Help - Heater don't work!

I was out in the disco this morning and it was a bit chilly. Put heater on and it took a long time to get hot. Engine temp was normal. Now tonight no heat at all. I noticed the expansion tank low but engine was warm so it would be wouldnt it? I have occasionally heard a gurgling sound behind the dash. Anyone got any ideas before I start taking things to bits?

It sounds like you have an air lock in the cooling system.

Drain and refill ( make sure the heater is set at hot), bleeding out any air.

It is more worrying why there is an air lock in your cooling circuit? Is the cylinder head gasket OK?

Good luck

OK thanks. Done that now and all is well and heater works. There has been a gurgling noise from time to time since I bought it 4 months ago. I have covered 4000 miles without having to put any water in it. There is no sign of anything in the oil. How would I know if it was the head gasket? what are the tell tale signs?

revjames said:

OK thanks. Done that now and all is well and heater works. There has been a gurgling noise from time to time since I bought it 4 months ago. I have covered 4000 miles without having to put any water in it. There is no sign of anything in the oil. How would I know if it was the head gasket? what are the tell tale signs?

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usual sign of blown head gasket are white goo (emulsion)on the oil filler cap, oil or gunge in the expansion tank, smoking excessivly. lack of power, overheating. loud bang just before engine dies.

redhand said:

usual sign of blown head gasket are white goo (emulsion)on the oil filler cap, oil or gunge in the expansion tank, smoking excessivly. lack of power, overheating. loud bang just before engine dies.

Click to expand...

Thankfully theres none of those present so hopefully thats it!

Thanks

I have noticed that when I take the expansion tank cap off there is no hiss. Does that mean the system is not pressurising for some reason?

revjames said:

I have noticed that when I take the expansion tank cap off there is no hiss. Does that mean the system is not pressurising for some reason?

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If the engines hot, there should be some pressure release when you loosen expansion tank cap. Do all the rad hoses get hot? If you've got an air lock then the water won't be circulating so the water in the tank won't be getting hot. run engine with cap off and look to see if the water is circulating through the tank.

Theres no air lock and all the hoses including the heater ones seem to be getting hot. Maybe I didnt get it hot enough.

Just been out and put the heater on. I noticed that it seems to take a long time to get hot air coming out the vents even though the engine is at operating temp. Also there definitely is no pressure in the system as the cap doesnt hiss when you take it off. No signs of water loss, no gunge in the oil or water, Any ideas whats going on cos I'm baffled!

loss of pressure....

try replacing radiator cap.

after that, check the water temp - you might have an air lock as well.

Just found one on fleabay for £4 inc postage new.

2 months later and a cold day yesterday so needed heaters and cold air again. Put half a watering can of water in the rad. No signs of it leaking anywhere. Looks like a relatively new water pump. There were some very fine white bubbles under the filler plug above the water pump but nothing much. Certainly no sign of oil.

Did something clever and checked if the top hose was pressurised and caught my finger in the water pump pulley and received a nasty gash to my index finger. The guy that fixed my finger in A&E was a LR fan as well and had a 200TDi so was sympathetic!

I have ordered a new filler cap to see if thats why the syste isnt pressurising.
Anyone got any other ideas?

I will follow this one cliosely as it seems to be very similar to what is happening to my 300tdi (140k miles). I however am putting about a pint in every 300 miles approx. I have a new water pump in 2,000 miles ago and it was not losing much water before the pump went bang.

Getting timing belts, AC belt and service done this weekend so hopefully this will also be investigated. Will post if I have any info.

Changed my water pump as a preventative measure whilst doing cam belt last November 8 months later and 7k the new ones just gone bang fins drilled a hole in alu caseing whilst trying to escape and subsequently dumped all coolant on the deck,appears that it has been leaking for a while which would also explain my slight water loss!

I was lucky As it might well have happened next week whilst asleep on the motorway driving to Spain

Apparently there are a lot of cheap crap water pumps about so beware!

I have put a new cap on the expansion tank in the hope that it might fix the problem but still no pressurization.

revjames said:

I have put a new cap on the expansion tank in the hope that it might fix the problem but still no pressurization.

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split tank?

Try changing the thermostat.

While you have the old thermostat out and before you fit the new one, back-flush the whole coolant system with a hose that has a decent pressure. Put the hose in both the feed and exit pipes from the heater to unblock any obstructions.

Good luck

Hello
It does not sound like your head gasket to me I have two go on seperate tdi's and they both went at the same point which is at the back of cylinder number four ( the one at the back of the engine) when they "normally" go they do not go inwards so you do not get oil/water contamination normally associated with head gaskets they tend to blow outwards and sound a bit like a steam engine and being a land rover I got home both times with no damage to the head. For your heater if you look at the back r/h side of the engine there are two pipes about two inches in diameter going into the bulk head above the starter motor these are the flow and return for the heater matrix run your engine until up to temp and feel these pipes they should be warm if not disconnect one of them to see if you have coolant flow in and out of the heater matrix

hope this helps

cheers
leekegs

Thanks for all the advice guys much appreciated. The thing is that the heater does work now its all been topped up and allowed to run with the expansion cap off. There is water going in and out of the heater hoses as it should. No obvious signs of split/leakage on the tank just a slow disappearance of water over a couple of months. I thought of chucking in a can of radweld just to see if there nis a minute leak that needs to be sealed. What do you think?

Radweld is a last resort. It will settle in the water passages in the block and radiator and heater matrix and clog them up a little.

The system should always be run pressurised. This has several benefits to you notably that the system should stay sealed better for longer, unless there's a leak somewhere, in which case NOT pressurised is better.

If you are running with a loose radiator cap, expect to loose coolant, and what you lose will be the anti-freeze first, especially if it is the cheaper methanol-based stuff. Methanol boils at a mere 65 degrees so as your engine is set to run at a steady 85 degrees, the methanol soon vanishes as a gas out of the expansion tank and the loose cap. If all is well, the expansion tank should be nearly cool enough most of the time to hold the methanol vapour in if the cap is good and tight, and holds the pressure.

So, as you will also lose some water by vaporisation (even if it doesn't boil) the loose cap can make it appear there's a leak when there isn't.

CharlesY