Another leaky roverII
 

Hi.
I'm Just in the process of hitting all the maintenance items on Disco Mike's 100k maintenance schedule which has been a lot of fun....well mostly fun, and a few bouts of Tourette's....anyway, I've done everything now but the tranny fluid/ filter and the transfer/diff drain & refill.
Recently I replaced the Upper and lower coolant hoses while I was replacing the radiator and had quite a hard time getting the new hose around the inlet neck of the water pump. It was a combo of having one too few joints in my arm, and the fit being Incredibly tight. I resorted to lubing the int of the hose w/ some engine oil so that I could slide it over the inlet neck. Even with that, the final position of the new hose was about 1/8" shy of the old hose dirt line, but was the best I could manage. I tightened down the screw on the hose clamp and went about the rest of my day. a few days later I noticed there was a puddle under the truck, and my reservoir was about half empty. I stuck my head under the truck, but could only see that it was coming out about the center front of the engine, leaving drips clinging to the bottom of the pan hard, and steering rods.
Is this what I think it is...just a poorly fit water pump hose?
if so, any suggestions on how to get that thing on more securely?
Thx.:disco::dunno:

Start the truck up, get a flash light and watch every hose for leaks or bubbles. Also, watch the coolant pump to see if it has started to leak.

Is it an aftermarket piece?

hmmm. you mean the water pump?? don't think so. I do remember it being replaced while still under extended warranty (abt 50k in 2006) by the Rover shop from whom I bought it...they were real enthusiasts too, and I don't think would have done anything hinky. Unit looks stock to me though.

as for the lower rad hose assembly, It was an Indian knock off...was that my mistake....I sort of thought a hose is a hose!?

Before you get too set on replacing something, find the leak to be sure that is the issue.

You can borrow a cooling system pressure testing kit from most any auto parts store. You screw the adapter from the test kit onto the coolant reservoir and pump up the pressure as directed, then look for the leaks. If you can easily see where the leak is without the tester that is fine but doing that is often difficult.

Yes, I did a pressure leak down test a few weeks ago, and it held pressure just fine, and the cap seems to hold presure as well, as after cooling down for a few minutes, when I remove it there's and audible hiss as the reservoire decompresses.
Admittedly, the leak down test I performed was prior to changing the hose.

Hmm ...

A hose is a hose, right?!
Cmon man, cheap parts never work, espc on Land Rover. Trust me, if it's not genuine or at least a high-end manufacturer out of America or U.K., the replacement parts will give you all kinds of problems and leave you chasing your tail. Take this as an easy lesson because once you start getting fault codes and using cheap, aftermarket replacement sensors, you could spend weeks switching/swapping/returning/warranteeing. I'm dealing with my only little nightmare of replacement parts at the moment & it would make your head spin. Just return the hose or eat it & buy a better piece asap.

And FWIW, the cooling system can hold pressure but then still leak or "weep" after the coolant is allowed to reach operating temp before the motor is shut off; the metals contract as the engine cools & that may be the only time water gets by until the gasket or connection gets more & more faulty.

But if there was no leak before replacing the hose & you know this as result of testing equipment, that pretty well narrows it down. And no, there is nothing else you can do to make the hose work. It's gotta go before it makes real problems

I wouldn't yet say that the new hose itself is the problem. It would be inlikely that a new hose would leak right away, but the OP said he had trouble getting it to fit on the water pump inlet. I was thinking he should just make another attempt to get it fitted corrrectly. If he can't get it to fit then perhaps it is mis-sized and will need to be replaced. But step one is to do another pressure test and validate the source of the leak.