Thread: 300tdi Defender - Oil pouring out of front sump wading plug

Sounds like the oil seal from behind the timing belt pulley?

Tom.

Hi Tas,
that wading plug is in the front timing casing. Best not to drive the the car the toothed belt will be saturated in oil etc.

Possibly the fwd main seal, but you need to take the timing cover off for a look.

not too big a job, to take a look. good luck simmo

Thanks Tom and simmo.

This seems like a silly question, but I can't find any guides in the RAVE manual or online.
Does the viscous fan and crank pulley need to come off to get the timing cover off?
I haven't got the required tools for that, so thought I'd get before getting some.

Also, is it likely this is related to the head problems (and potentially block the way it'd looking) the engine has/is having?
Pretty close to just saying stuff this motor and look for another 300...

Yep the viscous fan and pully need to come off. Just had mine off to do the bearing. Had a fun time getting the nut off the crank pully. No joy with the rattle gun or my battery impact wrench. Ended up getting it with a socket and long bar with a ratchet strap tied to the end and pulling the long bar towards the brush rails . For a while I did not think it was ever coming off. 27mm socket and a spanner for the fan hub are all you need. Check the fan bearing while you are there. Seems unlikely that the oil leak would be head related but I am not aware of all the probs you have been having.

Yep, fan off (easy)
Crank pulley off, PAS pump off and swung away, timing cover off, and i'd replace the timing belt, tensioner and idler pulleys, new O ring behind the toothed pulley, (use the solid, Bearmach type, not the OE spot welded ear version) oil seal plus timing cover seal, timing cover gasket and can't recall if i've missed anything, it's been nearly eighteen months since I did one.

Hi guys,
Sorry to dig up my old thread, but it's taken this long to get time to do the job.
I'm half way through replacing everything in a timing belt kit and while it's been a pain the arse, things are progressing.
I was trying to get the oil seal out and noticed this bolt hole pictured appears to have been steered off?
Seems very rough for if it's meant to be this way.

Is this likely the cause of my timing case (massive) oil leak?

See pics here, thanks.
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Imgur: The most awesome images on the Internet

Looking at photo in the Haynes manual on page 2B 19.

That looks like a sump bolt hole that is normally blind? Someone used an over length bolt to secure the front of the sump and popped the metal? Or didn't clean the hole before putting the bolt back in?

Right next to this hole is the oil pressure relief valve unit.

Have the pressure relief channels and bolt hole been connected by the damage? Doesn't look like it from the pics, but hard to tell. I'm still thinking the oil seal.

And your sump cover looks partly detached. Is that how you found it? Or as a result of you removing the bolt from the hole in question?

Thanks workingonit. This is the first time I've had a good look around this part of the engine, but given some of the things I've found this isn't surprising.

You're definitely on the right track. I checked underneath and the sump bolt is in there. I don't think the sump cover is loose, there is a ton of gasket sealant that's been squeezed out in the picture. Perhaps overkill here was a factor in the snap off.

I couldn't see any damage that would connect the channels from the outside.

The timing cover is going back on as I type this, so assume I did my first timing job correctly, we should know the cause soon.