Coolant level warning light?

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Albert Stix

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A few times in the last month our 2011 LR4 has turned up with the coolant level low in the tank under the hood. The light came on the first time and I topped off the tank to the “cold fill level”. There’s nothing under the car when it sits for a day or so and I don’t notice any fluid under the car when it is at idle for a while or when we return from a drive. I’m not seeing any smoke from the exhaust so I’m wondering where the coolant it going? Any thoughts or help would be appreciated.
 

ryanjl

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Coolant crossover pipe or the water pump. Both in the front of the engine.

Do a search on here for both. There are many threads on it.
 

Stuart Barnes

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Also the cold fill level is the lower level, put a bit more in to take the coolant to the next line. It’s about an inch above.

It’ll give you a bit more reserve.

I have the same issue, crossovers (manifold) pipes and water pump etc all being done next week.
 

MJ HARRY

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I saw a video on youtube saying the float sensor on the reservoir could be bad. He had low coolant indicator pop on the dash but coolant was full. He replaced the entire reservoir which includes the sensor on the bottom. Might that too.
 

99d2td5

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Roughly how much are you topping it up and how often?

When the reserve bottle sensor fails the coolant level is ok, just the system can’t read it as the sensor float sinks to the bottom so reports it as low.
 

Albert Stix

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The car just returned from a St. Louis to Des Moines and return trip. I noticed it was low again before it left so I filled it back to a bit over the high Cold Level. It was low again this evening, the warning light came on again. I guess the thing to do is let it sit in one spot running for a while and see if it leaks and then start looking at the water pump and crossover pipes.
 

jlglr4

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You could also try to get a look down into the valley of the motor where the crossover usually gives out. There is a little space next to the oil filter where you can just barely see down in with a flashlight, or a boroscope if you have one. If you can see any orange residue, it’s a surefire sign of a leak. Of course, not seeing anything doesn’t necessarily rule it out.
 

gsxr

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A more conclusive test would be using a cooling system pressure tester. Pump it up to ~10psi or so and start looking for leaks, along with monitoring the gauge. It should hold steady pressure. If pressure drops more than ~1psi, or continually drops, there is a leak somewhere... and as jlglr4 mentioned, the crossover pipes & water pump are top of the suspect list.
 

Shinobi

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Clearly it's not a bad float valve, and whoever said that didn't read that you are actively having to refill the reservoir, thus showing clearly that you're definitely losing coolant.

I have exact same problem with my LR3 right now, and it's 100% the water pump leaking for me. Doesn't leave a pool or evidence of anything when parked, it mostly goes out very slowly when driving/operating the pump.

The fix here is to replace the water pump. You might as well replace the belts and the hoses while this job is done too since a bit has to be taken out anyways.

You don't want your water pump failing or blowing a huge coolant leak unexpectedly which could majorly strand you or even put your engine at risk.

A water pump, belt, and new hose/coolant job ought to last you a good chunk of years and mileage and peace of mind.
 

Albert Stix

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I took it to my long time friend and shop owner who has lots of experience working on vintage cars, particularly British ones. I should have showed him this forum post (and a few of the other posts on this subject) because I’m not sure we covered the crossover manifolds. I’ll check with him on Tuesday. The water pump was certainly leaking so he replaced it and the “coolant pipe behind the water pump”, serpentine belt and fan belt.
 

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