Low coolant. No leak?

[Quijote]

We drove 300+ miles to Montreal yesterday. Drive was as smooth as can be. This morning I turn on the LR4 and I get a low coolant warning. A quick check shows an absolutely bone-dry engine compartment and coolant level at the bottom of the plastic reservoir. Shame on me for not carefully checking the coolant level in a long while.

Anyway, I got a ride to the local LR dealer and bought the LR coolant and topped it off. I’ll check tomorrow.

I hope all is well at least until I get back home.

I know my Volvo V70R oddly consumed coolant with no leaks at all. I know all about the dodgy water pump and the crack-prone crossover pipe on the LR4, but have you guys just had the coolant level drop with no leaks?

I’ll put it up on the lift when I get home. At least I have another 1.5+ gallons left to top off as needed.

 

[cperez]

I just had this happen to me but the drop in level was not that significant. However, it got one of my indy techs to notice it and explore further and he discovered a leaking water pump. He said it was so subtle that he wouldn't even call it a leak, it was more like a seep. I said that I hadn't seen a drop of any type of fluid under my Rover ever. I then learned that the fluid was drying and congealing on the bottom of the pump before it hit the ground. They told me I had dodged a major bullet. I got the pump and related pipes replaced. My '13 has 47K on it and I don't think the water pump had ever been replaced.

 

[Quijote]

Hmmm. Interesting.

I may be looking at something similar.

I drove it tonight for a few miles. I’ll keep an eye on it and hope to make it home with no incidents. I’ll check the underside on the lift when I get home. My LR4 just crossed 33k miles during the trip (late 2013 build).

 

[BBLR3]

Mine did the same a while back. Nothing obvious that I could see; similar to cperez's symptoms. Topped it off with distilled water and went on my way. When I did my water pump recently, there was coolant on the bottom of the water pump so it was definitely leaking (82K miles). Just took a long time to get to the point that the warning light came on.

 

[Quijote]

Ok. Well, I’m not afraid of the work and I have 3 cars so I will just bang it out one of these weekends if I inspect underneath and there are any signs of a leak.

It sucks to have this happen after only 33k miles, but it is over 5 years old.

Thanks guys.

At least it does seem like I should make it home with no problems.

 

[cperez]

Just took a long time to get to the point that the warning light came on.

I should add that my warning light never came on and my temp gauge never went above normal running temp. It was almost completely asymptomatic other than the very small drop in coolant level that the tech noticed during a routine check...during a front end brake job! When I got it fixed later that week, the pump, front crossover pipe, and another pipe toward the back of the engine were also replaced.

Long story but I got the repair done at a different shop than the one that diagnosed it. When I went to pick it up, that tech said "the guy who picked up that leak saved your ass!"

 

[ktm525]

Just pop the engine cover and have a good look at the pump with a strong light. When my first pump leaked it was congealing before hitting the ground. Lots of pink crust. The second pump let go with a puddle on the ground.

 

[TrinidadLR4]

When I bought mine a month ago, it threw a low coolant level warning the next morning. I added a bit of distilled water and it went away and hasn't re-appeared since. If the WP is seeping, I guess I better keep checking...

 

[cperez]

I keep seeing references to distilled water to top off the coolant level. When my leak was detected, I was told to get a supply of Dexcool XLC to use as needed until the pump was replaced. Is distilled water just an emergency fallback solution if coolant isn't available? Just curious...

 

[TrinidadLR4]

If it's a small top off, I use distilled water, as tap water leaves deposits in the cooling system. For a major top off, you want to use coolant(premixed 50/50, ideally) because too much water in the system will increase chances of freezing when it's cold. In my case, I had no idea what coolant was already in there so didn't want to mix.