Hi there,

I did an oil and filter change on our 2009 Freelander 2 TD4 HSE last weekend. Whilst I had the sump guard off, I noticed quite a lot of oil on the underside of the engine / transmission interface (basically, the area where the transmission joins the engine).

I'd be grateful if someone can take a look at the photos I took, to see if this is something I need to worry about.

The vehicle is driving fine, and isn't using any oil whatsoever. It's only done about 58000 miles, mostly around town.

Are there any known failures of gaskets in this area, that might cause this sort of oil leak?

Many thanks,

Marcus

It could be a leak from the engine crankshaft rear seal, but its difficult to tell.
What I would do is give that area a real good clean to remove all traces of dirt and oil and then monitor it over a few days to see if anything reappears?, it might be nothing, just oil spilt when doing a service and there is no leak or it might be running around to that area from somewhere up above finding its way to the lowest point??.

Watching with interest as I have exactly the same symptoms.

Definitely a leak on my car as I cleaned up the affected area, and after a couple of days a small drip reappeared.

Would be interested to hear the opinions of others; the car is going in for a major service in September and it would be good to get this fixed at the same time.

Thanks for the suggestion about giving the area a clean. Why didn't I think of that?

Funnily enough, it does look like someone got sloppy when changing the oil in the past, as there is quite a lot of oil in the area just under where the oil filter lives. As I took the old filter off, I can understand how this could happen.

Prior to my work on it last weekend, it had only ever been touched by LR dealers.

Will let you know how I get on, but it wont be for a week or so, because I'm off on holiday.

Cheers!

choccymonster wrote:

Watching with interest as I have exactly the same symptoms.

Definitely a leak on my car as I cleaned up the affected area, and after a couple of days a small drip reappeared.

Would be interested to hear the opinions of others; the car is going in for a major service in September and it would be good to get this fixed at the same time.

I have a small leak from exactly the same area. Previous post is correct-expect a bill around £1000 at a main dealer to fix (doesn't include clutch or fly-wheel). I took mine to a local specialist and he suggested leaving well alone until it gets worse or my clutch goes. I check my levels once a week and I haven't noticed any drop-a little oil goes a long way!

Going to be changing the oil again in the next few weeks so will take a look as there was some oil about the last time I canged the oil. Interesting about a blocked breather, will need to do some research into that.
The crankshaft oil seal was done on mine by a previous owner along with the clutch.

I get a small oil leak after I've done a few weeks of short runs. I put newspaper under the car to catch the drip and the oil is lighter in colour than if I drop a spot of oil from the dipstick.
So I suspected crankcase breather. A good hard 40 mile drive up and down the hills to purge the breather and no more leaks.
Maybe I need to replace the breather pipe, it's quite common. Nothing to worry about.
Worth a try I think. Another member of the failed FL2 clutch/DMF club, twice.

I had a similar leak it appeared on the rear of the engine sump/diff. Mine was just in warranty and was fixed.
It was the upper sump gasket, you can't actually see the area of the leak until you take the sump off.
the oil used to drip onto the engine under tray around 6 inchs from the back,
Roger Freelander 2
Rangerover L322 4.4 TDV8

Pegleg wrote:

I get a small oil leak after I've done a few weeks of short runs. I put newspaper under the car to catch the drip and the oil is lighter in colour than if I drop a spot of oil from the dipstick.
So I suspected crankcase breather. A good hard 40 mile drive up and down the hills to purge the breather and no more leaks.
Maybe I need to replace the breather pipe, it's quite common. Nothing to worry about.
Worth a try I think.