K series coolant disappearing act.

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Landy-Pandy

Landy-Pandy

Member
Posts
70
Location
Shropshire
Hello!
Now then, i have a 1.8 petrol Freelander... enough said?
Anyway, a few weeks ago after a particulary cold night i noticed the coolant level dropping frequently.
More recently however, the coolant seems to be suddenly (and i do mean suddenly) disappearing from the expansion tank when hot.
It seems to be ending up all over the bulkhead near where the expansion tank is... but there doesn't seem to be an issue with the tank itself.
I've recently replaced the inlet manifold gasket but that doesn't seem to have affected the issue.
Could it be a burst hose somewhere near the water pump?
Does anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance!
 
It could be the steel pipe across the back of the engine,from the back of waterpump/ thermostat housing, it could be s heater hose, it could be head gasket
 
Oh i see. Well the coolant doesn't seem over-pressurised, it's possible to take the cap from the expansion tank while it's hot.
Also when i switched the engine off, i heard what seemed to be the coolant boiling. There was also a wisp of steam rising from around the expansion tank.
I've done a little reading about this on the forum and someone mentioned this may be an issue with the expansion tank cap.
 
Last edited:
Update: i've replaced the thermostat and the expansion tank and VOILA! No more Houdini coolant...
However... now the coolant seems to be filling the tank when it's warmed up and not going anywhere.
Could it be a blockage? Jiggle valve issue?
 
Definitely air in the system. It needs bleeding correctly as continued use can cause the HG to fail.
 
Thanks for the help.
I've bled the system this afternoon and on testing the jiggle valve, discovered that i couldn't blow down the spout!
Does this mean that it's blocked?
 
But that’s the way the jiggle valve should work, let’s coolant/air out, but not back in, is there a steady stream of coolant into expansion tank when engine is warm, or air bubbles ?
 
'Fraid not.
I did think it strange that you have to blow down the spout even though the valve is supposed to work the opposite way.
That's what the Haynes Manual says though, so who am i to argue? :p
 
Landy-Pandy said:
'Fraid not.
I did think it strange that you have to blow down the spout even though the valve is supposed to work the opposite way.
That's what the Haynes Manual says though, so who am i to argue? :p
Click to expand...

The jiggle valve is there to allow air out the pipe, but not the coolant. Coolant can flow in unchecked however. If you can't blow air down the pipe, the juggle valve is blocked.
 
Update: i cleaned the jiggle valve as best as i could and bled the system repeatedly, it seemed to be working BUT... a few days later, the engine overheated!
...gutted.
So i then removed the jiggle valve altogether to see if that made any difference. It didn't. It's now overheated a grand total of three times!
Naturally, with my head in my hands, i resolved that it must be a HGF as there also seems to be a lovely bit of goo underneath the oil filler.
20190228_171221.jpg
20190228_171238.jpg

It also missfires on start up (intermittent) and occasionally spits droplets of water from the exhaust manifold (could be condensation?).
However, there's no oil in the coolant and no exhaust gasses either!
20190228_115905.jpg

20190228_165839.jpg

Strange?
Does anyone have any suggestions on how i can be sure of a HGF?
Although i may just replace it anyway...
 
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