2016 LR4 HSE, 100k miles, started to overheat today. A bit of background, in 2022 I had a an overheat with a sudden dump of all the coolant, fortunately it happened just after I shut it down on a drive so didn’t blow the engine. I had the outlet/crossover pipes replaced and also the supercharger coolant feed line. I dealt with a small coolant leak for a while, but eventually it all got figured out.

Fast forward to recent events, another slow coolant leak and had it towed to dealer, replaced the thermostat and vacuum pump, did not do valve cover gaskets due to outrageous costs. Drove home from dealer, soon thereafter I noticed the CV boot front left was open with no clamp on it. Forced some grease in there and drove about 6 miles to indy shop to have them replace axle assembly and seal. Engine light went on during the drive and when I got there noticed the engine was smoking/steaming. Coolant level appears to be normal.

This shop has been great at brakes, suspension, etc., but not a specialty shop. They hope to diagnose the issue and call me tomorrow.

I’ve maybe put 60 miles on it since t-stat replaced at dealer.

What should I do next? I’m hoping the smoking was just from grease from open CV boot hitting hot engine, but I doubt it, that would not turn check engine light on. However, in a perfect world maybe the check engine light came on because I’m at 99,385 miles and maybe it is a 100k maintenance reminder??? I know, just a pipe dream.

If indy shop can’t figure it out I’m looking at towing to dealer and not sure I’m up for that… trust issues and $$$ issues.

Any advice appreciated. I really want to keep this truck alive a few years for my daughter to drive, but my wife is going to shoot me if I keep dumping money in it.

 

have the indie shop or yourself, use a coolant system pressure tool to pressurize the system whilest not running the engine. That should help find the leak. Also factory coolant can be seen with uv light, so that may help isolate where the leak is. did you have the rear crossover replaced last time the fronts were done? waterpump?

 

Thanks for the info. Rear crossover and water pump have been done.

hear are the codes from the shop…

P0483 fan performance
P0528 fan speed
U0101 lost control
U0402 data tcm
P0346 camshaft position sensor b2

 

Hmm...

1) You also had a check engine light so that rules out the CV boot flinging grease up on the exhaust manifold heat shield.

2) So my bet is the coolant system wasnt bled properly after the t-stat was replaced. They're kinda a pain to bleed. It look me 2 days to figure out the correct routine after I replaced my t-stat. You can easily diagnose by turning up the heat and checking if it's blowing cold air. If so, you have an air bubble in your coolant which will definitely cause the car overheat. and if thats the case, whoever replaced the t-stat didnt properly road test it after. The dealer told me it can take 30+ mins to get the car up to temp to properly check after messing with the coolant system, but most people just drive around the block and call it fixed.

I had a similar situation on mine. I had my cross over pipes replaced as my mechanic assumed the low coolant was from that. I was driving home and had coolant spitting out my front grill. There was actually a puncture in the radiator that caused the low coolant, the mechanic just assumed it was the cross over.. So they replaced the wrong part and didnt realize it because they just drove around the block. Needless to say my relationship with that mechanic ended soon thereafter...

 

Thanks great advice, I'll try the heater check.

 

That fan performance code usually happens when the fan starts to rub on the shroud bristles that wee added on the V6 LR4 models. This normally occurs when the engine mount is sagging making the fan rub.

engine off, spin the fan to listen for rubbing.

to confirm bad engine mount, open hood, start car, put into drive, double feet on pedals, push down hard on brake, and rev engine. Driver side of engine will raise up showing broken engine mount.

good luck

 

Thanks for the reply. It blows warm air with the heater on.

 

The fan does not seem to rub when spinning manually, turns with about the same resistance as my D130 fan.

The engine mount test... engine seems to torque a bit, but does not seem to raise significantly.

Question about the fan however- it spun when I turned the car on, but stopped after about 15 seconds, could still (carefully) turn it manually. However, the silver "axle" part was still spinning without the fan spinning. Is this normal?

Thanks again!

 

not normal, your fan clutch is bad.

 

Thank you!!!

It looks like OEM fan and clutch assembly is $678, aftermarket is $235. Does it matter?

Do you have any idea on labor hours for shop to swap this out?

Thanks again.