Freelander leaking coolant onto floor

Hi everyone,

I have a 2000 freelander xei, petrol with one of these k series in.

Over the last week it's been leaking coolant and i've had to keep an eye on the expansion tank and fill it up every so often. I've had the bottom plastic tray off but can't see where the leak is coming from, although there are drips on two bolts on the bottom of the engine. Not sure which bolts they are but there are no evidence marks to show where the water is running down. I leave my car on the work car park during the day and by the time i go to drive home, there is a puddle underneath the car. I also think the engine is running a bit warmer than it should, but i've had it into the garage today as it's still under warranty from where i bought it from. All they've done is swap the expansion tank cap telling me that the seals had gone on it but the leak is still there.

I've checked my oil and water, and no sludge is in either of them but tbh, i don't really want to rule anything ouut with the reputation of these engines!

I bought some radweld fromm halfrauds today, but after reading a few things on the net decided in the end not to put it anywhere near!

Anyone have any recommendations / ideas? I'd like to try and fix this myself if i could, especially with the garage telling me it was fixed when it wasn't. It doesn't give me faith towards garages at all.

Any help greatly appreciated!

BTW... i'm making sure my coolant level doesn't get below 2/3's between min and max on the expansion tank.

You'll be bulk buying head gaskets and head bolts then.
Welcome to gaylander ownership

ah crap, is it really that bad? i was really really hoping that it wasn't gonna be anything with the head gasket.

A mechanic that told me it wasn't a major problem because it was leaking outside the car got my hopes up!

See if any mechanics you know have a block tester to test for gases in the coolant, or smell the expansion tank wi lid off and you should be able to tell if you got gases in there

What bolts are you referring to? Drivers side or passenger side?

Get some pics up.

landy10 said:

See if any mechanics you know have a block tester to test for gases in the coolant, or smell the expansion tank wi lid off and you should be able to tell if you got gases in there

Click to expand...

If its HGF with coolant leaking on the periphery of the block/head, then its low fat HGF-lite, no mayo.

Sounds more like a leak to me, not HGF lite

if its just leaking stick some K-seal in there its wonderous stuff.........

Just taken a wiff of the expansion tank and i could smell something, but not sure exactly what it smells like, if anything i'd say it smells like hot water :s

If i'm honest i'm not sure if the garage could be arsed to try and see where it was coming from, or else they'd have fixed it or at least found out what the problem was. They told me they didn't see it leaking, they must have been blind!

G-man said:

if its just leaking stick some K-seal in there its wonderous stuff.........

Click to expand...

Thats the problem, it does exactly what it says on the tin, seals a k-series.

Next thing, rad is blocked and driver says his/her injun is overheating.

It should only be a temp solution

the bolts are quite central to the engine, i don't think it's the actually engine block itself, i can't really remember what i saw now tbh, but they're directly above where the scoopy bit of the plastic tray is, in the center. I'll have to get it on my steel ramps at the weekend and take the tray off again.

I've just read on another thread that dyes can be put in the coolant and a UV light used, is this a good idea to locate the leak?

I think i'll stay clear of using any leak solutions like k seal or radweld, i've read really bad things about them blocking the system.

check the thermostat housing - they are prone to cracking.


it is a 1.8 - not a 2.5?

i am so bloody glad you just mentioned the thermostat housing! While i was having new tyres fitted i had the mechanic take a look at it (but no further cos it was still under warranty at another garage) and she (yes she) said it looked like it was coming from around the thermostat.

Suprise surprise... the garage where i had it into today to have it looked at under warranty said they checked the thermostat housing (after i told them what the other mechanic said when i dropped it off) but somehow after reading that i don't believe them.

Would it be possible to do a job like this myself on my ramps and how much would i be looking at for new housing?

just take the engine tray off until you have found the leak, there should be encrusted coolant

leaks are hard to trace from far away

KEEP OFFF seals SOLUTIONS They just do that seal everything up

hi ya,
sound like you have just a leak,
my wifes freelander was like it when we first bought it.

i had the water pump,cam belt,tensioners, etc changed as you do when you have a car your unsure of when the cam belt was last changed.

for about a week after it had a slight leak that looked worse than it was from the same central point yours is comming from.

i know a few old land rover guys i speak to regularly,
they explained there was a small rubber ring between the thermostate and the pipe running behind the engine block and some times they leak from there.

they put some rad weld in it and it stopped almost straight away,
its been done now over 6 months and been every where in it, even 2 weeks around devon and 1000+ down and around there and not a drop of leaking water nor no heating problems.......

if yours is like this look at the back of the engine the rear of the water pump and you'll see the pipe, get some tissue dry it and you will see little drops dropping on to the engine block, where it pools and eventually drops to the tray then the floor.

worked for us and it was a cheap fix.

as for the cars being unreliable and always wanting things doing and head gasket problems show us a car these days you don't spend on or get ripped off on by some garage or other........

any car is what you make it, if you keep on top of it you reduce the risk of breakdown.

for a car thet they keep saying is so bad they sold enough and still are.

i have a 300 tdi discovery and this was the same when i first bought that,
service history etc buy still took aprox 6 months to sort the little niggling faults.

i think its just the joy of owning a land rover,
if its not leaking oil, water or some other fluid its not a land rover!!!!!

but if you have the land rover bug you'll sort it and the next problem and the next etc, etc........

there are a lot of helpfull people on this site that helped me sort my discovery and some faults on my wifes freelander, sooner or later you get it sorted.

keep asking the questions and trying the suggestions, whay do you have to loose except your bank balance in a garage that don't really care.

good luck and let us all know how you get on.

mark

Thanks for the advice Mark,

I've certainly got the landrover bug, after my brother in law owning a defender and going off roading a few times with him, but couldn't afford a defender myself so the freelander it was!

I ordered a new thermostat, housing and seal online last night for around £25 so as soon as that comes i'll have a go at fitting it myself. This may be overkill for the leak, it may not, but if i have a new one now my theory is it'll last a little longer in the long run. If it's neither of these parts, then hey i've refurbished part of the car, doesn't matter one bit it'll just make it harder to find out what it really is!

Anything from now on, i'd like to try and do myself. Not just the fact that garages annoy me (not all of them, the one that fitted my tyres were more than helpful) but i'd like to get more understanding about what this and that does etc. Getting my hands dirty is the only way to really learn! Plus, it'll save a few bob.