Thread: Rear Main Seal, Auto & Body off work.

Low Ks for a MY2014, any warranty chance?

Apart from the actual issue and cost if it isn't covered by warranty, don't be too concerned about the body off bit - if you ever take a look in a dealers workshop you will always see a few Disco 4's and RRS's with their bodies off - the work shops do it every day, so nothing to be worried about there - they seem to whip the bodies off for all sorts of things - alternators, etc - makes working on the car a snap. I think it is a very good design, although if you were swinging the spanners yourself it does require the investment of a hoist (which isn't a bad thing)

I thought mine had a rear main leak a couple of years ago. It was diagnosed by my indie and I posted here about it at some stage.


I just let it go and I started to get a lot more oil on the bottom of the car and the ground. We then found that it wasn't the rear main, it was an ORing on the oil removal tube that is in the bottom of the sump next to the drain plug.


They replaced the ORing a couple of times and tried to use bigger ORings, but it still leaked and after a 14,000km trip in May there was a lot of oil leaking. We then installed the bottom half of a new tube (body off to get the whole tube in so we didn't do that and the part costs around $450) only to find it was leaking even more.


I took it straight back and after doing more diagnostics and cleaning up it became obvious that the oil was actually leaking out of the drain plug and running onto the suction tube so it appeared to be coming from the ORing. We found that the thread in the sump was stripped so the drain plug wouldn't hold oil. This was despite the only mechanics to work on the car since 2013 being Rovertech, who never undo the sump to drain the oil and instead use the suction tube.


There is almost no clearance to the chassis behind the plug to work on this but the mechanic managed to fix it with a lot of ingenuity. No more engine leaks at all and I still haven't replaced the rear main after 230,000km.


Based on this I suggest a very close look at your drain plug and oil suction tube before blaming the rear main. I think that removing the drain plug from the alloy sump when it hasn't been removed for a long time can easily rip out the thread, so if it is put back without properly fixing it you get what I did, with a serious mystery oil leak. Luckily the plug didn't come out!

Originally Posted by Nicky

Low Ks for a MY2014, any warranty chance?

Yes Nicky, all covered under warranty. Still under standard 3yr, with 2yr extended as well.

Originally Posted by Homestar

... I think it is a very good design, although if you were swinging the spanners yourself it does require the investment of a hoist (which isn't a bad thing)

Homestar, I'm not worried, as long as they put it back together properly. No squeaks or rattles will be tolerated. Like you I think it is a very clever design. Fortunately I have a hoist should the need arise once out of warranty; but so glad on this occasion it will be done by LR Techs and covered by warranty.

Originally Posted by BobD

I thought mine had a rear main leak a couple of years ago. It was diagnosed by my indie and I posted here about it at some stage.


I just let it go and I started to get a lot more oil on the bottom of the car and the ground. We then found that it wasn't the rear main....

No more engine leaks at all and I still haven't replaced the rear main after 230,000km.

Thanks BobD, That's the sort of info I'm after. It is only a very small leak so I'm not going to rush into the suggested repair yet. going to put it up on the hoist again and investigate myself a little further. Hoping to see more with an inspection camera, if I can get into the bell housing somehow.

I don't believe there is a steel pan option available for the 8 speed auto. I am having the fluid changed only on mine this week (75,000km).

Chris

Really Chris? That sticky on A/T FAQ's is that long I forgot most of it is regarding the 6spd.