Low coolant. No leak?

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

cperez

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Posts
1,720
Reaction score
794
Location
Bethesda, Maryland, USA
When you said @cperez
That you dodged a major bulllet, what did that mean exactly ?

Hi, as you've probably seen, both @Troy Angrignon and @Quijote perfectly explained what I meant!

Re the cause of your overheat, my gut take is that the accidental gear shift didn't cause it, unless you over-revved the engine for a significant amount of time while it was in neutral. You said that you quickly noticed and shifted back to Drive. I'm not sure that a quick episode like that would cause an instant water pump failure unless it was already compromised. It may remain a mystery unfortunately.

But let's accentuate the positive: Welcome to the group!
 

Zazie2020

New Member
Joined
Feb 27, 2020
Posts
1
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles
Hi All,

I just joined this forum as a new LR4 owner and have been following the insights on this thread as I also am having a coolant leak on my 2016 LR4. I purchased the car a few months ago from a
Private seller with a Precision First Elite plus extended warranty. I love the car and it has been running beautifully, but a few weeks ago the low coolant light came on. I took it in right away to the mechanics who have worked on our BMWs to have a look. They said coolant level was low and they did a pressure test but could not find any signs of a leak. Filled it back up and said to come back if light came on again. Well, The light came on a few days ago so I brought it back in for an overnight pressure test. They still could not find the source but did see traces of coolant under the intake manifold. They suspect a hose (which of course is one of the few things my warranty will not cover :/) and next want to take off the intake manifold cover to make a better diagnosis. They are estimating $2000 ++ for this with a lot of it being the time it takes to take off the intake cover to make a diagnosis. Does anyone know what the average number of hours of labor it usually takes for this? Are there parts in the LR4 in the coolant system that are prone to issues? I’ve read some things about the water pump, but they don’t think that is the problem. Any other suggestions for diagnostics that could be done with less expensive labor involved to make the diagnosis or general advice would be much appreciated. I’m thinking now of taking to a dealer but assuming costs will be even higher. As a woman, I’m trying to educate myself so
I’m not going in blind. Thank you!!!!
 

ktm525

Full Access Member
Joined
Mar 26, 2017
Posts
2,596
Reaction score
1,262
Location
alberta
Sounds like crossover pipe which is under intake manifold. Very expensive price quote but if it comes with new water pump then less so.
 

avslash

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2011
Posts
1,255
Reaction score
1,101
Location
The Lone Star State
Agree that it sounds like it is almost certainly the crossover pipe.

Do a search here and you will see that they are very prone to issues. IMO, they should be considered a wear item and replaced on a schedule of roughly every 50K miles regardless of whether their is a current issue or not.

It is not actually a hose, if that helps with your warranty situation. It a hard plastic pipe. There is one at the front of the engine, and another at the rear.

$2,000 to pull the intake is flat out nuts. It's 14 bolts IIRC, unhook the throttle body, and lift. For $2,000 I would be expecting a new water pump and new front/rear crossover pipes. If you are mechanically inclined at all, it is not a difficult job. You don't say how many miles you have, but if it is over 50K I would do the waterpump and both pipes and worry about it again in another 50K.
 

Strizzo

Full Access Member
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Posts
56
Reaction score
19
Location
Texas
I had a similar issue recently, always seemed like i was smelling a coolant leak with the truck running but the coolant level never moved. then it would drop by a 1/4 or 1/2" when hot now and then but i could also drive 6 hours and have it not budge. had my indy mechanic take a look when he was doing the diffs, trans, and tcase fluids and he found a small leak at the water pump, but not the usual connection at the rear, but the fitting that connects at the front of the pump. They then ended up replacing the hose that connects to the pump and also had to replace the o-rings in the quick connect on the other end as well as they had become hard and leaked after the pipe replacement.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
36,223
Posts
217,593
Members
30,473
Latest member
OnoA
Top