So over the past week I noticed that my coolant wasnt staying at the same level consistantly as it had been. So the other day I fill it and I thought all was well in the world. Now I have been hearing a sound of water moving around behind the dash and my coolant is again low. There is no coolant leaking externally from around the engine or under the rover, although I can smell coolant everytime I step out of the car. What do you guys think before I start tearing things apart.

Thanks
Kyle

 

1. Don't start tearing things apart.

2. Review cooling system area in the RAVE tech manual. Free download below.

3. Rent/borrow a cooling system tester from auto parts store, test up to 20 PSI for say 30 minutes.

4. Coolant is going somewhere. And the bad news is that it could be out the exhaust pipe. What you hear are bubbles going through the heater core, coolant water circulates through there at all times when running, even if heat is off. We're talking head gasket, and bubbles from exhaust gas.

5. Before taking a wrench to it, you can buy a chemical test for combustion gas in coolant from autoparts store, which is proof that HG is leaking. Sometimes it leaks externally, sometimes it crosses over and gets into the oil. You'll want to inspect the oil fill opening for milky oil.

6. HG work, as you know, can be done by a determined DIY. Parts require gasket kit and new bolts (they are one use stretch style), $200 - $300; may need head tested for flatness and machined if needed, another $200.

7. This can warp the heads when overheating, result in a slipped liner, even block erosion, etc. You can vent the bubbles at the bleed screw but they may keep returning.

8. Of course, could be a loose hose allowing the air to get in and coolant out, if you have not had any overheating, white smoke from rear, or coolant in oil.

9. But it went somewhere. And if you delay resolving it could be bigger problem.

10. Think long and hard before reachinng for a bottle of "stopz leekz". It might fix it for a short term, so you can limp home or marshal your resources; but it won't last, and can make things worse. You'll use maybe a ball bearing sized chunk of material to fill the leak. The rest of the bottle will settle into the low vertical places on the cooling system, the radiator and the thermostat. With more passages clogged up, more overheating.

BTW - you are the right age for a water pump, seen any pulley wobble or external leak?

 

First you should stop driving it until you get it straighten out, that being said.
you need to fill your cooling system and bleed it, the noise your hearing is air in the cooling system running thru your heater.
Once you have filled it and properly bleed all the air out of the system, you need to preasure test the system to 20 psi. with 20 psi on the system start wiggling the hoses and clamps, you will probably find your leak.
Common leak locations are at hoses, clamps, water pump, throttle body heater.

 

I now see fluid coming from just above the starter...?

Update: So even when I am turning and hear water moving from one side to the other, that is just air bubbles. So I went out and started it up again and turned the heater up full blast (it had been blowing cold air) after a while it started blowing hot again and came down to its normal temp. What the hell???? could it be clogged and something just broke free?

 

One other thing I wanted to add that may help...I do not have any white smoke coming from the exhaust, and I just changed the oil yesterday and it looked normal...not milky.

Savannah Buzz, it is leaking from the 2-3 area on the pdf you posted

 

those are your Hose Heater In/Out hoses $15 at british atlantic, have the rest of your hose been changes out yet?

 

No smoke and no milk good. Heater will do strange things because there is a lot of air bubbles in the system, air does not transfer heat like water does (you can walk outside on a 100 degree day, put put your hand in 100 degree water and you really see the differnce). The bubbles get trapped in the big hose with the bleeder valve, forming a long bubble. When you turn, it dips far enough to get the trapped pocket of gas pulled into the circulating water.

Stop driving. Fix leeks you found, but don't stop there. Bleed air. Borrow coolant tester. Pump it up and wiggle and twist things, and look for where it comes out. You are hoping to find a clamp or bad hose. 2 and 3 on that page are the pipes going to the heater core, they will have water in them flowing 100% of the time when engine is turning, just not as much pressure or flow as rest of system. See what you can do with hose clamps, etc.

Once one hose reaches dry rot condition , others may not be not far behind. You can go thru this every time, or all at once.

 

Those in/out hoses towards that back of the engine...how do I go about getting those out. Do I need to take apart the top of the engine to get to them? I still cant see quiet where the leak is coming from.

I ordered some parts yesterday from Atlantic British...
-In/out hoses
-T-stat

I need to replace all the hoses soon. Just too many things came up all at once.

 

One day many of us would like to see a picture of the inside of your D1 engine compartment....

These may be called the heater feed and return hoses, and there may be an O ring invlolved. See pages from RAVE, hope this helps.