Hi all, I have a small leak coming from the IRD plug hole which local landrover servicing tell me the plug is threaded and if they remove the plug it willl not go back in so a whole new unit would be required!
Mechanics ain't my thing but I'm a bit worried about the dropping oil level in the unit so where abouts in the engine do i keep an eye on this oil level and top up if required?
The plug is only leaking about 2 or 3 drops of oil overnight,I also can't afford to have the unit replaced until the end of this Month!

Thanks,Kev.

sounds like bs

fanatic said:

sounds like bs

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Not from me,do you think landrover servicing are trying to pull a fast one on me?

I don't get what they mean, surely if the old plug is unscrewed and a new one fitted all will be well? Is the thread stripped on the old plug or housing?

Mantamad said:

I don't get what they mean, surely if the old plug is unscrewed and a new one fitted all will be well? Is the thread stripped on the old plug or housing?

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even then it could be helicoiled, taper plug or similar surely ?

Mantamad said:

I don't get what they mean, surely if the old plug is unscrewed and a new one fitted all will be well? Is the thread stripped on the old plug or housing?

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I have the visual health check print out in front of me here.

"Oil leak from IRD drain plug - threads in IRD may strip when plug removed will then require IRD
IRD also leaking from driveshaft seal"

I'm not sure what to do next apart from take their word for it that the whole unit needs replaced but in the meantime my main concern is the oil level,does the IRD take oil in from the main oil reserve thing?

Sorry for being so thick about engines! :doh:

I noticed today, for the first time, a couple of oildrops on the garage floor, it looked greenish and smells like spirax as we say overhere (is thick oil for gearbox etc...) ran on the ramps and took a look underneath and it is probably the oil seal of the RH driveshaft coming out of the IRD which is gone as there I saw some oil marks.

Your ird drain plug is to the rear of the engine, under the ird. Action pic below of the oil draining out. Seperate oil to the engine and gearbox oil.



The filler below can be difficult to get off, as it's a shallow nut. always undo this BEFORE the drain plug, or you won't be able to fill it with oil if you remove the drain plug first, and the filler dun't want to come out.



To be able to state cross threads, they must have taken it out, or it's so bad an angle, they can see it. It should have a copper washer on both filler and drain plugs, which squashes a but to get a firm compact fit between the plug and ird case. Hense leak proof.

Fill the ird with 75w90 oil, to API GL5 spec.

I always use 6 sided sockets like below, so I don;t round off the plugs when undoing them:


P2232066 nrQ8Ji4

This is what the drain plug hole thread should look like:


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And the drain plug itself:


P6210977 YTU37MN

And the filler plug hole:



And the filler plug - this is a damaged one I had to chissel off as it was rounded off by the gits at the garage:


P7051065 Nr91wQ9

Fill the ird untill a dribble of oil starts to dribble out the filler hole, whilst it's on level ground. I use an old water bottle and pipe. Others use a hand pump:


P6210990 3MYZW75

Here's the new right hand side ird drive shaft oil seal:


P3271823 2tAfTm8

And the drive shaft just being pulled from the ird, with the dirty old leaky seal:


P3271811 r2u9rzP

You may have guessed I take photo's of everything when I'm fixing my Hippo. They always come in handy. Most the time to see how to put it back together.

Fixx

Nice one Hippo, I do the same.
To the OP, this sounds like they're arse covering. They've probably noticed that there's some leakage from the oil seal and suggested that to top it up they need to remove the filler plug which is often seized and theyre letting you know. Might be worth WD'ing it for a while and having a go yourself, being sure not to round it off.

Hippo said:

Your ird drain plug is to the rear of the engine, under the ird. Action pic below of the oil draining out. Seperate oil to the engine and gearbox oil.

The filler below can be difficult to get off, as it's a shallow nut. always undo this BEFORE the drain plug, or you won't be able to fill it with oil if you remove the drain plug first, and the filler dun't want to come out.

To be able to state cross threads, they must have taken it out, or it's so bad an angle, they can see it. It should have a copper washer on both filler and drain plugs, which squashes a but to get a firm compact fit between the plug and ird case. Hense leak proof.

Fill the ird with 75w90 oil, to API GL5 spec.

I always use 6 sided sockets like below, so I don;t round off the plugs when undoing them:

This is what the drain plug hole thread should look like:

And the drain plug itself:

And the filler plug hole:

And the filler plug - this is a damaged one I had to chissel off as it was rounded off by the gits at the garage:

Fill the ird untill a dribble of oil starts to dribble out the filler hole, whilst it's on level ground. I use an old water bottle and pipe. Others use a hand pump:

Here's the new right hand side ird drive shaft oil seal:

And the drive shaft just being pulled from the ird, with the dirty old leaky seal:

You may have guessed I take photo's of everything when I'm fixing my Hippo. They always come in handy. Most the time to see how to put it back together.

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That's brilliant Hippo thanks for posting,I've decided I'm going to take the car to another garage for a 2nd opinion and if it does really need replacing I'll get a quote from them if they can put a reconditioned one in!

Must be the weekend for it! I removed the sumpguard to change the engine oil and found an oily mess! When I inspected it looks like its coming from IRD somewhere. I topped it up but further investigation required. It hadn't lost much and i checked the level last year when I serviced it. I left the sumpguard off for now to keep an eye on it. I know where to look now thanks to the photos in this thread.

HIGHLANDER TD4 said:

That's brilliant Hippo thanks for posting,I've decided I'm going to take the car to another garage for a 2nd opinion and if it does really need replacing I'll get a quote from them if they can put a reconditioned one in!

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If it were mine leaking, I'd be tempted to sort it myself if they say it needs a replacement ird. Lot of money for what I would call a plumbing style connection leak. Someone on here will have an idea of how to stop it leaking, cheaper than a replacement.

Is it easy enough to get the oil seal out?.IIRC the book of beans reckons you should whip out the whole ird.

OldIrishWulf said:

P3271823 2tAfTm8
Is it easy enough to get the oil seal out?.IIRC the book of beans reckons you should whip out the whole ird.

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Once the drive shaft is removed the seal pulls out. May need a slight lever wiv a screw driver.


P3271823 2tAfTm8