Discovery 1 3.9 V8 oil leaks

[jetmorgan]

Well my Discovery will be going into the garage tomorrow for a look at the blowing exhaust and seeing what needs to be fixed, I have soot deposits at the join between the centre box and the catalytic convertor and I'm just hoping it's not a new cat section that is needed as the centre section was only replaced last year. The engine misfiring has now been sorted out, corroded HT lead and dampness in the distributor cap so they and the spark plugs have all been replaced. 

But I have an oil leak on the engine, in fact I completely ran out of oil at some point and it had been running on nothing for god knows how long. I had the engine flushed out completely and new oil with filters. But I have a leak that seems to be somewhere at the front of the engine, and at the top as it's oily at the very front of the engine and nowhere else. I have noticed the gasket under the rocker covers are damp with oil so I'm guessing that this might be the problem so at some point I will get the gaskets changed but while I'm getting that done are there any other common oil leak areas on the 3.9 V8i ??? so I can get them done at the same time. I have no idea if the garage took the sump off and replaced the gasket there during the oil flush as there is no mention on the bill about a replacement sump gasket.

Car is a 1998 Discovery1 V8i ES......and still lots more jobs to get done before the next MOT comes up in December

 

[teabag]

Looks like the inlet valley rubber seal is leaking, so clean the oil off and remove the distributor cap to get better access to the seals clamping screw (u can see the clamp in the photo) and tighten it, it may be as simple as that to stop it leaking. Although you wouldn’t loose the 6 and bit litres of engine oil from that area. And tighten the rocker cover screws also at the same time.

just undo the two nuts at the exhaust joint, part it wth a screw driver and squeeze exhaust seal into the gap and do up the nuts, simples.

Edited August 27, 2018 by teabag

[ballcock]

Common oil leaks on a V8 where do you start? If it is supposed to hold oil in, at some point it probably won't. 🙄

[FridgeFreezer]

As teabag says, valley gasket end seal is a classic. If tightening the clamp doesn't sort it you're taking the whole inlet manifold off which isn't technically difficult but is a big lump to remove and you can have a bolt snap (ask me how I know).

If you do that, buy the later composite gasket NOT the tin one. Rubber rocker cover gaskets are a load better than the cork ones too. Oh and you need the proper gunk to seal the plenum back on - it WILL suck regular "instant gasket" stuff out of the gap!