Thread: Disco TD5 - Raising Oil level - Any ideas?

The oil level on the dipstick changes significantly in the TD5 with nose of the car pointing slightly up or down. 5mm doesn't take a lot of angle change on the engine.

Slunnie,

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, this height change on the dipstick is when measured cold, on a level surface with no load in the car - thus eliminating external influances. Also thought that as the oil gets hot it may expand and raise the level, therefore always measured when cold and parked in the same (level) spot on the driveway......

any more ideas??

Auke

ummmmm... potentially bad news...

if the oil isnt changing colour (ie not going to porridge from water mixing in from a leaky oil cooler) then you have diesel entering the oil from a leaky injector seal in the head....

continued driving under this condition has the potential for a runaway if excessive diesel in the oil occours but you are risking other internal engine damage prior to that becoming realistically possable.

check the viscosity of the ooil and smell it, if it smells like dieso stop driving it or minimise driving untill you get the injector seals sorted.

I wouldn't dismiss coolant entirely, I know of 2 (admittedly larger) diesel engines in forklifts where the oil level was raised by water in the sump yet it was not milky, the water was still on the bottom..

that'd be easy to eliminate, crack the drain bung hold it in place with one finger and unwind it till its dripping something out, if its raising the oil level enough to cause suspicion it should drain water first, just like a big ole fuel water seperator.

I have heard of the deso leaking into the oil. Thought it only happened when the head was cracked.

There are a couple of things to do with leaking injectors.
LR released a checklist recently that involves checking pressures & modifying a valve(?) at the filter area. I'm not at work for a while so I can't get the exact details.

If that fails, it is possible to run the engine with the cam cover removed to see what is going on. After cleaning everything, you can often see which injector seal is leaking. Often replacing the seal(s) will fix the problem but in problem cars, a different spec injector is available.

Do you know if your Disco is still under warranty?
If not, did you buy it within the warranty period?


There have been cases of porous/cracked heads but that's the last thing you want to hear.

If you get the oil analysed, it will reveal whether it has abnormal diesel or coolant in it, and more.

http://www.e-monitor.com.au/