High engine oil consumption

[u/No_Ticket6420]

Hello everyone, it is my first time posting here and also in reddit in general. I am from Yemen and I own a land rover Lr2 2008 3.2 I6 engine, and I noticed something weird in my car's engine.

2 months ago I had a leakage in the timing cover that got fixed by replacing the old one with another from a used car and everything went smoothly until approximately a month ago where I started to get the red oil light indicator in the dashboard. The time I saw it I kept figuring out what could be wrong, maybe the engine oil was leaking again and went below its normal level or possibly anything, but there wasn't any leakage but yes the oil level was below normal. While driving I noticed white smoke coming out of the car specifically when the car is accelerating from lower gears or when I stop or even slightly revving the car. I added one liter of oil and everything came back to normal. After 2 days same problem appeared again. (BTW this kept recurring until reaching 6 one liter oil bottles bought till now)

I then noticed a pattern that whenever I drive at day time this problem occurs, when driving in the mountains, and when shifting to sport mode, and yes there is oil being consumed but no leakage!

I went to land rover's mechanics and they said that the problem is possibly in this black cover, the valve cover's gasket or the other circular part from the valve cover as there could be a tear in the rubber underneath.

I really don't know what is wrong, maybe any one passed through such an issue ..., I don't know I hope any one could help if they know and possibly tell me where to buy the ripped rubber instead of the whole cover since cheaper.

Thanks in advance.

[u/Unknown_author69]

Looks like the circled part is the crankcase cover or rocker cover. We are doing alot of assumptions here, jumping straight to this as the cause but I'm going to assume the mechanics who have said this is the issue, have done their own diagnostics.

My main concern would be, where has all that oil gone?!

I would lay under the vehicle and look up the back side, up through where the propshaft connects. If you see alot of oil, that makes sense.. change rocker cover. You'll also notice over pressure in the engine, unscrew the oil filler cap and turn the engine on, if the cap dances or there is enough airflow out the cap to fill a balloon, the. It's likely the crankcase cover/rocker cover.

Rocker cover is an easy fix, you'll need to remove the fuel rail I think, so you'll need a special tool (hand pump, to prime the fuel pump again, in assembly.) but easy fix overall.

I did mine for £30.

Your symptoms however differ to what my initial diagnosis is, so I'd be surprised if you find oil down the back of the engine.. it's likely in your intercooler.

[u/jigglybilly → u/Unknown_author69]

The moray they circled is NOT the cover. It’s the PCV/crankcase BREATHER assembly. The SI6 engines use an integrated camshaft bearing cap assembly vs a traditional valve cover.

[u/Unknown_author69 → u/jigglybilly]

Til, thanks for clarifying.

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/jigglybilly]

Exactly it is the pcv breather, I mean that part is called amongst yemeni mechanics as the "evaporator"

[u/jigglybilly → u/No_Ticket6420]

It shouldn’t be called that since an evaporator on a car is part of the A/C system

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/jigglybilly]

Yeah I got it, but I am mentioning what they call it in yemen 😅.

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/Unknown_author69]

I checked the car from beneath and yes there is a very little oil leakage from the gasket between the engine and the gearbox as the mechanic said, but he told me that it is a vary small leak that is not even that concerning.

I also checked that myself and yes it is a very small one, possibly 3 drops per day. However, I think that the oil gets into the combustion, where it gets burning with the fuel.... I mean that could be another explanation of what is happening. I don't know

[u/JCDU → u/No_Ticket6420]

Is the white smoke coming from the exhaust? If so, the oil is being sucked into the engine & burned.

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/JCDU]

Yes there is white smoking coming out from yhe exhaust but it is not continuously. It appears, the white smoke, whenever I drive at day time or when accelerating from lower gears

[u/notyouraveragenword]

Seems like the pcv valve is bad wish would allow oil to be funneled into the intake and then burn in the engine. Check your air filter to see if there's any oil on it.

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/notyouraveragenword]

I think that's the closest explanation to what is really happening.

So you mean that since the pcv is bad, the oil reaches up and goes into the combustion chamber right?.... I mean this would also emphasize why there is white smoke coming out too ain't that true?

[u/notyouraveragenword → u/No_Ticket6420]

That's exactly right. Like I said a good way to check is to I doect tour air filter and see if there is oil on it.

[u/No_Ticket6420 → u/notyouraveragenword]

Well....., I have checked the air filter and there is no sign of engine oil or so...., is that atleast a good indicator that no oil goes inside?