Yesterday my wife took the truck out when she got home she said, "Hey the truck temperture went into the red" She said she pulled over right away and shut the truck off....she even got out the truck and felt the hood she said...lol...Then she started it back up and after a files miles it went red again and she continued to drive home...for about maybe 5 miles.

When I popped the hood I noticed the resevior was dry. So I filled it with 50/50. Drove it a little then toped it off again.

What is the likley hood of any serious damage that could have been done? What could have happend to the collant? I check for possible leaks...and...I'm not getting any water coming out of the exhaust....just a little white smoke at start up ..not while driving...but I think its been doing that...

I know eventually the heads are going to need to come off on this truck...Just out of curiosity how much would I been in for for a head gasket job aprox?

 

I forgot to mention that so far since I topped it back up no more overheating....

 

Just to make sure I told you. NEVER, EVER, EVER! Drive you Land Rover when the temp gets above normal EVER!!!!!!!! Not to freak you out, but you could have dropped a sleeve. Overheating the engine once or twice is all it takes. Hopefully it is just a gasket or something even smaller. Getting your head gaskets done can cost anywhere from $1000 to $2000. I think my local shop quoted me $600, so I know where to go when mine start leaking . If the engine stopped over heating after you added coolant, then there is a leak somewhere and you need to find it. I would also check your oil for any coolant, and have your exhaust tested for it as well.

 

Thanks for the reply Scott, I drove the truck all over the place today and the resevior is still good. Not sure what the hell happend to the coolant before. But yeah there probably is a slow leak somewhere. The truck has 93k I know its a matter of time before the heads need to come off. I have all the tools to do the job but I'm a little scared to tackle it. Not sure how much out of my scope the job will be....Also I'm thinking once I get th heads off...its probably a good idea to do the water pump as well. Do you reccomend do any other seals. Like most RRs mine leaks oil as well...mostly from the valve covers so thats a given when the heads off...But also looks like it may be coming from the front...not sure what seal that is...maybe crankshaft seal..not sure...

I think for the short term I will just change the oil and ATF...lol ...I heard overheating can break down your tranny fluid so prob a good idea to flush and refill....

URGHHH THIS TRUCK !!

 

The service manual gives great info on the engine and how it is designed. I have not done the head gaskets on mine, but the hardest part of the job looks like removing the intake chamber and detaching all the electric stuff on top. The rest of it does not seem so bad. Just takes some time and patience. However, it does not look like a weekend job at all. It'd probably take me 2 weeks to a month depending on how busy I am. The nice thing about these engines, is they use push rods, so you don't have to mess with the timing chain like you do on many newer engines.

I would check for coolant leaks, as you might have an intermittent one. I would also pull the spark plugs to see if there are any cylinders that are steam cleaned or have any signs of coolant.

 

Hey, same thing happened to me, with mysterious missing coolant. No white smoke, the oil looked like oil and not chocolate milk, but wherever the leak was, it wasn't leaving a trail in my garage. Yet somehow it could drink 1 liter of coolant every third tank of gas (about 700-800 miles). I finally found some green coming from one of the transmission cooler lines, but it wouldn't drip. So I decided to start the engine and just watch it while it warmed up. Once the engine got hot and the pressure built up in the cooling system, the leak started dripping. So apparently wherever I go I leave a paper trail of hulk blood.

Wish I could say it's an easy fix, but I haven't even tried yet, I just keep the res topped up. But if you can't find your leak, you might look at your transmission cooler lines like I did.

 

The transmisison cooler lines do not hold engine coolant, just making sure that is clear. They should be holding the transmission fluid that they cool. Your radiator has most likely developed a leak and is leaking coolant onto the coolers.

 

Scott is right, just beacuse you see coolant there it does not mean it is where the leak is. You could also have a leak in the head gaslet that sprays and evaporate but not drip, and it will only do it when hot so you will possibly never see it.

 

Yeah, I wondered why they trans would carry coolant instead of ATF, but that's as far as I traced the green drip. The trans cooler line is dry above the drip, so I figured I'd found the leak. I will be more diligent and inspect the radiator, thanks!

(Sorry for bad advice I left earlier)

 

Have you checked the passenger side floor, heater core or orings are common also.