Good evening (sorry to post this on Christmas of all days..)

but I have a major coolant leak that is coming from somewhere on the passenger side on the lower front of the engine next to the oil filter. I originally found out about the leak while driving when white smoke was coming from coolant that was sprayed around the engine bay. Engine performance warnings appeared and the rig itself limped back home several miles.
Now that I've had time to take a look at it, the leak itself probably bleeds almost a full tank of coolant within 10-15 minutes. I took the metal plates below the engine to look up and see where it was coming from and managed to take a few pictures and a small video with my cell phone. (I'm unfamiliar with many of the locations of parts minus the alternator which I have replaced myself some 6 months ago.) The rig itself has less than 80k miles on it, and is out of warranty.
Any diagnosis I of what I would need to replace would be appreciated.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas!

 

1. Shop manual is in a free download below. Varies by engine, here is link for the 4.0 https://www.cubby.com/pl/LR3+worksho...ooling-%204.0L

2. When parts stores re-open, many loan tools, like the coolant pressure tester. You pump it up to 18 PSI and wait, the leak shows up and is easier to find when it is steady, cold, and not blowing all over the place.

3. Don't be driving with this kind of coolant loss as you won't like price of new engine.

 

Savannah Buzz, thanks! I will take a look at the manual.

 

sorry to resurrect an old thread. i'm curious where the coolant leak was--i assume you figured it out?

 

I assume the engine was borked based on the fact that he 'limped' it home.

If you ever have a cooling issue on one of these... Immediately stop and flatbed it home or to your shop. Unless of course it is something you can fix yourself, burst hose, cracked bleeder T, etc.

 

Thanks to all the contributors to this thread, and my apologies for res-surging this old thread issue. I have had a coolant leak situation that has become somewhat of a journey. This thread gives the most current description to my issue. Here are the technical aspects.
LR3 2005 SE 4.4L V8, approximately 167K miles.
This is my second vehicle that I purchased off of a private owner, who was going to send her to the Junk Yard (I know, how blasphemous), and so it was assumed to have some issues. The major issues stemmed from a sunroof and cow leak, creating substantial electrical issues. Just as I remedied one of the final issues (no radio sound), I had an indication of the Coolant Level Being Low....

1. Checked the Coolant Reservoir and then filled it. Two (2) days later it ran low again. Began to resource my online Land Rover bibles, and changed the thermostat housing and water pump.
2. Ran the engine for about 10 minutes and no leaking from any areas. Drove around the block and the leaking was fairly constant. The leaking came from up under the passenger side of the lower front engine area, as described in the initial thread line. Those pictures seem to be identical to what I saw.
3. I can honestly say, I did not properly bleed the system when doing my repairs. The top portion of the cooling system (hoses, water pump, housing etc) appears to be bone dry.

I will be bleeding the system, as it is described/instructed in the manual, and would like to know if there is another area that I should consider. I ordered a bleeder valve to switch out as well, and I am at a loss after that. DFW_Landy, did you ever find out what was causing your leak. I believe I have an identical situation.

 

I'm not the OP but I will tell you my experience with this:

If you aren't actually seeing any new leaks after changing out your water pump and thermostat housing, -- if all you're seeing is loss of coolant in your espansion tank -- you may not have properly filled the system with new fluid. If all you did is fill your expansion reservoir, then your hoses are probably dry (especially behind the thermostat) and only when the thermostat opens is it drawing in fluid from the tank. This means most of your hoses are still filled with air.

The manual tells you how to properly fill your coolant system using the bleeder t-valve.

In my case, one of the failures in my cooling system was when the t-valve actually broke and leaked so I replaced the bleeder valve with a brass hose coupler from the local ace hardware, so it can't crack and break ever again--but it means i have no bleeder valve now.

The way I filled the system (also a quicker way than using the bleeder valve, although the bleeder valve method is the only way to be sure you have gotten out all air bubbles) is to disconnect a couple of hoses and pour the coolant directly into the hoses until it starts coming out the other opening the disconnected hose mates to. Do this in a couple places with a couple hoses (i can't remember which ones exactly not looking at it right now--but it's pretty intuitive. if you can't figure out which ones let me know and i'll take a picture). Then, make sure your reservoir is filled to the proper level. Run it for a while drive around town and check the coolant level periodically for a few days. While the engine is warm and the cooling system is under pressure, occasionally you can release the pressure screw on the expansion tank to release any air that it pressurizes into the expansion tank. (open it just enough until you hear/see air coming out and let it vent until it starts sending fluid out and then close it again). You will probably see some but not a lot of loss in the expansion tank for the first couple days, after that it should be good. I've thought about buying a bleeder valve from britishpartsofutah.com (for example) for $15 and installing it temporarily to properly bleed it and then swapping it back out for the brass one, but I've never gotten around to it.

 

After I placed my post in this thread, it was a very humbling coming to Jesus moment, as I sat in reflection thinking about how I did such a half a$$ed job refilling the system. So concern with the mechanical components, and not giving any attention to the specifications and just how finicky Disco's can be. I did some research on the bleeder valve, and went to inspect mine, and saw that I did not have one. The previous owner had done a horrid patch job of coupling the two hoses with a plastic tubing.
I will be doing a more precise coolant refill tomorrow, taking your advice and instruction as well as referencing the manual instruction on refilling the cooling system. Thanks PROSLAMBANOMENOS for the informational uplift. I got too excited in the other resurrecting successes I had with this truck, and really ignored the finer detail of this issue.
Can't say enough how this community is such an invaluable resource.

 

For anyone that has these issues again, or needs to bleed. You do not need to use the T bleeder thing.

Process is: don't touch the bleed screws or bleeder valve at the top of the block, BUT keep the coolant expansion tank cap off. Make sure everything is connected and closed up vis-a-vis the hoses, then fill her up.

Start the engine and run gradually up to 3000rpm for a few minutes until it warms enough to open the thermostat. When that happens it will suck coolant down and flush most of the air out of the system. Shut the engine off immediately after the t stat opens (either you put your hand on the hose after the t stat and feel it open-hot fluid will rush through it, or you have a friend do it) and top off coolant as necessary (loop needs to have the stat open to burp itself). Repeat once or twice more. You should see no bubbles in the coolant return. Then put the cap on. If you have a diagnostic tool the correct temp for the t stat to open is around 197F.

 

Just wanted to salute the contributors to this string with a bit of success and deep gratitutde. DavC, after doing the bleed properly, I was placing the LH cover back on, and saw a slow stream, similar to that of a young kid w/ a runny nose, who was playing too long in the snow. This leak was facing one of the pully wheels of the engine space, and there was no way I would have seen this from the top of the engine space. Chuckling like a drunk bear, I could only shake my head.....knowing that this discovery only was made possibly from doing a proper bleed process. Thanks again, and here is the pic of the Lower Hose tubing, leading into the oil cooler, that I had to switch out:

View from the LH panel, glance of the trail of leaky hose.

Close up look at the trickle in action, facing and being shielded by a pully wheel.