Loosing a little bit of coolant

[Jimmy Brooks]

Hey guys, over the past couple of weeks that I’ve been driving my LR4 I’ve noticed a bit of coolant loss. Nothing crazy but over the last 1k miles I’ve noticed that it’s dropped into the middle of the two full lines on the expansion tank. The water pump was done around 75k miles and I have 146k on the clock right now so it could be time for a new one. Crossovers were done around 120k so I don’t expect it to be that. I’m going to order a black light and look around the engine for leaks but are there any other affective methods I should use or anything else I should look out for.

On another note all temps stay normal and the coolant builds pressure when the car is in use but before a cold start there will be little to no pressure when opening the expansion tank which is normal to my knowledge.

Let me know, thanks!

 

[powershift]

I smelt burning coolant in my LR4 while offroading the other day, but the level was the same the next day. Historically, I've been finding my leaks by looking for wet areas and tracing back to the source. A black light would be sweet.

 

[16FujiDisco]

Very interesting that you bring this up; before thanksgiving I thought I smelled coolant after a drive, coolant level dropped to halfway btw lines. Topped it off, kept an eye on it for a few days with no other changes. Went to Tulsa for thanksgiving (9hr drive), added just a splash more. Came home (9 hrs back) no change, and no change since with another 10hr round trip drive in December. Not sure if I freed a bubble or what; No other signs or symptoms.

Sometimes I feel like I smell coolant but never any change in levels. That’s the only change in level I’ve had in a year since last opening up the system to do super charger maintenance last Jan. Keep us posted on what you find, and I’ll check that on mine too

 

[Blueaz]

I had a little coolant leak with a small golf ball to baseball size circle on the driveway. Turns out the radiator had a pinhole leak. I wouldn't let any coolant leak on any Land Rover go unattended, especially not an LR4.

 

[RoverTide]

Chasing a coolant leak is brutal (There's a whole thread on my coolant leak adventure with solid help from this community). Blacklight and pressure tester is by far the best way to do it. I added dye, but your coolant may not need it. Slow leaks are obviously harder to pinpoint, and the hardest part will be shining the blacklight on the connections that are buried underneath or behind various engine parts, i.e. under and behind the intake manifold, under the throttle body, behind the water pump, behind hoses and pulleys on the front of the engine, etc. Depending on your comfort level (and resolve), removing parts may be helpful or necessary. In my case, the slow leak from the water pump outlet tube connector from the front of the engine was by far the hardest to find as it was hard to see with engine running and the coolant got thrown around by the drive belt, pulleys, and fan, and barely hit the skidplate... blacklight and pressure tester were key on that one (pics for reference).

 

[mm3846]

Very interesting that you bring this up; before thanksgiving I thought I smelled coolant after a drive, coolant level dropped to halfway btw lines. Topped it off, kept an eye on it for a few days with no other changes. Went to Tulsa for thanksgiving (9hr drive), added just a splash more. Came home (9 hrs back) no change, and no change since with another 10hr round trip drive in December. Not sure if I freed a bubble or what; No other signs or symptoms.

Sometimes I feel like I smell coolant but never any change in levels. That’s the only change in level I’ve had in a year since last opening up the system to do super charger maintenance last Jan. Keep us posted on what you find, and I’ll check that on mine too

I smell coolant here and there on my truck, I added maybe a quart of it 2 years ago and it hasn’t lost any since.

 

[powershift]

High tech coolant tracking. Its like the Forensic Files TV show where they track blood with special light and chemicals.

 

[djkaosone]

Bet none of you ever seen a leak like this. Found this beauty of a leak at the radiator mount. I guess I drive so hard that its ripping the mount off the radiator. New radiator on its way, but w t f! Leaks can come from anywhere.

 

[f1racer328]

The cooling system of this vehicle is its achilles heel.

And people think its the timing chain. Seems almost weekly that there is a post (here, the other LR forum, or the Facebook group) about a LR4 committing suicide due to overheating.

 

[ktm525]

Bet none of you ever seen a leak like this. Found this beauty of a leak at the radiator mount. I guess I drive so hard that its ripping the mount off the radiator. New radiator on its way, but w t f! Leaks can come from anywhere.

View attachment 24211

A 13 year old cooling system built entirely of plastic? I am sure it seemed like a good idea at the time it was designed to use plastic but the whole thing is likely rotten.