so over the last 2 days I have had to do alot of driving, roughly 3 - 400 miles. Today (temp here was mid 80's) after most of this driving was done I stopped for some lunch and I noticed coolant dripping (pretty steady drips but not pouring out) from what appeared to be the bottom of the radiator on the battery side (I didn't actually look under the truck or hood so if there is an overflow drain there it could have been from there or a hose). I first thought it was from the AC as I had that on in the front and back, but it had the green coolant look to it. By the looks of it it dripped a total of maybe 2 or 3 cups of fluid and then stopped. I had the waterfall sound behind the glove box a few weeks back so I topped off the fluid and bled the air out of the system. drove the truck a few miles more and the temp guage stayed steady and have not noticed any more leaking.
I am planning to check the coolant level this evening after the truck cools down, is there anything else I should check while I am at it?

 

Don't check it, wait till the engine is cold and fully bleed all the air from the coolant system, recheck it in the morning, make sure the coolant is all the way up to the cap, not the line and then go have someone pressure test the system before you toast the engine.

 

what color is your expansion tank? black or clear?

 

black

 

Change it. They are prone to cracking. Look at you tank first. Let's see if Mike agrees with this one....

 

LR uses a 100% sealed cooling system, there is no overflow tube.
If you put to much coolant in the tank you can over pressurize it and it will split, the correct coolant level is just above the "X" that is inside the tank.
And like OKDGuy said, those expansion tanks are prone to splitting at the seams.

 

Like Spike 555 said, the tanks can/will split. I ordered one thinking mine had split but it was just leaking. I kept it and I'm just waiting for my tank to explode. =)

I keep hearing 2 ways on filling the tank...

Disco Mike's way = All the way to the cap.

and

Spike555/ RAVE/ Owner's manual way = To the MAX level mark .

Why the discrepancy?

On my 2003 Discovery there IS an over flow pipe that allows excessive pressure and coolant to vent out BUT there is NO over flow pipe DI coolant tanks. It is in the RAVE manual unless I mis-read it.

 

I go by the owners manual, it says NOT to fill the expansion tank to the top, I believe LR engineers over anybody else, no offense to anyone else but they designed and built it so I figure they know alittle more than me.
As for the DII fill level, I do not know, do what your owners manual says.

 

when I topped it off I went to the middle of the tank (I guess the seam), it only took a few cups (close to what leaked out) I guess my concern would be why did only a small amount leak out? if I cracked the tank or a hose or something I would imagine once pressurized again it would continue to leak, but it seems ok now(I was thinking maybe the excessive driving and the outside heat caused it). I am still going to look into it.

 

What I believe Disco Mike meant by filling it to the top is really to accommodate for the loss of coolant that has taken place already. Filling it to the top before bleeding the system will actually help in the bleeding process and after that is done, the level could be made right. Regarding the D2, there is an over flow valve in the cap and a short plastic line for releasing the extra coolant.
Bleeding the system is relatively easy.