Freelander 1 Engine oil leak

Hi guys,

I bought an used Freelander Kalahari 2.0TD4 from 2003 just a few days ago. Everything was looking fine when I went to test-drive it but I did not really pay attention to oil leaks after I started the engine (I just visually inspected it before the engine was started).

There is a lot of oil on the driveway but it seems that if I stop the engine for 1-2 hours and remove the oil from (oil bath? - see picture) - the oil seems to stop leaking... so I guess something happens only when I drive the car and keeps leaking for about 2 hours after I stop it.

Is this a common problem with this model? I don't even know what to look for and I have to wait about 2 weeks for the service appointment.

Oil doesn't seem to have antifreeze in it, so it might not be the head gasket... what other suspects can there be?



Thanks,
Bogdan

If that is a picture of the actual engine. Then it's pretty obvious to me that the crank oil seal has failed. This would stop leaking, once the engine has stopped.
Where's the underbelly guard? It's obviously missing, unless you removed it to take the picture.

Hi Nodge68,

Thanks for your answer! I bought the car without the underbelly guard.

I'd have to agree that looks like a rear crank seal is leaking. Whats the clutch feel like there will be oil getting onto the plates soon if not already.

Hi chris-the-gerbil,

It's an automatic gearbox. The car acts normally, just the oil spots on the driveway. Not sure how bad "rear crank seal" leaking is... but sounds like I would not need to replace the engine... or do I? :-s

I've never had the pleasure of trying it on a TD4 but you will have to split the box off and the torque convertor and then you can get at the rear seal.. The part is cheap enough it's just a lot of hassle to get to it - I'm not sure if you can do it in car or if you will have to drop the box out I'm sure others can comment.

Unless the seal leak is symptomatic of a bigger problem then you wont have to replace the engine.

Hang on - reading this. you say service apt? Was this a private sale or from a dealer/2nd hand car place? If it's one of those then you need to take it back show them the fault and they will have to fix it -it's not down to you in those circumstances.

It was a private sale. I'm not from UK, I just don't have any forum support here (in Romania) so I asked on this one. Here the law does not enforce any dealer to repair and it's only my fault I did not pay a closer look at the car. Now it's obvious the car was "fixed/prepared" for sale.

I just hope the repair cost won't go over the car price (around 2000GBP).

Ah OK. I'm just back from a trip to Romania - you have an ideal car for the countryside there

Seal itself by the way isn't much - about £10/50 Lei

http://www.paddockspares.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=LUF100540L

Thank you! I found the part at a local dealer (using the part code from your link). Now I just have to wait for the service appointment and hope is just a faulty seal. The "ideal car for countryside" doesn't really meet my budget and picking a 2nd hand is a lottery (just like this one) - and I really like LR more - if we were talking about Duster.

Hope you had a nice experience on your trip here!

The seal itself is very easy to change. However getting to the seal is a different matter. The gearbox needs removing, along with the torque converter. The two can remain together while the box is off. You'll need to get the IRD off first. This means the front suspension needs removing, so the drive shafts can be pulled from the IRD/ gearbox.

Of course, if you aren't worried about topping the engine oil up every few days. Then you can just drive it as it is. There's no clutch to get damaged, so leaving it leaking, isn't the end of the world, although it will slowly pollute it!

Thank you guys very much!

"There's no clutch to get damaged, so leaving it leaking, isn't the end of the world, although it will slowly pollute it!" - this made me feel so much better. I will leave it home until I get it fixed but is good to know that is not an imminent danger (for any other part) to drive it (as I already used it for about 600 miles).

Nodge68 said:

This means the front suspension needs removing

Click to expand...

I'm not sure on the LH side, I presume its the same, but on the RH side you don't need to "remove" the suspension, just undo the 2 bolts holding the hub to the strut and rotate the hub away from the car - that gives enough play on the shaft to remove it from the IRD.

GrumpyGel said:

I'm not sure on the LH side, I presume its the same, but on the RH side you don't need to "remove" the suspension, just undo the 2 bolts holding the hub to the strut and rotate the hub away from the car - that gives enough play on the shaft to remove it from the IRD.

Click to expand...

No, you are correct . The RHS suspension doesn't need comletely removing. The hub just needs to be swung out the way, far enough to pop the driveshaft out the box. Popping the lower ball joint and track rod end is all that's needed. It's best to get the LHS out the way completely though, for added space.