2002 p38 4.6 vogue overheating

Bought my p38 a few days ago, no issues during test drive, no issues on my 200 trip home. Done a fe short runs at home, then last night, 1/2 a mile of driving she overheated, turned off for 5 mins temp was fine again, turned heaters on full blast but not warm, so checked coolant, looked a tad low, unscrewed the cap a touch and the water bubbled up n filled the expansion tank, so i closed it, heaters on drivers side were nice and hot then, passenger still only slightly warm, took off and she started creeping up, pulled over n waited 1 minute. Cooled down and drove home about 1/2 a mile n it was fine. Any ideas?
Dont want to drive it today as i dont want it to overheat again, but cant help wanting to test it again to see if it does overheat.

Really.........3 threads on the same thing asking for help with your first 3 posts and not even an intro out of courtesy.


Real fine job you've done there

Hi there, sorry about that, i wasnt sure how this all works, where do i post an intro?

intro section, top forum on home page

Ok done it. Sorry about that!

Few basic options

Bleed the system to see if theres air in it as that would explain cold heater, you may even have a blockage or a broken blend motor

If not, sniff the coolant and if it smells burnt then HG

If theres exhaust bubbles in the coolant when running (look in it with cap off) then HG

Check rads cool all over and not missing fins too




I say HG but could be worse.......like a cracked head although you'd be unlucky to have done that if its only started and you noticed as soon as it started

Ok great thanks. Just took it for a 10 minute run now. And it was fine. Everything looks ok too. Coolant didnt smell burnt. No bubbles when running either, coolant was a little low so topped it up with about half a litre. Was going to send it to my local LR specialist for a full service and to half a quick look over it, so ill just see what he has to say. Thanks again

Have a butchers under the passenger front carpet and see if the floor is wet if it is then o rings on heater matrix have gone and would be reason for loss of coolant, plus all the test the doc has told you to do

Cheers will have a look, done about 20 miles in it today and it was fine.

I take it its getting up to temperature and staying there fine? More driving needed to test it I think!

If it appears fine... keep an eye on the coolant level, this is the second time you've topped it up? If it tops up and stays up that's great, you might have had an air lock somewhere... but if it keeps going down then you're using coolant which isn't great.

Good luck!

marccleave said:

I take it its getting up to temperature and staying there fine? More driving needed to test it I think!

If it appears fine... keep an eye on the coolant level, this is the second time you've topped it up? If it tops up and stays up that's great, you might have had an air lock somewhere... but if it keeps going down then you're using coolant which isn't great.

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Yeah spot on in the middle of the gauge. Well i bought it on tuesday and when i looked under the bonnet it had some coolant in the tank but didnt notice how much, i then test drove it for half hr then drove home 200 miles, then only a few small journeys at home. Then it overheated then topped it up and its been fine. She cant have used much coolant since i bought it still had a fair bit in the tank before i topped it up. So ill keep an eye out over the next few days! Cheers