Hi, I am new to Land Rovers and somewhat new to working on vehicles. I have had my LR3 for over a year now. Anyways, I started changing my oil today and noticed that the skid plate had some oil on it and so did the power steering arm and lower part of the engine block near the oil filter. Above that is dry. The oil still seems fairly fresh because it isn't sludgy and not too grimy. It doesn't seem to be coming from the oil filter. I'm not sure were the oil leek is coming from and was hoping that someone else might know. Is it a common issue? By the way its a 2005 4.4L lr3 se

 

Hi Steve,

Try to get some more photos and a better angle if possible. This is not really a common issue actually with these vehicles, the newer discos are notable for not leaving huge stains in one's driveway

>Is it for sure engine oil? Differential oil could leak onto the plate too, but you would notice the gear-oil smell... Look closely at your differential.
>Have you possibly spilled oil from the fill tube when trying to add oil? It could work its way down to the bottom like that and cover a ton of stuff.
>Drain plug on the pan? They are meant to be changed out every other oil change and COULD go wrong, but I have never seen one leak at all.
>If it leaks from the filter it will drip on the lower coolant line and then drip onto the rest of the pan, very slowly. Make sure the filter is hand tightened but that's the one place mine leaked when I bought it. Threw a K&N (insert whatever other brand you like, I just use that one) on there when I did my next oil change and have since had no leaks.

Hope you find it, post some more photos. Try cleaning the pan and the areas you can so that if it continues you'll pinpoint the area faster. If you're changing the oil clean the filter area and ensure it has a good seal when you install the new one.

EDIT: also try taking the top of the engine cover off and looking at the fill cap and tube. That and the PCV are the only areas very high up that could leak oil slowly to the lower regions.

 

DavC,

Thanks for the help! Didn't see anything from the filler cap or PCV. I cleaned everything up and put on a new oil filter on tightly with a proper tool. Took it for a test drive and didn't see any evidence of the leak. It could of been the old filter because it was only on about hand tight or less. Will keep my eye on it for the future as well as some extra oil in the boot.

If the leak is spotted again, I will hopefully find it and point it out for future reference.

Again, Thanks!