yesterday, i found a spot of oil under my 04 Disco II. Today i went under there to see if i could find the source. There is a lot of dried oil on the front axle and the oil pan. Looked to be more build up the farther towards the front i look. So i popped off the plastic cover where the oil filter is, and found my first spot of fresh - not dried - oil (see photo).

Does anyone know what that bolt is next to the oil filter? It appears thats where the oil is coming from. Is that a drain plug of some kind? Anyone with similar experience, please chime in. Thanks!

 

Ah yes!
That is a blank plug!
Reason?
Well once upon a time the D2 had an oil cooler and pipes went there.
Obviously to reduce assembly/spec costs the cooler arr' was eliminated on production (models 03/04 to model run out) and a blank plug stopped the hole up.

A fairly common leak occurrence you can drop the plug out and replace the O ring seal which of course is the same as cooler steel pipe IF it had been fitted.
Obviously change it "O" ring while cold engine NOT running; besides hot engine oil can scald you.
And of course remember there will be some minor loss of oil from the gallery/oil pump so some will run down your arm and onto the drive way!
T/V

 

Thanks so much for the response and the info! Typically when I see oil my first reaction is dam what's this gonna cost me. In this case, about $5. Nice.

I pulled the plug, replaced the O ring, and put the plug back. I'm gonna go for a ride now to get the oil flowing, and see if the problem is gone.

Thanks again!