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Leaking coolant: underneath the car

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Old 08-17-2011, 01:14 PM
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Default Leaking coolant: underneath the car

I tried to find the source of the leak but no luck, i took pictures maybe someone here has had experience with this leak.

https://i.imgur.com/XuFas.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/DyaHb.jpg

was hard to get better pics, if you need better pics let me know.

Update:
What the crap is this? and why is it leaking~
https://i.imgur.com/SEzo9.jpg

Bad grease area, should i be worried?
https://i.imgur.com/NW5o7.jpg

Under my car:
https://i.imgur.com/eEsYJ.jpg
 

Last edited by key421; 08-17-2011 at 02:57 PM.
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Old 08-17-2011, 01:26 PM
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From the looks of it, if I have my bearings correct, it is toward the rear of the engine. That said, it could be a hose somewhere above, perhaps associated with throttle plate heat, perhaps the valley pan gasket under the intake manifold, perhaps lines toward firewall for heater core. Since it is not right at the front of the engine the usual suspects of water pump, radiator, and a number of other hoses and coolant bottle are less likely to be the place.

If you are very slowly leaking coolant, this can be watched and searched for. If coolant is dissapearing and no leaks, could be head gaskets. And certainly HG can have an external leak, but that is usually not the Rover way, they prefer internal and white smoke from exhaust, etc.

May have to jack up the car and place on stands, or use ramps so you can get under it and observe. Until repaired keep a couple of liters of bottled water in the back, in case it gets much worse and you are inbetween towns. Can be more trouble than the normal oil leaks.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 01:47 PM
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My guess, back of intake or rear of head.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:12 PM
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updated some pics, i went back under, the car. and looks like i need a mechanic.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:21 PM
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Perhaps snug up the valve covers (8mm 12 point I think), the oil at the filter could come from a number of spots, and when the front seal starts leaking it will be thrown far and wide. I wish my Disco was as clean as yours.

You basically have to wipe off suspect areas, and check back to see where it is coming from. The number of sources is the approximate square root of the odometer reading.....

Many owners park the he-man Disco on the grass or gravel, to avoid the wrath of she-who-must-be-obeyed. I have a shade tree for that.

Don't worry about small quantities of oil, as long as you check fluid levels. Do worry about coolant loss.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:22 PM
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#1 oil filter. Bad seal. You should be looking at that every 3-5k. Lightly oil the gasket on the new filter and hand tighten.

#2 valve cover gasket. Replace with a new one, but it will leak again. I would say just tighten, but that gasket looks shot.

#3 looks like a land rover. Unless its mine ;-p all that means is its not empty yet. That other leak looks like coolant.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:29 PM
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I just purchased an 03 Discovery three weeks ago with 87K. It has and still continues to drive very well. I am working off of Mike's precautionary list and had the drivetrain fluids replaced by a reputable shop.Yesterday I noticed a large amount of fluid leakage in the exact same areas as key421 photographed and yes it was definitely antifreeze. I religiously monitor my temp gauge with no overheat. Today my shop (very experienced land rover technician) pressure tested the coolant system and found nothing. I too wonder if the leak has started on a line or component near the rear of the engine and isn't easily seen? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:42 PM
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coolant:

check your coolant reservoir. if it's low (looking at the pics on your driveway), you need to fill it asap, and keep it full until you can get the coolant leak fixed. whoever owned this disco before you switched out the dexcool, which is fine, so you want to put 50/50 mix of non-dexcool (green in your case) coolant in the reservoir. you can buy it at wal-mart, any auto shop etc. buy some coolant and keep it in the truck just in case. check that reservoir daily until you find that leak.

oil:

before you do anything check your oil dipstick. what's your oil level at? change the oil and change the filter (filter needs changing asap if its leaking). these trucks require 6 quarts but its hard to get all 6 to drain. so fill with 5 quarts and then check the oil dip stick and add more until the dip stick is right. when you put too much oil in these trucks they leak from the valve covers (your other pic), along with everywhere else...you will notice the fine print on the dip stick "DO NOT OVERFILL" lol '

all the other pics look like any other rover

focus on the coolant first and foremost. once these trucks overheat, the head gaskets can go and thats a pita job.
 

Last edited by sloan74; 08-17-2011 at 04:33 PM.
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:44 PM
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Unfortunately the rear of the heads is a very common place for them to leak. The gasket material around the water jackets in both the heads and the manifold is very thin. They often spring a leak. Also a manifold leak can pool in the valley pan and will spill out the back, run down the top of the tranny, and drip from under the car. Isn't aluminum fun!
 
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Old 08-17-2011, 03:53 PM
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bloody hell... where do you live? find yourself an indie mechanic to have it pressure tested.
 


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