10 year service

Stuart hall said:

As a newbie and thickey I'm having a little trouble navigating this brilliant site. Whilst not being lazy I'm recovering from a broken arm so typings a pain ( litterely ) and crawling under my 2000 diesel is a no no so I wonder on this thread I could ask you a cheeky question ?
Its kinda related, I've got coolant loss and now can see a steady drip under the left side of engine whilst looking under bonnet. As said can't get under so am guessing water pump ?
I'll be at the complete mercy of the local garage so wondered if anyone knows the book time for pump replacement and if I can't find in service history would you recommend belt replacement at same time ? Any help would be appreciated.

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Td4?

No think its the older L series ?

Stuart hall said:

No think its the older L series ?

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In that case, I'll call in @GrumpyGel for you.

Many thanks

It could be the water pump. It's located at the front left of the engine. It's separate from the block and not that difficult to replace.

That's a great comfort as I've only heard a lot of teeth sucking and oh that's a nightmare of a job. I don't suppose there's any hoses in that area that could leak ? As said I can't get to look underneath at the no.

Stuart hall said:

That's a great comfort as I've only heard a lot of teeth sucking and oh that's a nightmare of a job. I don't suppose there's any hoses in that area that could leak ? As said I can't get to look underneath at the no.

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There are 2 hoses going to the water pump it's self. So it's possible that either could be leaking.

You say that its on the left side as you look under the bonnet but that you can only see the drip under the engine. Does this mean that you see the drip looking down into the engine or just the dripping underneath?

I imagine as you haven't been able to identify roughly where the drip is you are just seeing it under the engine on the left hand side. This being the case, is the undertray still fitted? If so the water could be dripping anywhere and just running off the tray on the left side.

So I'd say that unfortunately you need to do a bit more looking.

If the leak is on the left side, that is indeed where the water pump is. The pump is external to the engine block driven by the fan/aux/drive belt (on the left of the engine) - its bolted to the block low down and also bolted to the power steering pump - so they turn as a (sort of) single unit.

The pump draws coolant through a hose from the oil cooler. However, if the drip is running along the undertray, there are a myriad of other hoses that may be leaking. These could be to do with the expansion bottle, cabin heater, IRD cooler or EGR cooler. If the cabin heater were leaking, that would be visible inside the cabin, not the engine bay. I think all the other items would drip onto the undertray. Given the age of the cars, it could also presumably be a corroded core plug - it looks like there's 8 on the L Series.

So I think you need to identify a bit more closely where the leak is originating from. Sometimes this can be very difficult, however, it sounds like you have quite a serious leak so that may actually help you!

Also of course, if its running over the tray - it could also be the radiator or the hoses to it.

Thanks for your help GrumpyGel, firstly yes the under tray is still fitted, briefly the cars been sitting in a garden unused for nearly two years, I was told the core plugs have been replaced. My suspition is its been leaking for some time as no coolant ( anti freeze ) at all in system just rusty water.
She's showing 95k and runs well, the rear 4x4 system has all been removed so now just fwd. The mot guys said they won't pass it again as its been changed from original spec. so only have a years use so don't want to chuck money at her although the car was free !
I guess I'll have to trust the local garage and just book it in for an estimate. ( when I can drive ) but not sure I trust the garages here as the spill pipes went and was told had to remove manifold to clean out and repair ! Only saving grace is labour rates are cheap here ( £35 hour ) and vats only 7%.
Thanks again for all your advice. Stuart.

It depends what they mean by "original spec". If the props are removed here the car should be "certified" or else it won't pass a WOF (MOT) - but I'm sure a lot of testing stations will still let it pass. Mine's 2WD but I didn't want to take that risk of a testing station saying no, so I still run props but I've removed the crown gear from the rear pinion. It therefore looks original - no disconnected pinions or obvious blanking plates - just the rear diff turns the props not the IRD. If you've still got the props and the VCU support bearings are in decent nick, might be worth a go.

I know what you mean about letting the car loose with a garage. I had a V8 Disco that was hunting, took it to a couple of Landie specialists and they were both saying stuff like stripping the plenum and manifolds etc - my brother and I looked at it and it was a loose plug on the MAF! These same specialists also fleeced me for 2 new cylinder heads, radiator, viscous fan and other bits to solve overheating - which never made any difference and the only thing that got near to fixing it was swapping the expansion tank cap. Since getting the Freelander 7 years ago I do almost all work myself. It was a bit daunting at first (especially as the first real job I did was to rebuild the IRD), but enjoy it now - if enjoyment is measured in satisfaction, cost savings and swear words!

I'm far from an expert but looks like the lots been removed ! Must weigh half a ton less now so really flies along. Don't forget I'm in grotty so may have different rules, I can't believe it passed as you can imagine the discs are rusted/pitted the rear tyres are almost totally bald and they made that an advisory !
The biggest worry here is its almost impossible to scrap a car, you don't have to pay road tax but it just adds up every year plus interest so in theory I could owe ten years on mine !
This only comes to light when you try to sell/dispose of.
I'm still waiting for garage to send me estimate so sounds expensive ? I expect to pay a few hundred quid so over a year cheap motoring especially as dervs about 85p a litre !

Hi, not sure, guess it failed so cheaper to junk it. Its totally bear at the back !

Stuart hall said:

Hi, not sure, guess it failed so cheaper to junk it. Its totally bear at the back !

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So the diff and (most of the) drive shafts have been removed as well?

Yep just left what it needs to roll !

Stuart hall said:

Yep just left what it needs to roll !

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It's lost about 70Kgs then.

That's what I thought - about two adults and a child ! Its nearly as fast as my Audi quattro TT lol
Doing close to 40 mpg as well
Bit tail happy now especially with its racing rear slicks !
Good job it hardly ever rains here - - - well except for the day I went taboganing down a slope and fractured my arm in two places but that's another story !

Stuart hall said:

That's what I thought - about two adults and a child ! Its nearly as fast as my Audi quattro TT lol
Doing close to 40 mpg as well
Bit tail happy now especially with its racing rear slicks !
Good job it hardly ever rains here - - - well except for the day I went taboganing down a slope and fractured my arm in two places but that's another story !

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There's something wrong with your TT then!

... and the family is rather skinny!