Hi Crusty,

Been in your spot before.

Through trial and error I found that the screw in LR water drain and sensor connector plug in your picture leaks from the sensor fitting in its centre. You will find if you play around with it that there is just a little "slop" allowing the sensor to move away from the hard plastic washers that are supposed to seal it.
Under pressure, diesel can pour out through the gap.

I changed mine out for the 5 cent plastic fitting supplied with the fuel filter and zipper clipped the water in fuel sensor to the base of the filter.

I still get the water in fuel code coming up every now and then however I was getting this anyway with the leaking original LR fitting. id rather put up with this every day than have to clean up leaking diesel all over the place.

I have enquired about a replacement fitting however its not sold separately by LR. You have to buy an entire new filter housing to get the fitting.

Chaps,

I would suggest then that there exists more than one potential source for possible leaks from the knurled basin fitting. Mine appears to leak not from the water sensor connection but from the drain outlet. See my thread posted in August :

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic71055.html

Initially this was caused by the failure of the viton washer which had clearly sustained significant perishing giving rise to a fuel leak amounting to a near torrent. Subsequent trials of replacement washers, genuine and otherwise, have provided a measure of relief, but sadly not amounting to a complete resolution.

Crusty - With this in mind, I look forward to reading your summary of the outcome following fitting of replacement parts as per your discussion with Mr. Tee.

Good luck.


Warwick 2011 L322 TDV8 A/b Orkney Grey
2008 Defender 90 XS TDCi Java Black
2002 L322 TD6 Vogue Zambezi Silver (gone but not forgotten)
And one or two bikes - Ok, maybe more than one or two....

I have now finally .... fingers crossed .... resolved the problem ..... and actually killed 2 birds with one stone

What I didn't mention was the amber "Restricted Performance" message I was getting for the past year (before any signs of a diesel leak) and an occasional "Water in fuel" warning after signs of a leak.
As there was no actual restriction of performance I just delayed the fix.

I had figured that these warnings were related to a faulty loom / screw in basin at base of filter

So it was always my intention to swap out the wiring loom and basin fitting but as you know they are not sold separately any more from the entire fuel filter housing. I read on this forum that the loom is the same on the 3.6 TDV8 so my plan was to buy a SH housing from the 3.6 and transplant the loom to the 4.4 housing.

however I also read that the loom from a Transit van filter housing is exactly the same as on the 3.6 & 4.4. I then discovered I could buy the whole housing brand new (which incidentally also includes a filter !!) for under £30.

So that's what I did

It took about 30 mins to remove the fuel filter housing on the 4.4 TDV8, swap over the loom and basin / sensor and refit to the RR .... it's an easy job.
On inspection with the housing removed the leak appeared to be coming from the base of sensor screw on the aluminium cap and not the outlet. I reckon if diesel is leaking from the outlet then it's likely a washer issue
The replacement knurled basin fitting is plastic rather than aluminium but still works great

To date ..... leak fixed, Restricted Performance warning gone , Water in fuel warning gone
Probably saved myself circa £500+

Part number for Ford Part - 6C119155BE 1685716 .... as shown in photo

Hope this helps ..... this forum is a gold mine of info ... it's certainly helped me and my wallet

Well done matey. And thank you.

Have just now clicked buy-it-now for one of these.
Together with a selection of washers from various sources as well as a genuine LR fuel filter, I am really hoping that I now have the means to put this to bed once and for all.

Thanks again.
Have a good Christmas.

Warwick 2011 L322 TDV8 A/b Orkney Grey
2008 Defender 90 XS TDCi Java Black
2002 L322 TD6 Vogue Zambezi Silver (gone but not forgotten)
And one or two bikes - Ok, maybe more than one or two....

Good luck with it Warwick ..... I'm confident you will sort it
If you need any more info give me a shout on this thread anytime 2011 TDV8 4.4 Vogue SE