Hi all, I have been told by my Indy that there is an oil leak at the back of the engine, although not dripping yet as I see nothing on the driveway, and they suggest I can leave it until it does start dripping. It was not confirmed but they suspect that it is the oil cooler leaking? Could also maybe be responsible for burnt oil smell in the cabin? Anyway, I am thinking I should go ahead and get this sorted sooner rather than later but am unsure about the best approach. I know it is possible to buy a seal kit for the oil cooler but l am thinking that price dependent I may as well replace the whole oil cooler?

Now my question, based on member experience;

Is it better to buy a genuine land rover oil cooler?

Are after market oil coolers perfectly suited for job even though they are a lot cheaper?

Is a seal kit still required or does a new oil cooler already come with everything?

Whilst doing this are there any other seals / parts that it is recommended to replace at the same time as good practice?

Any suggestions as to what sort of approx price something like this would be if I decided to not do it myself and any reasons why I should not even consider doing it myself in the first place?

Any advice greatly appreciated?

Although for the L322, mine is a 2012 4.4. I went for a Nissens brand. Everything was in the box. So I replaced the oil cooler, filter housing and the gaskets are on the unit. Came in at €287 which was good for an OEM brand.

Go here to check part numbers:
https://catalogue.nissens.com/FrontPage

Personally I used Winparts even though they are a pain being in Ireland I didn't have to worry about customs etc.

If it is a small weep then do a quick check yourself with a mirror and see if its coming from the oil return pipe in the back of the oil cooler. That's a €5 fix to get some high quality O rings. Plenty of info in the search for sizes etc.

I did the complete job myself and it was easy except for cleaning the intake manifold, that was a pig. I'm pretty sure the 4.4 L322 and L405 is the same set up but someone more knowledgeable than me can verify that. Current yokes
2012 4.4 TDV8 Westminster
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Check this out, LR Time they do the oil cooler here and the 2 pipes with Orings all their video's are great

 2018 SE SDV8 4.4 Byron Blue

I like their videos, and I've watched that one - but they don't change the oil cooler in it?

Ah, i think this is the one:

?si=YXYDqZ7crbj3ke7-

This is a well known weak spot in the Ford engine so going aftermarket on the oil cooler is probably a good thing.

I did have my one replaced with a genuine one though so I'm expecting to have a oil wet back to the engine again in about 5 years time.

I had a Nissens one on my L322 and just had same done to my L405.

Comes with gasket + filter, about a third of the OE one.

My garage can’t give me a date and it may be two weeks before they can fix it. So I’m thinking of doing it myself. Is this a problem on the driveway over a week?

If I disconnect the battery how do I close the tailgate and lock the car and get back in? Will rain get in if I remove the panel under the windscreen?

I’m also wondering whether it’s worth replacing the intake if it’s that filthy?

I got caught out with that problem you are thinking of.

I disconnected the battery and closed the tailgate The trick is to open the Bonnet and have someone at the rear at the same time as you put jumper leads from another battery and press the button to open.

Then you can reconnect the battery.

You cannot open the tailgate from inside the car by taking the trims off I know because I tried  2017 SDV8 4.4 silicon silver AB
2012 TDV8 4.4 Stornaway Grey AB
2011 TDV8 4.4 Buckingham Blue
2012 VW V6 3.0 Tougreg

Great point 👍 I forgot about the terminals under the bonnet

just Had mine done this week €950
I thought about doing it my self, but if anything broke,as it always does, thought I’d rather a garage to do,it, hopefully they can get the parts, it’s a bloody nightmare over here at the moment for spares.
Good luck

Hello, everyone. I’d like to add my two cents.

I worked on this a few months ago and made the following notes based on my experience:

1) While tightening the bolt, it broke (I was using a torque wrench, as per the manual). This part is designed for single-use installation. My advice: buy a set of new bolts. This way, you’ll avoid delays and won’t have to dig out the broken one from the threads. The part number is 4537592. I ordered 10 of them, either to have spares or because that was the required amount—I can’t remember now. I didn’t risk using non-original bolts, as I was concerned about galvanic corrosion since the bolts go into aluminum, and you never know.

2) I replaced the gaskets (used original ones), and they started leaking almost immediately. There’s a theory that the housing warps, and sometimes even with new gaskets, the leak persists. In my case, this turned out to be true—the gasket replacement didn’t help much. The leaks are less severe, but I can still smell burning oil inside the car.

3) There's a theory that many of these engines fail after this procedure. The idea is that when you remove the oil cooler, coolant and oil leak from the cooler, and sometimes water gets into the oil supply channel. Water is denser than oil, and it tends to sink to the bottom, where the main bearings are. At startup, the crankshaft spins without oil until pressure builds up. I decided to prime the oil system before starting the engine (removed the spark plugs, inserted a pressure gauge in place of the oil pressure sensor, and cranked the engine until pressure built up). To my surprise, it took around 20 seconds to build any pressure! And engine started on water instead of oil. During that time, the engine was running without oil pressure on the main bearings. According to the theory, this could cause scoring, which may eventually lead to a more serious failure. Whether or not to believe this theory and whether to prime the system is up to each person. I’ll be doing this job again, replacing the oil cooler this time, and I’ll definitely prime the system again.

4) Speaking of the oil cooler, I’ve heard complaints about coolers from Nissens. Apparently, even though they are the same coolers used in the original parts, there are some differences in the valve characteristics, which result in poor oil pressure buildup. Some people have reported that their oil pressure light flashes or stays on at idle. To give you an idea, the light comes on at 0.4 bar, while a healthy pressure is around 1 bar.

First two points are my experience. Third is some theory which I prefer to believe in just in case. And fourth is a statement from one guy who has a lot of experience with this cars, but it is still his words, I didn't see any evidences personally.

You removed the spark plugs???

Oh, sorry, glow plugs of course