Land Rover Repair: oil leak from oil filter, crankcase ventilation, time jody

Question
Hello,
I have a 2000 TD5. It has an oil leak. It was leaking mildly for a while, then started increasing. then i put it in for  a service and to have the injector harness replaced (I was told by previous owner that it needed doing soon). That all went fine, but the oil leak increased and was actually quite bad. I took it back to the mechanic (they had cleaned down the engine at the service and said that perhaps just replacing the injecotr harness would fix the oil leak,but if not, at least the engine is clean so they can find the leak). At this stage there was actually enough oil coming out that there was a misty spray on the rear window. THey thought they fixed it. they said that the leak was coming out of the oil filter due to built up pressure because of a blockage in the breather system, so the pressure was blowing oil back through the filter. anyway, they replaced the oil filter and blew out the blockage. it seemed to have worked for a couple of weeks, but just this weekend i took it away on quite a long trip (5 hour drive) and noticed the smell of burning oil. when i lifted the bonnet to look, there was oil overflowing from the top of the oil filter (probably the top seal of the oil filter because it was drizzling down the filter itself). it isn't bad yet, but i suspect it will worsen again. do you have any ideas what could be happening?
THanks for your time,
Jody

Answer
It sounds like you have really excessive pressure in the crankcase.  That can mean there's a blockage in the crankcase ventilation system, or it can mean there's an internal problem in the motor.  I suggest you find a proper LR expert and have it checked as it could lead to engine failure if left unrepaired.


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