Freelander 1 Coolant woes

Hi all. Just joined although I'm on my 4th Freelander. Basically I'm after some technical advice from all you specialists or empathysers. So I just bought a freelander 1.8 on a R reg. Great service history but the expansion tank was cracked and that was the reason the seller gave to it boiling over. Obviously I bought on the side of caution so got a fair price. Replaced the expansion tank and cap today and topped coolant up to starting temp. Left it running for a few minutes with cap off. Topped up again and replaced cap then left it for 10/15 minutes. Came back out to a coolant covered scene of death. Boiling over from the expansion tank and what sounded like lots of air in the coolant system. Cap seems very loose when I turned it off. Probably due to very hot coolant in the system. I didn't hear the fans kick in either so wondering what it could be....

A. Head gasket?
B. Fans not kicking in (what causes that)?
C. Something else.

Please help. Many thanks people.

I'd say you just got yourself a parts car!

If you pull the plug on the ECT (not the one for the dash temp gauge) the fans should come on - they are controlled by the ECU. That will tell you if they are working - whether the ECT is working is another matter - you might be able to tell via diags. If there was a circulation issue the temp of coolant over the ECT might not have been exceptionally high?

Who knows how many times its been cooked though before you got hold of it - the head may be completely knackered.

Was it a good quality expansion tank and cap or cheapie?

and you have to bleed them properly using vent plugs, not run them till they take more coolant, and you need to make sure jiggle valve is not stuck closed

Just another update.

So I refilled the coolant and ran it with the cap off. Opened And closed the heater matrix controls on the dash ( hot and cold) and it hasn't bubbled over at all. The temp sensor on the dash does go up to 3/4 but the fans are kicking in and the temp comes back down to 1/2. I'll run it for a day and see if I'm losing coolant anywhere.

Also. It's a cheap £13 tank and cap. I've since read that you can get better caps...

What does the jiggle valve do?

I've found the heater matrix valve on the outlet pipe so I'll bleed that now.

Excellent support by the way. Thanks all.

I'm assuming the jiggle valve is for the heater matrix. So bled the heater matrix outlet valve and it was coolant from the off. Heater works fine, very hot and cold. Tempstature gauge stayed at 1/2 while driving around town no problems but under acceleration and torque rose up to 3/4. Expansion tank remained as it should..

?

the jiggle valve allows water into the head when some do a head gasket the knock the jiggle valve out best way to make sure it is open is to take the small bore rubber pipe of the header tank and blow into it that should open the jiggle valve and then allows water into the head and then put it back onto the tank asap but do not do it when the water is boiling for obvious reasons

Hi thanks again.

So take the small pipe off the tank and block the end to force coolant in to the head. Is that what you're saying?

The jiggle valve is in the inlet manifold by the oil dip stick. It helps to let any air bubbles out of the head. Those who do a HG replacement check it. To to that, take off the rubber elbow push on a piece of tubing and blow. You should be able to blow through it. If the cooling system is filled then obviously coolant is going to come out...

Coolant tanks: Yes these craze and crack around the filler neck. Inexpensive to replace the tank and cap. Coolant: I use the Red OAT coolant at a 50% solution with demineralised water.

System bleeding is very important. From empty, remove both bleed screws. One is on the metal coolant pipe below the distributor. The other is on the heater outlet pipe. Heater control set to hot and engine OFF. fill the system in via the coolant tank. When bubble free coolant comes out from the lower bleed point put that screw back in. Continue filling and when bubble free coolant comes out from the upper bleed point put that screw back in. Top up the system, and do a visual check for any leaks. With the cap off start motor and let idle to normal operating temp. 'Massage' radiator hoses, heater hoses to help shift any air bubbles that may still be lurking in the system. Top up as necessary. If you sit in the driver's seat and rev the motor and you hear gurgling in the heater matrix, there's still air in the system. All good? put the cap on and continue to allow to idle, again you can 'massage' pipes to aid moving any air locks. Eventually you will hear the fans come on, they are not very loud. Check top and bottom radiator hoses = hot? Check what you can hear from the driver's seat again, gurgling? Take great care as the coolant will scald / burn you, re-bleed at upper bleed point. Top up... It's a process and I'm doing it now myself after a HGF .
I hope all goes well for you. The K series in good order is a pleasure to drive but then I think all FL1's probably are too

If jiggle valve is free, you will have a constant stream of coolant into expansion tank through the small pipe from back of head when warm.

Does the 1.8 suffer with coolant boiling/bubbling in the head when it's running with the coolant tank cap removed (causing no closed system pressure), like the v6 does?

Hippo said:

Does the 1.8 suffer with coolant boiling/bubbling in the head when it's running with the coolant tank cap removed (causing no closed system pressure), like the v6 does?

Click to expand...

Yes it will do. And you can't run any K series up to fan activation temperature without the pressure cap being fitted. The cooling fan doesn't activate until the coolant it well over the 100°C boiling point!!
Most modern engines can't be run up to running temperature, with the pressure cap removed either. The pressure generated is the only thing keeping the coolant from boiling over.

So I've checked all the valves and they're all free of bubbles. Jiggle valve is running coolant. I'm smelling fumes in the heater tank and also there's a bit of oily residue building up on the new expansion tank neck and cap. That's head gasket isn't it??

Drew McMahon said:

So I've checked all the valves and they're all free of bubbles. Jiggle valve is running coolant. I'm smelling fumes in the heater tank and also there's a bit of oily residue building up on the new expansion tank neck and cap. That's head gasket isn't it??

Click to expand...

Very likely I'm afraid. You don't know how many times it's lost its coolant and a K series simply doesn't tolerate low coolant levels. Even a few seconds running, when low on coolant, will damage the HG.

When you let it run and it boiled over, was the pressure cap fitted?

Nodge68 said:

Yes it will do. And you can't run any K series up to fan activation temperature without the pressure cap being fitted. The cooling fan doesn't activate until the coolant it well over the 100°C boiling point!!
Most modern engines can't be run up to running temperature, with the pressure cap removed either. The pressure generated is the only thing keeping the coolant from boiling over.

Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. Sad news on it's way me thinks.

So an update...from cold when it's started it seems to fill the radiator with air which eventually stops the coolant from returning to the expansion tank. The coolant will literally boil over unless rev'd then the levels return to normality and the engine will cool down. When the engine is stopped you can hear the coolant and the air in the system changing places. Any ideas??? Again....

Drew McMahon said:

So an update...from cold when it's started it seems to fill the radiator with air which eventually stops the coolant from returning to the expansion tank. The coolant will literally boil over unless rev'd then the levels return to normality and the engine will cool down. When the engine is stopped you can hear the coolant and the air in the system changing places. Any ideas??? Again....

Click to expand...

Head gasket I suspect. Coolant pressurising/ displacement from cold is the clue there.