 | Home > Tdi > Puddles of oil on front diff |
 
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| geobloke Member Since: 06 Nov 2012 Location: Nottinghamshire Posts: 4410  
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Could be from the oil filter, could be from the rocker cover gasket, could be from the PAS reservoir.
What colour is it? As for pressure, we did have some big swings in atmospheric pressure in the last week so that might have had an effect. But you know you have to get under there... right   |
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9th Nov 2023 7:47pm |
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| TomB8 Member Since: 17 Nov 2022 Location: West Sussex Posts: 115 
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My guess is the oil filter, oil filter housing gasket or the oring that goes in the side of the oil filter housing. It's not come from as high up as the rocker, the head is dry. It's wet all round the filter housing and fuel pump but it always has been. As I said, I was just surprised to find pools of oil, a few drips I wouldn't mind but half a mug of it!
Just dipped some rag in it and it's black as a witches hat, so not ps fluid. Sorry, I can't tell if you're joking with the atmospheric pressure suggestion  if not a joke, wouldn't the heat of the engine cause more pressure by expanding the oil? Not that I have heated the engine.
Ah, do I have to get under there?... again!?
Whatever it is, a big tube of silicone will sort it  |
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9th Nov 2023 9:43pm |
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1845 
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As Geobloke has said it could be a number of things.
I haven't time right now to look at your other posts so I don't know if this is something you look after yourself or have a garage do it? I'd hazard a guess that it's not 'DIY' if you're not keen to get underneath!  For the avoidance of doubt I'm being light-hearted about that! I use Defender maintenance as a Calisthenics routine! Up and down, up and down, up and down, forget the 13mm socket, up and down...
When you do an oil change on these, unless you're careful you can end up with a lot of oil landing on the top of the diff. Are you sure this is new oil and not just left over from a previous filter change? It could feasibly sit there for a while in the hollows on the diff casing. Perhaps at the last filter change the old rubber seal stayed in place, so that you've now two seals?? That could potentially leak a bit. Is the filter itself still tight? Other options are: * the thermostat housing is O ring sealed - could feasibly go; * the O rings sealing the oil feed/return pipes from the cooler in the radiator could go - or as with the filter above, if they've been replaced you could end up with a new and an old O ring in the housing; * the gasket between the housing and the block, * I've had the pressure switch leak in the past (it seals with a copper washer) but I doubt it would give cupfuls of oil. * I've even seen the housing itself crack (or maybe it was the thermostat housing that bolts on) If it was me (in fact it was me once) I'd want to be sure there were no issues here. The housing itself isn't too expensive, or even too difficult to replace. Or pull the existing one, check it's OK and and have all the gaskets and O rings, new pressure switch to hand to be sure it's a 'proper job' when it goes back on. And you're probably just using 'silicone' as a generic term, so apologies if that's the case, but you'd need an RTV sealant - oil friendly.
(Edit - sorry, I can see you've already mentioned some of the things I've put in here. I got into a groove and kept going....!) Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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10th Nov 2023 10:28am |
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| TomB8 Member Since: 17 Nov 2022 Location: West Sussex Posts: 115
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Hi Donald,
Thank you for your reply. I do look after this myself... well, I try! Yes, it is a good workout. I work on the car out the front of my house and my garage is 40 metres away at the other end of the back garden, doesn't sound far but after a day going back and forth I'm knackered. The oil was changed when I bought the vehicle a year ago by a friend who owns a landy garage, just because I took it to him for a quick look over and it hadn't been done in 15 years! It's been fine since and I have been under, in and around there doing poly bushes, timing belt, welding holes in the bulkhead etc. Never noticed oil there before. I haven't checked if the filter is tight, but will do so, good call. She's due an oil change soon so I'll order a new gasket for the housing and take it out for inspection at the same time. I have a thermostat o-ring and oil cooler pipe o-rings so I'll pop them in this weekend, clean everything up and bring the engine up to temp whilst monitoring and see what happens. Sorry, the silicone was a joke! I have no intention of using anything other than the correct gaskets, o-rings, copper washers etc I'm not overly concerned that the factory fitted anti rust system is being overzealous, as I said, I was just surprised to see that much oil after the car had been sitting a while. Perhaps it has built up over time and I have not noticed, I would have thought it would slosh out driving on rough roads etc though. |
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10th Nov 2023 11:39am |
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| donmacn Member Since: 06 Nov 2017 Location: Nth Scotland Posts: 1845
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Fair play Tom. My apologies, I was going to say that I wasn't trying to teach granny to suck eggs, but then I realised that was probably ageist and overly gender specific for this stage in the 21st century.
It does sound like you've a fair idea what's going on, and know the history. I hope that whenever you do take it off, it all goes without a hitch. It's theoretically possible..! Ref the oil being displaced by rough roads etc... Years ago I had a 5p piece sitting on the NAS step at the rear crossmember. The kids and I played a game to see how long it would stay there. It ended up being months and months, on rough and smooth road. In the end I suspect it was lifted off the step rather than falling off (though why you'd nick 5p these days is beyond me). But more importantly, if you have been underneath the car, and aware of what's new and what's not, then it's probably something recent. If you're going to run the engine to warm the oil before doing the oil change, then it might be worth a good skoosh of brake cleaner around the whole area and wipe it all off just beforehand. Then you just might get a further pointer on the source of any leak. Interested to hear what you find when the time comes. Donald 1994 Defender 300Tdi 110 SW - owned since 2002 - 230k miles and going strong (The 'rolling restoration' or tinkering thread: http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic58538.html ) 2000 Range Rover P38 4.0L V8 in the past.. RR classic - fitted with 200Tdi 1984 RR classic - V8 with ZF auto box 1993 Discovery 300Tdi not to mention the minis and the Type 2 VW camper... |
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10th Nov 2023 4:33pm |
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| TomB8 Member Since: 17 Nov 2022 Location: West Sussex Posts: 115
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I was going to try and make a joke in response, but probably best not on a public forum!
It might sound like it but realistically I'm learning as I go. It's not rocket science, I'm sure I'll go bald from head scratching though. That is interesting. The ride feels quite rough at the back of mine. I haven't been able to see (because I'm focussing on driving), but I have visions of the dog in the back being left in mid air as I go a little too quick over those horrid new plastic speed bumps at Tesco. Got new springs to swap out that will hopefully help. Yeah, I'll give it a good clean before running the engine again and let you know what I find. |
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10th Nov 2023 10:08pm |
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