flyingmossman

I am using 15w-40 oil and was planning on dropping that for the winter months (suggestions?). I will definitely have a go with the swapping wires and/or sender today! thanks again!

Snag, thank you. I will have a look today and provide an update. I am leaving for work for the week out of town and Grover will be in the garage at our shop for the time being. When I get back I will take a few bits apart while I have a nice dry indoor location. I think mainly, the oil temp is up is when my rpm is high ie. highway driving. I try not to go above 55mph ever and even that is a bit stressful on the box and rpms. Good suggestion with the oil cooler. Would it make sense to flush the oil cooler before just omitting and blanking? Coolant temp, again, never gets above 50% really ever. Which tells me the thermostat opens to control that. The oil temp gauge sits at 75% or higher once "warmed up." and that is traveling for maybe 15 minutes at avg. speed around 50 mph give or take. I am waiting on a rear diff gasket so I can work on adjusting the pinions for back lash as I have noticed the rear diff case is pretty hot to the touch after driving in the conditions stated above.

I will keep posting to the thread with updates! thank you for all the input! most of the tests you mention above, I have implemented. I flushed the coolant system well and replaced fluids. the old coolant was gross! the new green stuff is working well and as I check routinely for levels, I haven't noticed any loss of coolant or discoloration. As I mentioned before, the coolant temp is actually spot on which leads me to believe the thermostat is operating correctly and opening at the right temp. the Oil cooler though is another story! and I haven't gotten to that yet haha. my plan is to drop the oil, take off sump seal, and replace. Take off oil filter housing and check oil temp thermostat to see if that (my inkling of the culprit) in fact does open. once the oil is dropped I will flush the oil cooler and pipes and give that a good clean in diesel. I am having a gear head client of mine to work with me on checking the rear differential. He was a volvo, porsche, and LR mechanic for many years here in the states. The prop shafts have been greased regularly by me since ownership (February acquisition) and there is no play in the U joints if at all.

been a long time, A small amount has happened since: I can start with fuel pipes. I had noticed, shortly after tightening the unions at the injectors, a drip, drip,drip that progressed to quite a bit more than that. I overtightened them (a costly lesson learned) -All four pipes were replaced and seated nicely with no leaks. I have bought a timing tool kit but haven't the balls to crack that open yet. I will get there as I think the timing is out. Second, is the oil leaks. -The sump seal is still my main culprit for leaks but has now just got to the point where I have to add small amounts of oil to keep it topped up to N on the dip. I have a new gasket for that and will change that out when I switch to a lower viscous oil for winter. -The leak at the gearbox/transfer box area is still a concern. I think it may be the o ring in between the two, and that is something I have no idea where to start. so I keep atf with me but really don't need to fill quite that often. Checked often though. And the gear box oil seems to stay at its proper level. Third issue: Thermostat? -The truck coolant level temperature always stays around mid point. But the oil temp gauge is always on the 3/4 range or higher (at highway speeds) when the engine is "warmed up." Writing this out, is making me rethink everything entirely. If the water temp is spot on at 1/2 or 50%, what is causing the oil temp to be so high? Not the coolant system, unless the sender unit is out of whack or the coolant temp gauge is whacked. I have an oil cooler in front of the radiator and the hoses have small leaks around the clips, but maybe I will have to dig deeper. Lastly is the rear axle (in general) It is pretty clunky, with plenty of backlash. when rotating the tires, I noticed a bit of play on the flange and splines of the rear shafts. I couldn't tell if it was spline wear or flange but wanted to get an opinion on whether new shafts would be a good go. and Ive looked into the terrafirma HD flanges etc. As well as, maybe, new diff setup. When I changed the diff oils there were no shards of metal, very small shavings and bits but no chunks or teeth. -P.S. When warmed up the engine has a bit of blow by, which I am guessing a head gasket is the culprit there. The breather return and intake were not too, too oiled up but a small bit of residue, which I have since cleaned out and am monitoring, was present. I am waiting on a genuine head gasket kit but it has been months and months (covid and all). So who knows with that one. I would like to be able to do that myself. -Grover

good to hear! I also have a feeling more so now that the oil sump is a leaky culprit, but certainly I will check the unions. At least at the injectors they are dry I know that. I will have to have a real close look. I haven't ever loosened or tightened any of the unions at the pump. Another question I have is about the bleed valve on the pump. Pretty sure the order of operation is loosen lower lock nut then loosen upper. Please tell me if that is incorrect. I bled the system and it seems to be free of air. I will also get a few pictures of transfer box and gearbox. T box (LT77) is leaking to a point of seven pumps of atf from the jug every tank of fuel. Hoping to drop fluid and put a new seal on the plate an hope that solves that!

thanks for the response! I will upload some pictures later today to show where I can find oil and/or diesel. It is a beautiful day out finally so I will have some time to snoop around.

Hello all, This is my first post on here and I am a true green horn in the LR world. I bought a 1987 tithonus defender 110 hard top past february. 160k km on the clock. I am not sure of any previous history, whether maintenance, or import, or military wise. I am looking to getting, at least, the military history. to date I have replaced the glow plugs, battery, I have serviced the engine oil, filter, and fuel pump filter. replaced the rocker cover gasket (which was horribly leaky and which the bolts were finger tight.) I have coolant to replace and drop the current rad fluid (which seems to be mostly water(?). I would like to drop diff oils and more importantly transfer box and gearbox oils as I am having trouble finding the correct fluids here. I know the LT77 calls for atf dexron II but i can only find III and up. I have replaced all door seals front and rear and have seals for the windscreen (cracked and leaky) and the bulkhead to windscreen seal. It is too cold here to strip the truck down outside yet My main question today is about an oil leak near the oil filter housing/pump. part ETC5347. I am not certain this is the culprit but I see some signs as read on other posts. ie. oil leaking near oil pressure sensor and onto filter seal and down to the bottom of the filter. Dripping then onto the prop shaft. I have also found diesel leaking from the left or engine side of the fuel pump (lucas cav). These two leaks are priority number one right now. I am also leaking fluid from the transfer box/gearbox area and I would like to drop and get new gaskets installed along with fluids. The clutch seems good once I adjusted the bolt from the pushrod in the clutch box. It was backed all the way out and the pedal was very sloppy. There is a bit of backlash, but OK for now. Once I get oil leaks in engine fixed then I can tackle axle etc. Any help on ANY of these topics would be great but most important for me right now is the oil leak near the oil pump filter area.