could also be the front pump seal which is quite common on the HP22 as the bearing that supports the input shaft wears and the shaft starts to "orbit" instead of spin true and it wears the seal..

Mine has it, not too concerning on mine "yet" definitely worth pulling the inspection plate off the bellhousing and having a look inside to see if the inside of the bellhousing is dry, usually it collects on the cover and you get a nice mess when you remove it!

And as Richard said it can also be the cooler lines weeping.

Thanks for the replies guys, all good learning for me at the moment. For example, the idea of the cooler pipes leaking just hadn't occurred to me yet. Now I know it's something to look for.

In terms of seals wearing - I know mileage wouldn't be a definitive barrier to this, but the car has only done 78k miles. So I'd hope that it might be something 'easier' at this stage. I guess 20 y/o pipes could still age and leak....

If the pipes need replaced is that an easy job? From looking at the diagrams, they seem quite long and convoluted?

The job isn't bad the only issue being you usually need to replace the tranny cooler too due to the steel nut welding itself to the ally cooler and wrecking the threads.

Ah well, definitely another uppy/downy day today.... and that was just the EAS!

On the up side, I got the gearbox refilled. I'd made a mistake somewhere here about how much AFT came out. I think I got about 5.9L out of it, and about 6.1L in - happy enough with that, though 'note to self', park car with exhausts to the door next time I do that.

In the 'new tradition' I also dismantled the old filter - nothing too scary in there. Some small gritty stuff, but no chunks. Once settled, the drained oil had the usual fine metallic paste in it, but I believe that's nothing much to worry about.

Then on the down side, I heard a hissing from the EAS box area, sprayed on some soapy water and noticed that this pipe/collet was leaking :-( I pulled it out, reseated the O rings and tidied up the pipe end. Haven't tried it yet - that's a job for tomorrow.

And now the biggest downer - I posted a similar pic above - but I investigated these drops while I was under the car. This is very definitely coolant not ATF, and quite a quick leak too. If it's wiped away, the drops reappear pretty quickly.

It 'looks' like it's coming from the bellhousing. Is there anywhere in there for a coolant pipe or seal to leak? Or, it could be coming from elsewhere and just running down there. I put a little over a litre of coolant into the expansion tank to bring it up to level.

So, off to open a bottle of wine and study the workshop manual......

(Defender behaved itself today...!)

The EAS pipe connection that is leaking is the one that goes to the reservoir so needs to be good (well, they all do but that one particularly). You can pull the collet out and, using your Land Rover approved crochet hook, pull out the O rings and just replace those. Then trim a couple of mm off the end of the pipe and chamfer it with the Land Rover approved pencil sharpener so the groove that will have formed where the O ring sits is in a different place. If you don't have any spare O rings to hand, just trimming the pipe should be enough.

The coolant leak isn't so simple. It could be coming from the back of the valley gasket on one side (is it dribbling down both sides of the engine and bellhousing or just one side?), can you see coolant higher up? Bad news is that is if isn't coming from there, there's two core plugs on the back of the block behind the flywheel. Drop the round inspection plate off and see if it is wet inside there or if it is running down the outside.

Thanks very much Gd,
I did in fact use an approved crochet hook! I also trimmed a smidge off the pipe, smoothed the end and stuck it back in - but I did just have to re-use the O rings. They were new in at Christmas anyway when I rebuilt the block with an X8R kit. I'll see how it goes tomorrow. The collet itslf is maybe past its best, but fingers crossed.

I tried to have a good look for the source or path of the coolant, but it's hard to get a clear view. Because the engine sits at an angle in the car, I thought a gasket for the water pump might have gone, and the leak was just running down to the lip of the engine sump, but I can't see any sign of that. I'll get back underneath tomorrow and have another good look, and remove that inspection plate and see what it's like in there.

Neither the valley gasket, or core plugs sound like things to fill me with joy, but a gasket sounds a lot better than dropping the gearbox out... I assume that would be needed to tackle the core plugs? It would be a shame if it was something like that, as the car has only done 78,000 miles.

Hey ho. Let's see what tomorrow brings.

To be honest it's easier to lift engine out than drop gearbox due to torque converter ---- I would guess inlet manifold gasket as vogue like yours 🙄

Valley gasket is pretty straightforward and not difficult. See what the other 6 core plugs look like (3 on each side of the block). If they are starting to look crusty then chances are the ones at the back of the block are too. If they look good, then they should all be much the same.

Another mile on my pilgrimage to the font of P38 knowledge...!

My offering today is that I managed to replace the transfer box oil all by myself! 2.2L out - looking pretty black I may say; 2.3 odd L in. No great drama there - except that it initially drained faster than I expected, and missed the collecting bowl..! More floor cleaning.

Then to examine the coolant leak. Pulled the inspection plate off - a little 'grimy' but as it's possibly been there for 20 years, I wouldn't say it was excessive.

Certainly no sign of water or corrosion in there.

The core plugs on the OS of the block look pretty good too.

This is the worst one - on the NS - most exposed to road spray, but you can see the one next to it, which is more sheltered, is pretty good.

So I'm assuming the ones inside the bellhousing are going to be OK, and the leak isn't coming from there (yay!).

I cleaned the area up and because I'd had the engine running a little to power up the EAS compressor, I could then see a little pink leak trace down the outside of the bellhousing.

Very hard to get a look in behind the top of the engine - all this really tells me is that this rocker gasket is leaking...

Maybe more signs of dried up, pink coolant here. The green line is my best guesstimate for the path of the leak - which I hope points to the valley gasket...?

Off to delve into the WSM with a stiff drink.

oh... and my EAS collet/O ring re-seating didn't work....

There is a coolant passage either end of the valley, looks like its leaking from there (which will be the valley gasket). Some of the coolant passages are used on there (2 if I remember correctly) and the others are capped by the valley gasket.

Photo shows where they are, which might help you track them down. A pressure tester and good look with a torch and mirror might allow you to see them

Thanks very much Brian - a detailed pic, highlighted like that is really useful. Makes a lot more sense now - I had been wondering about the exact nature of the coolant channels through the heads and manifold, and now I know!

I've been reading and googling and there's a "worm hole" opening up here..... I've seen a comment about 'doing the cylinder head gaskets while you're that far into it'. Especially as I'd certainly plan to do the rocker cover gaskets. I'll take some more pics myself, but in looking at the car this morning there were a couple of bits where I did begin to wonder if the LH/NS head gasket was suspect.

I've never taken a cylinder head off, but there's a first time for everything. I'll take and post some more pics for advice though before commiting to something like that.

It looks daunting at first glance but once the inlet manifold is off it's just a pair or 4 cylinder pushrod engines sitting side by side. It's a weekends work in reality if you've never done it before, a day the second time. If you've got the overhaul section in RAVE, then it gives you step by step instructions with lots of pictures, torque settings, order for doing the bolts up, etc. It's not difficult at all, I'd rather do head gaskets than wheel hubs in all honesty, there's nothing there to seize up. Island do a complete head gasket set, with all the gaskets you will need (and quite a few that you won't need) or you can buy head gaskets, valley gasket, valley end rubbers and rocker cover gaskets separately if you prefer.

The thing is, to do the head gaskets, you need to replace the valley gasket anyway. Thats probabbly the reason for doing both as most of the work is already done. I wish I'd done the head gaskets on mine when we had it apart as they are now leaking oil from all 4 corners of the engine so it needs to come apart again to sort that. Though its not leaking quite as badly as it was when the valley gasket ends had decided to fail, both had gone so hard they snapped when removing the rubber seals from the valley.

It took us the best part of a day to get the valley gasket out, and back together again and thats the first time either of us had tackled anything beyond the top manifold on it (its a Thor Disco 2 in the photo above but engine is the same as the P38, Don't know if yours is a GEMS and can't see any photo in the thread to tell me either but the bits below the manifold level are the same either way). My mate is more of a diesel engine person and runs away screaming at the idea of taking the heads off any V8 engine for some reason though is perfectly happy to pull a gearbox apart...

I think it easier to work on the V8 than most engines as you don't even have to worry about put push rods back in order as hydraulic lifters sort that ---- I've done both heads valley etc over a weekend

The push rods do wear to the tappet heads and the rocker sockets, so best to put them back as they came out.

Thanks very much for the replies guys - consensus emerging here?

Mine is a Thor engine - not many pics of that really as it has only done 78125mls, and I've been focussing more on transmission, suspension, and keeping the water out! (when it's on the road) it wobbles like a jelly at the back. Shockers probably doing nothing, and the driver's rear airspring is leaking so those are the parts coming in the mail this week. Discovering a coolant leak, and realising I should consider the head gaskets is a real bonus...!?

I had thought I would get the transmission/suspension stuff sorted, then take lots of pics of the engine and see what folk thought I should tackle next but that plan seems to have been radically transformed!

I now remember that I have done a cylinder head before - with a mate's help, putting a 'stage 3 racing head' and 'fast road' camshaft onto an A series mini engine - but that was waaaay back in 1991 and these days I can barely remember what I did last week! Still, I now have a better garage; more experience; better tools; a workshop manual ... and the internet. What could possibly go wrong!

Which leads me on to ask: I can buy a decent gasket set - Turner Engineering, Island4x4, LR direct - whoever seems to have the best balance of quality and price at the time. But - if you guys were doing this again, with your experiences, what other stuff might you do as you go along, or which parts would you organise in advance, knowing that they were either likely to be needed, or sensible to do at that time?

Genuinely appreciate the help. It adds so much depth and support to what's written in the pages of the WSM.

Every gasket you need to remove and if I was doing it for myself, rather that stretch bolts I'd fit a set of ARP head studs. The stretch bolts come in various grades of quality, too soft and they stretch too much (or break) and don't hold the head down firmly, too little and you can stress the threads in the block. The studs have the coarse thread where they go into the block but a much finer thread on the top where the nut goes so you have more control of the torque. Do them up to 65-70 ft/lbs (in 3 stages, 40, 55, 65) and the job is done, not cheap though. Don't try putting the studs into the block then fitting the heads, put one stud in (centre top is a good one) to guide the head down then once it is on, screw the studs in hand tight. Head bolts (and studs) need a 16mm socket and I've found a 1/2" drive socket for the smaller headed spark plugs is a perfect fit and usually 6 point too.

Your memories will come flooding back, the A series is a pushrod 4 pot and so is the V8, it's just two of them.

Thanks Gd,
I've got the valley gasket 'kit' on the way from Turner engineering, along with their head bolts. I had a look at the ARP ones, and called them, but no UK stock currently so they'd need to come from the States. £227 before we'd started considering any add-ons. Hopefully Turners will be OK with the ones they supply.

Back onto the topic of my EAS - I've been searching without success for another post of yours where (I think) you recommended a specific manufacturer/supplier of 6mm push-fit air fittings. I'm going to try a new collet and O rings for the leaky reservoir pipe on the valve block, and maybe a new length of pipe. There's lots readily available but I seem to remember there was a question of quality and reliability? (Edited to say that I found the post I was looking for - RS Components - had to dig back to 2019!)

I did my headgaskets twice last year, first time I used stretch bolts, but had the threads fail so redid it shortly after.
The second time I decided to spend the money and go for ARP studs. Got them from Summit Racing in the US and had them shipped to South-Africa.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/arp-157-4301

I took a bunch of photos the first time around, especially while dismantling.
It might be useful to you: https://photos.app.goo.gl/nW3Xs7hd12ndSE5k6

The one gasket that I needed that wasn't in any of the gasket sets was the Upper Manifold Gasket (ERR6621).
I also bought Elring headgaskets instead of using what was included in the gasket set.

Thanks very much - that's a fabulous set of photos. You can be sure I'll have a good look through them. (Edited to say I have had a good look through them, and will likely do so again as I make my way through the job - appreciate that share.)

Turners are supplying a set of Elring gaskets, and they also highlighted that the kit didn't contain ERR6621, so I had a chance to add that to the order. They rebuilt my 300Tdi engine, so I have good experiences there.

ARP studs - hmm. OK. I'll maybe need to rethink that one. In that "time vs cost vs peace of mind vs having to take it apart again" equation, the price difference isn't too bad.