Oil leak, or maybe not??

[freemander]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a 2007 3.2ltr Freelander 2 HSE. After purchase, I took it to my mechanic (non Land Rover) for a once over. Apart from needing a good service, he gave it the OK apart from a few issues. He told me that when he took off the oil filter, it fell apart in his hands which he felt that the previous owners mechanic may not have changed the oil filter for some time, something the owner was not aware of. He told me at the time of service, the engine was free of oil leaks.

Upon getting it home and leaving it in the garage over night, the next evening I noticed a couple of drops of oil on the garage floor to what seemed like coming from the left side front. I returned the car back to the mechanic who had a brief look and felt that perhaps the cause was the oil was a little overfull. He removed some oil and assured me that everything was fine when he serviced the vehicle and that removing a small amount of oil should solve the problem. I bought the car home, pulled off the protector plate below the engine and the inner front passenger guard which reviled some spillage of oil what looked like coming from the below area of the alternator. I gave everything a good clean with degreaser then took it for a good drive (approx 300klms) and everything appeared to be ok. For 2 days, the car has sat in the garage and not started however it appears that the leak may still be there. There are no drops of oil on the floor however if you look in the engine bay between the battery box and below the alternator, I can see a small pool of oil forming. Has anyone got any idea's of what's around that area and were the leak may be coming from??

The car has only done 130,000klms.

[freemander]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a 2007 3.2ltr Freelander 2 HSE. After purchase, I took it to my mechanic (non Land Rover) for a once over. Apart from needing a good service, he gave it the OK apart from a few issues. He told me that when he took off the oil filter, it fell apart in his hands which he felt that the previous owners mechanic may not have changed the oil filter for some time, something the owner was not aware of. He told me at the time of service, the engine was free of oil leaks.

Upon getting it home and leaving it in the garage over night, the next evening I noticed a couple of drops of oil on the garage floor to what seemed like coming from the left side front. I returned the car back to the mechanic who had a brief look and felt that perhaps the cause was the oil was a little overfull. He removed some oil and assured me that everything was fine when he serviced the vehicle and that removing a small amount of oil should solve the problem. I bought the car home, pulled off the protector plate below the engine and the inner front passenger guard which reviled some spillage of oil what looked like coming from the below area of the alternator. I gave everything a good clean with degreaser then took it for a good drive (approx 300klms) and everything appeared to be ok. For 2 days, the car has sat in the garage and not started however it appears that the leak may still be there. There are no drops of oil on the floor however if you look in the engine bay between the battery box and below the alternator, I can see a small pool of oil forming. Has anyone got any idea's of what's around that area and were the leak may be coming from??

The car has only done 130,000klms.


Hi all,

Just a quick update, to what I thought was the alternator is actually the power steering pump, and looks like oil could be coming from around that area. The mechanic only had a brief look however could not obtain any leaks from the area, but is defiantly power steering fluid. It may be as simple as a replacement hose.

Anybody else have any problems from around the power steering pump area??

[fonfe]

Hi all,

Just a quick update, to what I thought was the alternator is actually the power steering pump, and looks like oil could be coming from around that area. The mechanic only had a brief look however could not obtain any leaks from the area, but is defiantly power steering fluid. It may be as simple as a replacement hose.

Anybody else have any problems from around the power steering pump area??

I'm not trying to be harsh but if your mechanic has overfilled your engine with oil and failed to notice this BEFORE giving you your vehicle I wouldn't be using him. If I let a vehicle leave the workshop overfilled with oil and it was picked up on the workshop foreman's quality check I would get a written warning straight up. Overfilling an engine with oil causes more damage than it being below the min mark on the dipstick. I do work for a LR dealer mind and that's why they are so strict but I honestly feel their strictness is justified.
If I have a vehicle in and the owner complains of an oil leak I degrease the entire engine bay, check the oil level and run the vehicle for 10mins minimum. If no oil leak is seen after 10mins the vehicle is run for an hour whilst I bring in my next job. I check it every 5 mins to ensure nothing is going wrong. If a leak still isn't present then its road tested and rechecked. If a leak is still not found then quite simply there isn't a leak and its been split oil from filling or from a previous oil leak that wasn't cleaned up correctly after the repair.
This is what you should be getting your mechanic to do.