Bubble Bubble, No Oil, Am I In Trouble???

Ha ha, the subject box may cause consternation

2000 4.0 THOR.

Few times I've fired up and gone, noticed a bit of steam from the expansion bottle and a puddle.

Never overheated and yes the gauge works. Only appears to happen just after starting and driving a short distance (say a mile or less). I know I have a weep at one of the heater hose connections to the LPG heater, but I'm not overly concerned.

I've checked for oil in the coolant and coolant in the oil (no evidence either way) but I wonder what could cause it to bubble away? Can hear it when the engine is off.

Ran her for 20 odd minutes the other day to test the A/C (cooooool ) and when I moved to park her up I noticed the "blub blub blub" from the header. Hoses weren't hard, no puddles this time, couple of inches of coolant in the tank, no "hot" smells from the engine.... All seemed well.

I did wonder if "A" I needed a new stat and/or "B" the expansion bottle cap might be past it's use by date

Thing is, I can take the old girl for a run and the heat is spot on as is the needle on the gauge at half way (where it's pretty much always been). Only time it went over was when I first got the car in March 2016 and the coolant was low, but not by much (perhaps a bit over a litre). I stopped and put hot water & coolant in. I've since driven about 21000 miles with no issues. I only noticed this last year and it only seems to happen when I top up the expansion bottle to it's "high" level (cold). It seems to spit it out at some point and be happy at the low level Funny, I use the same OAT coolant in my bike and it does exactly the same thing....EXACTLY

Wonder if it's the coolant

Replace the cap is the cheapest thing i can suggest, less than a tenner i think...

If you're worried about Headgasket, then get a sniff test done..

There is a kit on ebay with speshul juice that turns from blue to Alien píss if there is an issue..

Personally if the hoses aren't rock hard, and she isn't puking her guts up after every journey i'd say you're fine..

Oh and before anyone calls "slipped liners" you hear them first

when you say the HIGH level, do you mean a smidge below the seam?
if you're getting steam on startup and a puddle underneath, that suggests water/coolant is getting on the exhaust/manifold

LPG leaking into the coolant from the vapouriser?

Thanks for all the replies. I use orange (or red) coolant so not sure what colour the alien pish would be

It's possible the Vapouriser is leaking, but I hope not because I only serviced it less than a year ago

No undue noises that I'm aware of other than the tensioner clicks & ticks now & then... It was new last year along with the drive belt.

I think the coolant on the exhaust manifold is along the right lines, so I may also have a slight airlock due to the leaks, yes?

I'm not using the car a lot so I can look into it

The Thor is supposed to self bleed with the small return pipe
Worth taking the cap off then disconnect the return from the radiator and how through it, make sure it's clear
If you connect it up, then start the engine, you should see it pee. Might need to rev it slightly to get more than a dribble. You should see a constant stream of coolant

kermit_rr said:

The Thor is supposed to self bleed with the small return pipe
Worth taking the cap off then disconnect the return from the radiator and how through it, make sure it's clear

If you connect it up, then start the engine, you should see it pee. Might need to rev it slightly to get more than a dribble. You should see a constant stream of coolant

Click to expand...

It does pee well. Never had an issue with its bladder

Datatek said:

LPG leaking into the coolant from the vapouriser?

Click to expand...

Hi Doo ,,,,,does it smell like gas Light a match .....RR.

dubbleRR said:

Hi Doo ,,,,,does it smell like gas Light a match .....RR.

Click to expand...

That would make a sort of fuel burning coolant heater just like a modern one

LOL

Well, I do smell LPG... I thought I had a leak, but nope. All buttoned up nice. It stinks of petrol too (obvs worst at cold starts) so I assume that this is because there are no cats to clean up the mess (yet).

But this bubbling leaking steamy window thing was present before I (had to) remove(d) the cats.

For them's wot dun't keep up wiv my pish, had a misfire, couldn't trace it, eventually found the CPS was at fault (after having removed the cats because they were blocked). So eventually traced the crank sensor was at fault and now she's running well, but loudly

Waiting for some dosh to come through and will replace the cats, put a years mot on her and she's going to be up for sale...

I have a full service history with her (EVERY stamp in the book) and a bunch of invoices that would choke a blue whale! Recently changed the oil in both diffs, engine, gearbox, transfer bocks, as well as the usual yearly service..

Everything works (cruise control, EAS, etc) will come with 9 matching Mondial alloys with summer & winter tyres and a load of extras.

If anyone fancies a well looked after (if somewhat dickish) Range Rover P38 from 2000. Feel free to ask.

It's been a gas, been a flip, been a helluva trip, but it ain't the end of the world buddy, it's only the end of this association (name the movie).

I'll let you know when she's ready to go