Hello. Bought my (first) '03 LR Disco II SE7 about 6 months ago. It needed a lot of work and I have replaced spark plugs & wires, water pump, throttle body heater hose, thermostat, and (most recently) timing cover gasket, timing chain and oil pump gearset. Still learning about Land Rovers and the forum has been a big help. I now have coolant dripping out of the passenger-side frame rail about half-way down in the middle of the vehicle. It's the strangest thing. Since I'm new to LandRovers, at first I thought there might be a rear heater and rear heater hoses; but I learned that it's only rear AC. It left a stain about 6"-9" wide. And since it's leaking coolant, the reservoir is low, as a result. Any idea on how coolant is entering the frame rail and traveling half-way down the car and the originating source of the leak? I've searched the forum a few times for this - with no luck. Any ideas? Any help and/or suggestions are very much appreciated. Thanks.

 

Holes in top and bottom of frame are for just that, water to get out.
Most of your hoses as well as the res and heater hoses are above it. a pressure test would easily find the source. Uv additive is also a helper in finding leaks.
Your Ac condensation also drains right at the cat locations near frame. Are you sure that is not what you are seeing?

 

if your sure it coolant you should pressure test the system, checking the recovery tank and all its connections that the only thing i can think of that would allow coolant to run down the frame rail.

 

It's definitely coolant and will borrow a coolant pressure test kit. I'm glad that (for now) it does not look like it's a head gasket as no coolant is hitting the pavement near the engine compartment. I'm certainly no mechanic; so thank you for the (2) quick replies. (Forgot to mention 108k miles.) -Gunther

 

Inspect your overflow tank and cap frequently. I have a new cap on the way right now because of deteriorating plastic around the o-ring at the bottom. It allows a small amount of coolant to escape through the pressure relief. The plastic is prone to get brittle.

 

Planning to check the overflow tank and the various hoses in that area after work, tonight. (I printed the cooling system diagram from RAVE.) With the amount of coolant that was dripping/leaking, I can't imagine that it would be difficult to detect.

Also, is it normal that there is pressure in the resevoir when unscrewing the coolant resevoir cap - even after the car sits overnight?

Thanks again for the helpful suggestions.

 

If you have some pressure when you unscrew the cap after sitting overnight...I would suspect that your cooling system is holding it's pressure good (mine does this too). If you had a leaking hose or etc., I would think your pressure would bleed off?

 

Check the small plastic hose that connects on the bottom of the coolant reservoir. The plastic nipple on the reservoir that the hose connects to cracks easy and is a common spot that the tank will crack. It is easy to crack that nipple if the tank is old and you lift the tank up to try and bleed the system, twist and bend the hose trying to remove it, or you replace the clamp with a common hose clamp and over tighten it. The coolant will drip down the hose, on to the shock tower and down the frame.

Also, When I changed my coolant some got suck down in the frame and took a few days for it to all drip out. It had me thinking I had a small leak when I would come out in the morning and see a few coolant drops from the frame under the radiator.

 

I checked the overflow tank and "sure enough" it was leaking from the bottom of the resevoir, traveling down a wire harness and then along (and in) the passenger frame rail. When removing the bottom hose, the entire nipple cracked off. Planning to order a new tank in the morning. "Thanks again" to all for responding and for the helpful information/suggestions.

 

i might suggest getting a LR one or a used one, I went threw 2 of those cheap copies off ebay. also i believe they charge a lot more for 03-04 tanks and i don't know if there is a real difference.