Disco 2 Fuel cooler leak.

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Spong

Spong

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Surrey / Hants border
Seems I have a leak from the front of the fuel cooler, rear looks OK though. You can see a drip in the pic below, and there's a fair bit more lower down on the engine mount.
I did a bit of research and found a video of a chap who took the cooler off the car and did both ends on the bench, whereas Mr Discovery2.CO.UK did the front end of it in situ. I think he did it without even draining the coolant....
I'm going to attempt the latter and have ordered the 'O' rings. In the video the chap had got a kit of rings and jubilee clips, but I couldn't find one those. Anyone know of a source of narrow clips, so it doesn't foul the plastic lugs on the cooler end piece? Any pratfalls I should be aware of?
IMG_2618.JPG
 
Having waited for a weekend with decent weather, I made an attempt to do the cooler seals. I saw that the cooler was leaking at the rear as well as the front, so I decided to take the thing off the car and do it on the bench.
The car decided otherwise. I got the top two bolts out, but couldn't get anywhere with the lower front bolt. Broke one socket, started to round off another (both cheapos) and was in danger of sodding up the bolt head. Just didn't have the right combination of socket, extension or ratchet, so gave up in a huff.
I went through the YouTube video again, but he doesn't show getting that bolt out.
I do have an Irwin extractor socket that I thought about using, but only as a last resort, so went down the time honoured LR route of buying more tools. Bought a 2" extension and a set of deep six sided sockets which arrived this afternoon thanks to Mr Bezos and his elves.
Success! The deep socket is just the right length for the ratchet to end up in the gap between the inlet manifold and the header tank etc.
Too late to do the job now as I need the car for Monday morning, but at least I know I can move on with the fix.

Next question - how do I release these fuel line connectors? Chap on YouTube did it with some pointy nosed pliers, but didn't really show how.

IMG_2644.JPG
 
Spong said:
Having waited for a weekend with decent weather, I made an attempt to do the cooler seals. I saw that the cooler was leaking at the rear as well as the front, so I decided to take the thing off the car and do it on the bench.
The car decided otherwise. I got the top two bolts out, but couldn't get anywhere with the lower front bolt. Broke one socket, started to round off another (both cheapos) and was in danger of sodding up the bolt head. Just didn't have the right combination of socket, extension or ratchet, so gave up in a huff.
I went through the YouTube video again, but he doesn't show getting that bolt out.
I do have an Irwin extractor socket that I thought about using, but only as a last resort, so went down the time honoured LR route of buying more tools. Bought a 2" extension and a set of deep six sided sockets which arrived this afternoon thanks to Mr Bezos and his elves.
Success! The deep socket is just the right length for the ratchet to end up in the gap between the inlet manifold and the header tank etc.
Too late to do the job now as I need the car for Monday morning, but at least I know I can move on with the fix.

Next question - how do I release these fuel line connectors? Chap on YouTube did it with some pointy nosed pliers, but didn't really show how.

View attachment 231510
Click to expand...
squeeze the 2 square clips and pull
D32724C6B69993D6F41DA6C8BC147576CB247CBE1416250556B2B3598793BA3353C8A023.jpg
 
jamesmartin said:
theres various types of fuel pipe connector pliers, i have these below, the red ones do the connector type as below, you just need to squeeze both the grey tabs and pull
images

images
Click to expand...

Thanks for that - so many specialised tools out there! Tried to get the council here to assist with setting up a tool (DIY & mechanics) library - no luck; we have a toy library though!!
 
Spong said:
didn't you do your fuel cooler recently? How did you get on with that?
Click to expand...

Fuel cooler excellent - thought I did a write-up: like to report back once I deem a job a success!;) Sourced perfect skinny worm-drive clamps locally - work a treat, and also sourced the correct FKM (Viton) o-rings (Roverlord kit is good though!). Have spares in case the rear fuel cooler seal ever goes (decided not to do the rear after some thought as it was perfect, and it is tricky getting that bugger off, so didn't need to detach the fuel lines).
[Thought when I did the fuel pressure regulator (bugger of a thing) that I just squeezed and pulled back the fuel line connector by hand - no tool used?]

Not a drip lost since! I got a cheap pair of clic-r pliers for the LR hose clips from Aliexpress - sure they'll come in handy again later on as well. I didn't re-use the clic-r clip on the fuel cooler. Good smear of rubber grease on the o-ring and tapping the end cap all the way home with a wooden dowel and small upholsterers hammer - perfect!

One leak fixed, another appears eh?:D All good fun! I must say, I compare the D2 with a couple of modern cars I have - a lot of the LR parts are excellent quality (case in point is the original Contitech serpentine belt - kept as a spare, but still 100%!). Guess the thing is knowing the vehicles Achilees' "heels" (more than one!) and ensuring regular maintenance/inspections, and regular servicing - do everything myself so far now, but know my limits, and I do lack a lot of more specialised knowledge, tools and equipment.- a lift would be great and garage instead of a carport!

You know what though - forums like this are the best thing ever! My dad loved DIY mechanics (had five cars on the go!) - he learnt most stuff the hard way - no internet then, but of course, cars were much simpler!:D
 
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I set to on removing the cooler today, now I have the tools to do it. Removing the bottom bracket bolts was still a sod as you can only get probably an eighth of a turn on the ratchet and there is thread lock along the whole length of the bolt.
Anyway, got those out and got the water hoses off fairly easily with one of these....

41LBBEY9bdL._AC_.jpg


Worked quite well and I liked the locking action, so you could then wiggle the clip out of the way.
I also bought fuel clip pliers, but these were a bit chunky and the fuel pipe is quite close to the top bracket, but a bit of fiddling about and it came off. Strangely the other fuel pipe has a different type of connector, with a plastic collar that you just press back towards the pipe and releases.
So out it came...

IMG_2661.JPG


Once on the bench I found the ends felt quite loose. Removing the caps and replacing the seals went OK, here's the rather squared off seals that came out...

IMG_2664.JPG


I bought thin jubilee clips for reassembly, but it turns out the originals are reusable - I didn't though.
Refitting the cooler went OK, just access slowing things down. Refilled the engine coolant, started the engine and bled it - all looks good, no drips so far!
 
I still haven't had a rear leaking seal on the fuel cooler. If it ever happens I'll remove the cooler like you have done here; I guess you can replace the rear seal in-situ, but it would be very fiddly - one of those jobs where small hands would be an advantage!
 
Intestinalworm said:
I still haven't had a rear leaking seal on the fuel cooler. If it ever happens I'll remove the cooler like you have done here; I guess you can replace the rear seal in-situ, but it would be very fiddly - one of those jobs where small hands would be an advantage!
Click to expand...
Might be able to, I think you'd still have to get the fuel pipes out of the way, and that's a bit of an ask while the cooler is still attached! Let's hope you don't need to find out....
 
Landmark2 said:
Hi Spong,
Where did you get the thin jubilee clips from and what size thickness are they please.
Griff
Click to expand...

I bought these Kale clamps from an Australian supplier - I used them and they were perfect. They are out there, but bit hard to find the narrower clamps, and I couldn't find a place handy where I could just get one over the counter (had to buy a box of 10 for AUD 17.50 - roughly GBP 1 per clamp). Of course there are people on eBay selling the o-rings and clamps packaged as sets - might be more convenient for some. Other potential manufacturer options include: Tridon, Wurth, Mikalor, Torro and Norma.

Uniclamp.com.au
https://www.uniclamp.com.au/product...1&_sid=064723e1b&_ss=r&variant=19088969564214
4632 40-60mm
9mm band

"These Kale hose clamps have a 9mm wide stainless band and stainless housing with a zinc plated 7mm screw (W2).This type of clamp is for use in restricted areas where only a narrow clamp band will fit the application. These clamps are used extensively on European cars. These clamps are direct replacements for Norma, Torro, Mikalor and Wurth type clamps."

NB The Land Rover clic-r style clamps are 5mm wide
 
Last edited:
Landmark2 said:
Hi Spong,
Where did you get the thin jubilee clips from and what size thickness are they please.
Griff
Click to expand...
I got them from hcl-clamping.co.uk , the ones I got were 5mm wide. I should have checked beforehand as I could have got away with a wider one which would have given a bit more grip (the screw is a bit on the small side) - I think the original clips are 7mm wide.
They have a good range, but delivery is a bit stiff for a few jubilee clips. But, compared to the price of a new cooler, it's still cheap!
 
Spong said:
I'll have to go and measure the ones I took off now! Sure they were a bit wider than that, but I'm probably wrong....
Click to expand...
I had the original LR clips (r-clip style) and I measured their width as 5mm - they are a strong clip though! The 9mm wide I used seemed ideal - no overhang and easily tightened (don't go overboard - just snug); originally tried a standard hose clamp I had lying around but that was crap - hung over the edge and popped off while driving resulting in a decent coolant loss!
 
Spong said:
I got them from hcl-clamping.co.uk , the ones I got were 5mm wide. I should have checked beforehand as I could have got away with a wider one which would have given a bit more grip (the screw is a bit on the small side) - I think the original clips are 7mm wide.
They have a good range, but delivery is a bit stiff for a few jubilee clips. But, compared to the price of a new cooler, it's still cheap!
Click to expand...

Yes, sure the LR stealership would have just put in a new cooler. It is a relatively simple fix and very cheap once you know where to source the clamps and o-rings.

I just hate our lazy, throw-away culture, and I will occasionally even spend more to fix something rather than throw it away. I'm sure a lot of coolers are scrapped and they are perfectly serviceable.
 
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