Any Ideas 300tdi Disco

Hi people, i have had a slight loss of water over a period of time and have been topping up as required. Today my Disco lost power when driving then it seemed to clear itself this happend every so often on my journey home. When home and looking over engine i noticed i had lost 3 times the amount of water than usual and i only topped it up this morning on closer inspection i realised my P gasket was leaking but even after refilling my water and then test driving i still intermittently had this temporary loss of power. Is there any chance of a leaking P gasket and a temporary loss of power being connected (limp home mode if water has become low) Engine is 300tdi no smoke with loss of power

Whoa, this is a real difficult question to answer remotely, i.e., without actually inspecting the vehicle. By the sounds of it your water loss seems to be causing the engine to over heat and sieze, which is not good. This is unusual for an old landy as the with mileage the wear on the piston / bores does not normally allow it to sieze. Obviously you need to find the cause of your water loss, so its engine running and crawl underneath with a good light to check for drips. If this proves a no no, then check your carpet around the transmission tunnel under the dash, you may have a leaking heater mattriz (ugh). Failing this then it's got to be a head gasket which aint good. Some garages can pressure test for this and some have what is called a 'sniffer' which detects gases in your water system. Either way you have work on your hands or a bit of a drain of the old £££ from your wallet.

Thanks for reply engine is not overheating and water loss 100% from P gasket. i have once before had the water get low and engine gos into a limp home mode once water level is returned engine runs fine. but this time engine intermitantly losses power and then returns with the water level ok. thanks again

louis123 said:

Thanks for reply engine is not overheating and water loss 100% from P gasket. i have once before had the water get low and engine gos into a limp home mode once water level is returned engine runs fine. but this time engine intermitantly losses power and then returns with the water level ok. thanks again

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sounds like fecked waterpump to me.

Thanks ratty i will do the P gasket tomorrow so i will have a look at the water pump while its off

i've got a 200tdi and i've had trouble with loss of water recently and on inspecting mine i found that the water pump has a slight leak and half my radiator finns are missing.like you i would top the water up go on a drive then check the water when i got back and 50% water was lossed and the back of the rad was very wet.
im replacing my rad,thermostat,water pump and gasket then hopefully that should be it sorted.
have you checked the back of your rad for leaks and checked the finns?
hope you get it sorted soon.
atb lee

My P gasket was the culprit, fixed with the help of lerks posting, pictures of how to do it. one hell of a great post. Alas i may still have my power loss problem, im about to make a new post to try to solve that. Thanks to all that gave a reply.