Thread: RR SDV8 Oil cooler leaking - To drive or not to drive ?

Engine revs won't have any effect on the leak and the burnt smell will be from oil gettng onto the cross-over pipe. As there is already oil in the coolant the cooling system will have to be flushed so a little more oil won't be significant.
The leak will be from gaskets and from a pair of o-rings on the turbo oil feed pipe that connects into the back of the oil cooler. Have a good 10-hour return trip!

Get your mechanic to fit Viton o-rings instead of replacing the whole pipe as LR don't supply the o-rings seperately.

The o-ring size is BS611. 2 in Viton (75) are required.
The cooler gaskets can be replaced but if paying a mechanic then it's likely cheaper to fit a new cooler rather than spend the time removing the caked-on gaskets.

Thanks Graeme, I was thinking it should be ok, but always great to hear other experienced opinions.

One other thing, I have got the car back. Had a quick look and can get to a few of the bolts that are around the oil cooler coolant cavity from the top with a small socket with extension bar. Do you think there would be any benefit in nipping the bolts up an 1/8 of a turn to slow the leak ?

Possibly worth a try if you could get to them all, but if your coolant bottle isn't black with oil then there's not much of a leak. I changed mine's gaskets before any oil contamination but more often than not the coolant is well and truly contaminated before the work gets done.

So I did tighten some of the bolts , but they are all tight - don't think it will make a difference. I also re checked the coolant bottle cold, and its black with oil maybe 2 or 3mm thick floating . Definitely contaminated.

Going to suck out as much as I can from the top , run for a while with the cap open , and suck more out as it gathers on top.

It might pay you to source those o rings yourself, then hand them to the mechanic.....

Yes, planning to find the o - rings and get changed at the same time .


Just an update to close this thread. I ran the car on and off for about an hour with the radiator cap off . Over a period of that hour , using a sump pump , I sucked out about 250ml of engine oil out of the coolant tank.

I did my 10 hour trip and the RR did not miss a beat , whilst I did notice the engine oil level slightly drop. So back home again and car going in for a new oil cooler to be installed . Thanks everyone for your help and advice

Originally Posted by Pedro_The_Swift

It might pay you to source those o rings yourself, then hand them to the mechanic.....

They have been change twice on my car. O rings from bearing supplies about 66 cents each, not expensive. Common leak ,

I have a L494 SDV8 with a leak that appears to be around the famous O rings. My question is what is the rough cost to resolve with new cooler etc ? Just trying to gauge the trustworthiness of the local specialist ?