TD4 Oil leak

Today, for the first time in a month or so, I lifted the bonnet on my 04 reg Freelander TD4 with 51K miles on the clock. I was surprised to see signs of an oil leak. The oil is black so is unlikely to be spillage from the last service. Any suggestions welcome on where to start or whatever, I have checked all of the nearby hose connectors for tightness. Incidentally the engine seems to work fine.

Thanks

Lift your bonnet up before and after every journey if practical.

Clean it up, then start the engine and watch for any obvious signs of a leak.

Is your coolant ok?
Is there white gunk on the inside of the oil filler cap?

Looks pretty much like it's been blowing out from the EGR end of that inlet hose......

I would agree with Chaser. Take pipe off clean area and inspect pipe for cuts etc. I would have a look at the EGR valve if I were you and see if it is full of oily grit. If so than I would clean that.

When you put pipe back on screw it down tight to stop any leaks from the end of the pipe. Keep an eye on it.

Thanks for all the advice guys I have removed the rubber pipe which looks a bit suspect and ordered a replacement. My only concern now is that so much oil could be carried in fumes from the crankcase, is that normal? The car doesn't seem to use much oil and there is no evidence of head gasket problems. Is it perhaps a sign of gasses getting past the piston rings (bearing in mind that it's only done 51K miles and been regularly serviced) ? Perhaps I am being paranoid.

Thanks

Dorsetfreelander said:

Thanks for all the advice guys I have removed the rubber pipe which looks a bit suspect and ordered a replacement. My only concern now is that so much oil could be carried in fumes from the crankcase, is that normal? The car doesn't seem to use much oil and there is no evidence of head gasket problems. Is it perhaps a sign of gasses getting past the piston rings (bearing in mind that it's only done 51K miles and been regularly serviced) ? Perhaps I am being paranoid.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Did the regularly serviced routine include the replacement of the engine breather filter as well ??

Well the garage said they did change the crankcase filter!

"Today, for the first time in a month or so, I lifted the bonnet on my 04 reg Freelander TD4 "

Dann said:

"Today, for the first time in a month or so, I lifted the bonnet on my 04 reg Freelander TD4 "

Click to expand...

I suppose I am expecting too much of this technology, I had company cars for over 20 years, had them serviced regularly, never ever looked at the engines and never had problems with cars doing up to 40k miles a year. Now I am retired and on my own old habits die hard.

Check out this thread too http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/oil-around-joints-pipework-egr-81545.html I had the same problem. found it was overfilled by about 1 litre after main stealer service. Been a lot better since.

Dorsetfreelander said:

Thanks for all the advice guys I have removed the rubber pipe which looks a bit suspect and ordered a replacement. My only concern now is that so much oil could be carried in fumes from the crankcase, is that normal? The car doesn't seem to use much oil and there is no evidence of head gasket problems. Is it perhaps a sign of gasses getting past the piston rings (bearing in mind that it's only done 51K miles and been regularly serviced) ? Perhaps I am being paranoid.

Thanks

Click to expand...

All td4s have oil in the induction system, it's normal.......even in well maintained examples........like mine.

Dorsetfreelander said:

Today, for the first time in a month or so, I lifted the bonnet on my 04 reg Freelander TD4 with 51K miles on the clock. I was surprised to see signs of an oil leak. The oil is black so is unlikely to be spillage from the last service. Any suggestions welcome on where to start or whatever, I have checked all of the nearby hose connectors for tightness. Incidentally the engine seems to work fine.

Thanks

Click to expand...

Looks like from the EGR connecting pipes check for splits near the hose clamps.

tonyt37 said:

Check out this thread too http://www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/oil-around-joints-pipework-egr-81545.html I had the same problem. found it was overfilled by about 1 litre after main stealer service. Been a lot better since.

Click to expand...

Worth to check the oil level. (Know by experience that the 6.5 liters as mentioned in "the book" is about 1 liter too much). If garages just follow the book the car can very well be in an overfilled position.

willo said:

Worth to check the oil level. (Know by experience that the 6.5 liters as mentioned in "the book" is about 1 liter too much). If garages just follow the book the car can very well be in an overfilled position.

Click to expand...

I always ask them to put in 5 litres the balance i will just top it up myself as they always overfill.

I think that as Chaser says, your new pipe will cure it, they often get weak around the 5 years old. I'm not too sure if it;s just a moulding mark on the plastic inlet manifold in your second photo, but once you've fitted your new pipe & cleaned everything up keep an eye on it.

going by the pics, I would hazard a guess at the short elbow intercooler hose being split / damaged. Also, it looks like the jubilee clip nearest the egr is a little too near the end of the hose, about 5mm back would be better, as it would sit tight up against the ridge in the egr moulding.

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!!!!

Just to say that on my recently acquired TD4 I have a leak under the inlet manifold, so did what I have always done, and put it off for a few weeks (not been using the car, so not a bad thing). As there was no puddle of oil underneath I decided it wasn't a 'big' leak, or anything with liquid oil, so it was likely to be a vapour issue.....

.... but it was all too horrible to see what was happening, so a good squirt of degreaser and spray of water left me with a (still grotty, but far better) area to examine. First thing I noticed was the vacuum pipe off the EGR valve - and as it was plugged with a bolt it was clearly removed intentionally. So, I stripped the whole inlet system off (2 of the orange rubber gasket things were damaged, so it was worth doing) for a good clean. The EGR valve was carbonated (is that a word??) shut, and there was no gasket between it and the manifold.

Pretty sure that this is the cause of the leak/mess but rain stopped play today.

I intend to clean up the EGR valve, but not necessarily replace it at this stage..... can anyone tell me what level of vacuum needs to be applied to see it open? (I have yet to try it, but a non-calibrated suck through a length of vacuum hose would be my first approach.)

As the car was purchased solely for a 'banger run' to The Gambia, where it will be sold off for charity, I don't want to spend a fortune on parts - but still want it to get me there, and be worth something when it arrives......

......so.......

...... can I use 'instant gasket' to refit the EGR?
is a cheap EGR any good?
should I just delete it?

Obviously, I shall address the things that may cause the issue as well (breather filter etc), give it an oil change, and filters etc etc, so this post is purely to try to understand the EGR issue........

.....oh, and to thank the OP for recording the issue - and to highlight the fact that the search function works, and I didn't start a new thread for an identical issue .

The VAC pump will pull about 21" Hg, so something close to that will open the EGR valve.

Hmmm - more than I can generate with my lungs then!...... I'll have to see what i can find in the garage (not sure my medical suction pump can do that sort of numbers either!).