Ok after spending squillions getting the outside leak free, the paint stunning and sunroof a pillar no longer filling the car with h2o.
Then the service, the failure for the wof, more squillions spent .
I barely do 80k, now I have coolant under the car, and I think at the front, hard to tell.
I fixed throttle body a year ago
I replaced front hoses and thermostat a year or so ago and no high temps yet.
am reluctant to drive far incase it’s the head, it’s only done 136k so far.
is there a idiot proof way of testing working through likely issues, I have tools just not used to fixing cars .
I plan on taking the plastic shrouds of the top and under the engine, then engine clean to remove oil etc
im hoping ? It’s the water pump
advice appreciated

 

The fastest simplest way is to clean everything up, get a bottle of coolant dye, and a UV flashlight. Put a bit more than the recommended amount of dye in the expansion tank.

Start the engine and let it get up to operating temp, while that is going on use the flashlight to search for the bright green glow (or other color), dusk or just as it gets dark is the best time to find the leak fast.

You will know exactly where the leak is.

 

If you are loosing coolant there is only two places it can go: outside the engine or inside the engine. If it's going outside the engine you first have to find it, is there any sign of leaking coolant? It can be hard to find because it can boil away immediately if it drops on a hot engine part so you have to look for the residue. They do sell a UV coolant dye you can put in and then use a UV light to look for it, even if you just replaced the hoses perhaps one of the clamps is loose. There are a lot of places for the coolant to leak out of that aren't the head gasket.

If it's inside the engine there are a few signs you can look for. The first is a pressurized cooling system as combustion gasses are making their way into the cooling system- your cooling system will over pressurize and the coolant cap should vent that excess pressure but it doesn't always. I run the coolant cap loose on my truck to the system never actually pressurizes under normal use (but I live in a mild climate and run a 180 t-stat). The best way is to get a kit that can detect exhaust gasses in your coolant, the fluid changes color in the presence of exhaust gasses. Sometimes you can tell by the exhaust itself, coolant in the cylinder exhausts as a white "steam cloud" with a slightly sweet smell.

 

The other good option is pressure testing the system. You can rent a pressure tester from Autozone or advance auto parts. Use the correct cap that fits the coolant bottle, pump up the pressure in the system, and you should see or hear the leak.

 

Thanks I’ll pick some up for the weekend and have a play

 

Still on the mission for that the two big parts companies don’t sell that in nz, but cleaned the engine and removed the plastic hose cover and the bang plate under it.
I’ll visit a rad Manafacturing company tomorrow see if they have any

 

I cleaned the engine, the coolant is all over the bottom of the engine, one of my clients fixes radiators and has offered to pressure test, thanks for yiur advice

 

Coolant leaks are the bane of the D2, but not particularly difficult to sort. First off, be glad it is on the outside of the engine and not the inside. Inside means head gaskets or worse, so be thankful there. Assuming you are using an external temp gauge and you didn’t let it get hot, this should be a relatively easy fix.

So then, a couple places that are well known and good to start from:
- Throttle body heater. They get gummed up or just plain leak. Pretty cheap and easy to fix
- Water pump. A little more effort, but not horrible. If you can wait, order a Flowkooler from the States and you’ll be amazed. Mind the torque spec and don’t use RTV.
- Head Gaskets. Yeah they can leak to the outside too. This one will take a while, but if it’s a toy, meh.
- Expansion tank. The main hose underneath likes to tank and you get leaks.
- Bleed pipe. The thing with the bleeder screw on top can get cracks and cause problems.

Shouldn’t be too hard.

 

Now that its clean, start with a pressure test. You should be able to both see and hear the leak. If not, you can add UV dye and then you will definitely be able to see the leak.

 

Yes the expert took 2 minutes to say yep water pump, I’ll look into that brand of pump, it can’t be worse than Land Rover lol