P38A Rear Main Oil Seal.

Hi guys ,
I just thought I’d post a pleasant discovery. I suspected my rear main oil seal had failed as I was using quite a lot of oil, anyway I took it to my local independent Land Rover specialist and they suggested that I check the sump gasket before I did anything else. So yesterday I removed the sump and discovered a piece of rubber flashing from the gasket between the back of the cylinder block and the plate holding the rear main was almost certainly preventing the sump seating properly, I cut it off and put it back together and filled it with 10W/40 semi synthetic (because I had nothing else), anyway on the test drive fuel economy already over 13.5 mpg, if all is good she’s getting some 5W/40 next change.

Well done Nice result and far cheaper

Assuming V8 sounds like the cruciform seals hadn't been trimmed.
They're supposed to stick out whilst fitting but be trimmed after the cap bolts have been torqued up.

Ratae said:

Assuming V8 sounds like the cruciform seals hadn't been trimmed.
They're supposed to stick out whilst fitting but be trimmed after the cap bolts have been torqued up.

Click to expand...

Yes, I would say that's exactly what happened. So would you suppose when originally manufactured or the car had the rear main replaced? I've got to say the torque settings on the sump were all over the place, some of the bolts had thread lock on others didn't.

Impossible to say unless you know the full history of the car.

IME on my own RRC if not cleaned & a little threadlock applied the sump bolts tightness can be all over the place.
Whether they vibrate loose or the gasket crushes due to the spring washers I can't say, but when bolt & hole are cleaned & threadlocked I've had no further sump leaks (yet! )