Oil leak from head gasket

My 1993 spanish spec 200 tdi (Spanish spec) started to leak a VERY small amount of oil from the head gasket, the leak is on the exhaust side of the engine towards the front, the oil comes out just below the forwardmost bolt holding the exhaust manifold. I decided to change the gasket, having done so the oil is now leaking from the gasket join directly opposite on the other side of the head, any ideas? During strip down I put a straight edge on the head and block with no sign of distortion, the engine had no loss of compression and in fact when loosening the head despite the engine having cooled for over two hours there was still compression in number 1 bore right next to oil leak! The engine never lossed coolant and has run very well since I have owned it. The head bolts were torqued and angular gauge was used. Threads lightly oiled, threaded holes cleaned out, thread perch checked. Although the leak persists the engine runs perfectly. The head gasket I took off was a 1 piece affair as opposed to the replacement from Land Rover (Spain) which was a 3 sheet gasket, both were 2 'hole' thicknesses.

Has anyone ever seen this before, I have been in the motor trade many years and find it hard to believe there could be distortion in the last half an inch of the cylinder head. I have thought about the oil pressure valve being stuck so will get a gauge on it and check this week in the meantime please offer suggestions as you feel fit.

Thanks in advance
Dave

Are you noticing the oil leak in your oil level?

I have a tiny oil leak at the back of my sump, had it for a while and I'm not loosing any significant amount of oil so I'm not gonna worry about it untill it starts getting worse, and there are no signs of that atm.

Not really showing as a loss as it is a very small leak, I have a thing about leaks whether it is oil, water or whatever. If I had known that the Discovery was going to leak in a different place every time I started it I might not have bought it!

Today I bought an electric oil pressure gauge and fitted it and noticed I had very little oil pressure which showed half a bar at high revs, now that cannot be right I thinks to myself and then check the sensor which turned out to be a 0 - 6 bar and the gauge is 0 - 8 bar, so I have to wait until Wednesday to get the right sensor and a decent reading.

Give me an oil fashioned mechanical gauge anyday.

regards

Dave

I've never changed a head gasket for and would'nt just for an external oil leak!

Leaks are like "moles" there come's a time when you just have to except defeat

I will sort this out without fail, the quest for a leak free Discovery moves onward!!

regards

Dave

Update, the oil pressure is fine 2 Bar at idle hot, 4 Bar at speed. So the head will be off again before the weekend.

regards

Dave

im tha same , i dont believe the old expression 'they all do that' , they dont.
are you sure its not coming from somewhere else? hot oil has a habit of running down nooks and crannys and coming out everywhere except where the leak is..

The only thing above the head gasket is the rocker cover and thats fine.

Its interesting that it was leaking on the left front and now on the right front, I have to assume some warping along the front edge of the head, strange that the water jacket and bore compression is fine.

Anyway, all off tommorow and down the the machine shop.

regards

Dave

Great, I take of the 'new' head gasket only to find that it (the gasket) has been assembled wrong! It is a three part gasket and the centre 'shim' is out of alignment at you guessed it the oil feed hole!! Took it back to Land Rover only to have it pointed out to me that it was assembled in England, anyway mi amigo is going to sort a refund as the machine shop is supplying an old style single piece one, they also confirmed that the head appears 'within tolerance' I hate that term but I still insisted on a skim, anyway it is all back together bar a couple of pipes and thermostat housing so a day on the beach tommorow should see me finish the job Monday.

I will keep you informed.

regards

Dave

Update:

The Land Rover dealer gave me a refund no problem, had the head minimum skimmed and new bolts and 'old' style gasket and it is perfect! BTW shhhh.....saying this very quietly my Disco has no leaks anywhere!

Right, I am driving through France to the UK next week to get some lockers fitted both front and rear and pick up all the goodies waiting for me, thanks to all who have helped with this thread.

kindest regards

Dave