Another LR4 Saved from Coolant Death

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furbeerl

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I just used my dealer warranty for the first time with what I was told was 2 weeks remaining (win). I'd just had a service and long trip prep the week before a 10 hour trip and mentioned having to add coolant a couple times recently and to check for leaks. I was going on a 10 hour trip. After this service the amber no-ECO light came on but we had to start a long trip.

During the trip with the extra weight the computer estimate was way off and I ran out of gas on the turnpike 2.5 miles from the service center. As I headed out for the center for gas a Christian pulled over and gave me gas and refused money. He carries fuel for that purpose, I love Christians and I'm considering carrying fuel on the rack to pass on the favor.

Afterwards, while refilling gas I notice vapors from the hood but there was a light drizzle but also the smell of coolant was apparent at the next refueling. You guessed it, during the trip the 2015 LR4 was using more and more coolant and my destination was in hill country. The local dealership was 2 hours away from my in-laws.

After Christmas, I arrived and the second dealership who later diagnosed a bunch of coolant issues including a water pump but also front and back coolant manifolds were cracked, hoses, and all the belts has absorbed coolant and were now slipping (I heard it slip just before arrival). The coolant warnings didn't come on because I stopped frequently to top off, I know what coolant smells like. Fought the coolant wars on my 1998 Discovery, still have it with 230,000 miles original engine.

The bill was $5,500.00 with a number of items not typically covered however the service record indicated the first dealership was supposed to check for leaks so they covered everything except the battery for the ECO but it was weird this ECO issue started right after the service. So the battery was the only thing I had to pay for but ouch that was still over $400.

Another weird thing is the LR service manager said she'd only seen one crossover fail and at nearly 200k miles but she'd seen many front and rear coolant manifolds go bad when the plastic starts developing cracks. The many page long document/bill for the service said these were coolant manifolds. So have we been calling crossover pipes and coolant manifolds the same thing? Plastic seems a weird material to stick between a head and a supercharger. Don't think I'll be 3D printing that part unless until metal 3D printers are affordably priced! If these are relatively short lived like 5 years perhaps there will be a metal version by then or I'll CNC one. I did 3D print some parts for the 1998 like the door lock cam.

I'm now thinking of an extended warranty since mine is expiring soon. Any suggestions?
 

jlglr4

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Coolant crossover and coolant manifolds are the same thing. On the later cars, the front crossover is actually two pipes, one that goes across the engine horizontally that connects to another Y-shaped “manifold” into the block. I guess maybe that manager refers to the top pipe as the crossover and the lower Y-pipe as the manifold.

Glad you caught it before it let go completely, and great that the dealer covered those costs. But $5500, seem crazy high for the work that was done.

When I bought my car (used) and before the warranty ran out, I looked into extended warranties. LR wanted something like $6K - I passed. I don’t like to wait until things break down, and a warranty won’t cover things until they break.
 

f1racer328

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What year is your rover?

Usually the front + rear crossover pipe replacement isn't too expensive to DIY.
 

f1racer328

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It's 2015 LR4, and yea I thought 5500 was nuts.
Sorry I forgot to ask, how many miles as well?

I had my crossover pipes replaced once already but am planning on doing it again as preventative maintenance in the future. Just trying to get another idea of how long they lasted for someone.

At least you didn't have a catastrophic failure.
 

jlglr4

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The repair is significantly more expensive (and just more of a PITA for the DIY) on the SCV6 than on the V8 because the supercharger has to come off to get to the pipes, which means draining the coolant, disconnecting a ton of tubes and sensors, etc. Even at that, $5500 is nuts. I’ve seen reports of the V8 repair costing about $1K, and the SCV6 at $2K+. Not sure if those were dealer prices or indy repair shops.

I changed mine at 52K, and the front manifold pipe was totally degraded where it meets the block. The rest of the pipe looked like brand new. Rear crossover looked fine.
 

Quijote

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I changed mine at 52K, and the front manifold pipe was totally degraded where it meets the block. The rest of the pipe looked like brand new. Rear crossover looked fine.

I'm planning on doing mine this fall when I'll be at 8 years and 50k miles.

I had that weird low coolant situation over 2 years ago and nothing since, so I hope it will be fine until then.
 

DaytonaRS7

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Just curious: Is there any way to visually inspect for the degradation? Ie, see the problem before it goes too far?
not usually.
the rear pipe is almost impossible to see at all.
the front pipe is mostly covered by the intake manifold (or supercharger). its this portion of the pipe, that you cant see, that deteriorates from heat.
 

AGLR4

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Just curious: Is there any way to visually inspect for the degradation? Ie, see the problem before it goes too far?
Agree with Daytona. Even if you could see the outside it would probably look fine. Mine looked fine on the outside, but was soft and breaking down from the inside out.
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