Ive got an 02 Discovery with 60k. About a month ago I noticed my coolant level low in my reservoir but could never actually find it leaking when looking underneath. Then one day my temp light came on and my reservoir was dry. I did a flush and took it to a shop where they were also unable to find a leak. No pressure test was done. Now im leaking really bad and it appears to be accumulating under the transmission/block area but coming from higher up where I cant quite see. Any ideas on what this may be?

 

Just get it pressure tested. It could be your head gaskets or your valley pan gasket or it could be your throttle body heater plate (flowing down the top of the rocker cover and down the back of the engine).

 

OK thanks for the help. I'll def get it pressure tested. Hopefully it wont cost an arm and a leg to get repaired... especially right before Xmas.

 

If it is your head gaskets you are looking at ~$1200 at an indy shop and ~$2500 at the dealership. Maybe less if you shop around. You can DIY but it is a long job.

 

The odds are good that it's the throttle body heater plate gasket. A very common fail point that produces EXACTLY what you describe, and would be easily missed by a mechanic not intimately familiar with Rovers. He'd check for all the "normal" potential leak spots. That throttle body heater plate is pretty much unique to Rovers. That's where I'd start checking.

 

Is the throttle body heater plate something that I could get to myself. I really have no mechanical experience.. the most ive done is oil change and coolant flush. I have an appointment with my local LR dealership tomorrow, I guess I should keep that appointment and see what they say. If it does turn out to be the head gaskets I'll most likely have an indy shop do it as the diff between 2.5k and 1.2k is substantial for me. Any idea the cost of repairing or replacing the throttle body heater plate? Thanks for all the help

 

The throttle body heater plate is $20 for the kit from Atlantic British. It is easy enough to replace but a bit tricky to get to. I've only done it with the upper IM off though, not sure if you can do it without removing the IM. Regardless find the leak yourself, clean off your engine get a mirror and a flashlight and find it so you know for sure. You do not want to be walking into the dealership clueless.

 

NOOOOOOOOOO dont go to the stealership!!!!!!!! cancel that $150 appointment asap. you can get the head gasket kit and tb gasket for $200. download the rave manual any monkey can do it if you have the time we are here to help.

 

Let's calm down a bit about replacing the head gaskets. For some reason, this seems to be the cure all for coolant leaks, which is the long way around this problem.

Your intake valley pan gasket is shot and it is leaking all the way in the back of the intake where it joins the left and right cylinder heads.

The leak starts there because the two coolant passages in the heads are not blocked by the gasket but only the intake casting and due to heat cycling of the engine and coolant system pressure, it always leaks there.

So please, before you pull the heads of, change this gasket and i am sure it will cure your problem as long as you do not see seepage physically at the head gasket itself into the valley or to the exhaust manifold sides.

Gasket pic:

 

i did all throttle body, valley pan, air intake and head gaskets. if your gonna go in you might as well go full in.