might give that a try, Thanks for bringing that up.

 

Sorry I am on phone, & dumb enough not to be able to post pic easily,
But crosefix seals are small (cross like ) seals on back of block, I think there is two of them,
And they leak easily with extra pressure,

Yes, the part you found is right one, PURELATOR also makes exactly same thing,
You can buy either brand around $3-4 in most auto part stores
Rubber hose was such a tight fit that I didn't even use clamps, but you are right , If using clamps it's better,