Oil at front of R380 casing. Where to look for leak?

[gadget]

I've been under the TD5 today replacing the the axle and transfer box oils.

Whilst under I noticed that the rear of the R380 casing was damp and had a droplet of oil hanging from it. I couldn't see anything obvious, and light was fading and it was getting chillier so i left it for now.

Any pointers as to where to be looking for the leak?

[FridgeFreezer]

First thing is the taste-test: if it's MTF94 then it's a gearbox leak, if it's EP90 it's the transfer box.

[simonr]

Unfortunately, the most likely place for the leak is the interface between the Gear & transfer boxes. There is an oil seal on both sides and one one fails, the oil leaks out the middle.

Not a difficult job - but it is time consuming. Make sure you use genuine seals - and fit them correctly!

Si

[gadget]

I'm hoping to get it over the pit again shortly and see if I can spot anything and try to identify the oil.

It's quite typical though. I go and book the ferry crossings for a bit of an overland jolly later in the year and the bloody thing decides to leak.

[gadget]

Got under it again today before the light faded.

Remember what I said about it being between the transfer box and the R380? Well completely ignore that.

It was a long day, cold, going dark [add as many excuses as you see fit here]...

The wet patch and oil droplet is on the rear of the bell housing where it meets the front of the R380.

There's no obvious leak anywhere about it, but it was wet again and had a droplet hanging from the flat area surrounding the threaded hole at the base.

I've removed the wading plug, expecting to find oil in there, but no.

I took the filler plug out of the R380 expecting the find the level down, but it dribbled out of the filler as usual.

I've changed the oil in the R380 as it was the next thing on my list of stuff to do, and that looked fine too.

So, no loss of oil from either box or axles and yet i have oil which appears to be golden in colour on the bell housing rear mating face. *shrug*

I have the seemingly unstoppable seep from the rear of the rocker cover that's soaked the useless sponge thing at the rear of the engine. That effortlessly glazes the front of the bell housing in a soft, thin blanket of carbon black as it always has.

Could the wind be picking this up and depositing it on the rear of the bell housing? It would be odd that it had managed to dump the carbon along the way though?

[gadget]

I think i've found where the leak is, but i'm still at a loss as to which bit of the gearbox is leaking.

Here's the location:

The arrow shows where the leak emanates from the joint:

Any clues?

[Tanuki]

I have the seemingly unstoppable seep from the rear of the rocker cover that's soaked the useless sponge thing at the rear of the engine. That effortlessly glazes the front of the bell housing in a soft, thin blanket of carbon black as it always has.

That hints at the failure of the O-ring on the plastic plug that closes the camshaft-installation hole in the rear of the head.

My Defender 90TD5 did the same at about 80,000 miles.

See http://www.discovery2.co.uk/camshaft_seal.html for details of someone else who's had the same problem.

[gadget]

There's a plastic plug on the rear of the head?

That would be a bugger to get to as there's very little room between the rear of the head and the bulkhead, not to mention the stupid foam/plastic thing that's bolted across the head there too.

[Wingnut]

That hints at the failure of the O-ring on the plastic plug that closes the camshaft-installation hole in the rear of the head.

My Defender 90TD5 did the same at about 80,000 miles.

See http://www.discovery2.co.uk/camshaft_seal.html for details of someone else who's had the same problem.

That plug is at the front of the head - I've had one fall out aswell.

Peter.