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My Wife has a LR3 HSE V8, we have just gotten married so not quite familiar with all of the vehicles history. But I noticed the sweet smeel from the exhuast about 2 months ago. I didnt put two and two together until Sunday when we had a coolant leak. I found oneof the leaks sunday and fixed it when we got home. It never leaked out all the coolant before i got the main leak fixed. the next morning the LR3 ran hot and started to be very sluggish, a couple of minutes later the temp went down to normal and it ran better. I checked it over again and noticed there was still a very small leak but couldnt fin it. Our service guy found the other leak after a pressure test.
Should I be worried about the smell from the exhaust? The oil looks good, doesnt look like there is coolant in the oil at all.
Coolant leaking from head gasket into combustion chamber, or from valley pan and being "sucked in" thru valves along with fuel will cause the smell in the exhaust. But so will an external leak on to hot exhaust manifolds and pipes, with fan blowing it back toward rear. Consumption of coolant by burning in the combustion chamber can make for rough running. But it will also be a problem for overheating, usually sooner than later.
IMHO if you have a smell, you have a leak. The coolant level may take a few days to show a change. Would be a good idea to check daily when cold so it does not sneak up on you with a lot of lost coolant. Overheat of engine can vary from head gaskets to the infamous slipped sleeve that detaches because block got too hot. You can monitor coolant temp with a plug in scanner, to get a feel for the real temp inside th engine, not the "smoothed out" display on the gauge. Your mechanic can also run another pressure test on the cooling system. There is a chemical test you can buy for about $50 that detects combustion gas in hot coolant, from auto parts store. Will do over a dozen tests.
Some might suggest you install some cooling system "stopz leekz". These chemicals usually are a bandaid, about a matchhead size quantity of material temporarily stops the leak. The rest of the jug of goop goes to the bottom of the radiator or the thermostat and clogs them up, reducing cooling that shows up in the summer big time.
Now that the leaks for fixed I will keep an eye on it and make sure there wasnt just a small leak to begin with that was causing the smell. I should know more soon, our mechanic still has the vehicle.
On a non-related topic, are there any fixes or coverings for the dashes on the LR3's? Hers is cracked in 3 places, two look they are outlining were the airbag is.
its a six hour job. and both air bags have two connectors. don't ask me how I know.
Also add some coolant dye. the dye will spot the leak.
opened the oil cap and there was dye in the cap.
found one leaking internally once and put a new motor.
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"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair
Land Rover technician Got a problem just ask. If you are a fellow LR tech then I would like to hear from you.
One more piece of advice: When posting make sure to tell us how many miles. It can help us help you! I know your new here, so I wanted to be the first to tell you before someone rudely does!
Just helping you out.
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Discovery I 1995 with 178,XXX
New oil pump, timing chain, fan clutch and radiator... NO LEAKS! Knock on wood...
Coolant leak and sweet smell from exhaust
