Vehicle & Technical > Discovery
TD5 Coolant loss
freelanderpx54:
My Disco has been in need of regular coolant top ups and as I haven't been able to go and buy some anti-freeze I have been using water. Yes, I know it is very naughty but these things happen. There was a problem with coolant escaping from the top hose (next to the temp sensor) which I sorted out.
I have replaced the coolant with a 25% antifreeze mix and there doesn't appear to be any leaks so far. The water pump squeals a bit but it isn't shedding any coolant so the big question is..... How do I tell if the coolant loss is down to the head gasket failing ????????????????
Minor note. When I took the drain plug out there was no copper washer (replaced by me - any brownie points??) and the fluid that was flushed out was very clean (as in clearly see through)
Cheers
John
mac:
Logged on this morning to ask a similar question, TD5 again, happened twice now, after finding a pool of coolant on the drive it was down about a pint, no sign of oil floating in the header tank or water on the dipstick, performance is fine, accelerates well and touched 90 on the motorway although my normal work journey is B roads at 55-60, kept an eye on the temp gauge since the first event, seems steady at midway. Could it just be a weak pressure cap? a drop of coolant on the drain plug but i think it had come from the tank vent.
Enjoyed the flood driving Fri/Sat - could almost feel the envy from those who normally curse the "gas guzzler" :wink:
Range Rover Blues:
If you have over-filled it it will breath out of the header tank, the cap opens up at about 10PSI or thereabouts anyway.
freelanderpx54:
It hasn't been overfilled and there are no obvious sign of a leak
Range Rover Blues:
OK John there are a few things
Firslty if it's leaking then antifreeze will make it worse as it lowers the surface tension of water, so if you replace the antifreeze it may get worse. I use 50% though in an engine with both ali and iron.
Check the rad, usually the bottom corners where it's hard to see. A good antifreeze will contain a tell-tell, sometime flouraseen or similar (green) but the red ones are better, look for a coloured crust in the pipe unions, even if they apear dry.
Has the leak started since you fixed the top hose? did it start straight after.
Water pump squeals? antifreeze might stop this but as above if might start the leak.
Try something like K-Seal in it. I used it to stop a weeping rad on the LSE and so far it looks ok.
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