Leaking Again.....

Hi all,
X reg 1.8 petrol Freelander with 92,500 miles up. Headgasket done at 48k.
Got a coolant leak and for the life of me I cant trace it. I've had the Head Gasket 'sniff' tested and it proved negative, although having had the oil changed straight after there is a small amount of moisture showing in the filler cap and on the dipstick, but maybe just condensation? I've run my hand on every hose and surface I can see including under the fuel injection assembly and come up dry. I ran it till the thermostat opened then put it on ramps, took the sump guard off and got under with a torch with it still running for 10 minutes, not a single drip! Stared at the water pump,(behind the lower pulley, I assume) all belts seem dry. Leak is gathering on the left (pulley) side of the sump tray. Cant really see the thermostat housing but I believe it to be behind the water pump, again hand comes out dry. The only thing I can see is a single drip on a tag ABOVE the lower pulley. Took the belt cover off, nothing there. Its always used water since the HG failure, but I'm emptying the header tank every 100 miles.
BTW I had a blocked oilway, causing oil to blow out the exhaust and had to have the engine flushed through, it was while I was doing this I noted the leak.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated, I'm on the point of binning whats been a pretty good car for 15 years.
Thanks

Most likely suspect is water pump, and coolant is gathering in right area for it to be the pump!

freelance said:

Most likely suspect is water pump, and coolant is gathering in right area for it to be the pump!

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Thanks for the reply
Yeah, this was my thought, but I've peeled back the wheel arch liner and also the sump guard and cant see any evidence of water coming from the pump or on the belts, sat n stared at the pump for ages! No old crusty water stains either. I'd set it on fire but it leaks so much it'd put itself out!

Next likely place is inlet manifold gasket , or cracked expansion bottle, o ring around thermostat hsg, unless it has a prt system on it? When was the pressure cap last changed?

If it hasn't had the belts changed since the HGF then they're near enough due a change so change them now + water pump and tensioner then see what happens. Water pump is a common cause for leaks.
HG probably hasn't much life left in it anyway at 50,000 miles.

if you are loosing water and it is not the head gasket then take a good look at 1 the header tank cap and cracks around the top and 2 water pump I have just replace the wife's car water pump as it was leaking but you would not know it the only reason I new it was there was the trace of the pink colouring around that area , and your thermostat is on the back of the engine front end. hope this helps

+1 to the above: W' pump, header tank inspection and its cap, inlet man' gasket. Does it have a MLS H/G? Sometimes beads of coolant can be seen on the H/G edge.

Check again the connections on the thermostat housing. I too have a slow leak, a lot less that a header tank every 100mls! There is a stain on the heater hose connection at the thermostat housing.

Heater core intact, not dripping on that carpet?

Lastly, carefully check the radiator itself. Mine began to leak on the engine side low down, on both sides. It showed as a stain on the body cross member beneath it. When the radiators are old the tube connections to the side tanks fail. Sorry but not repairable and a new radiator is needed. I had that situation late last summer.

Mine had a really annoying phantom leak like this, turned out to be the head gasket.

Get the engine REALLY hot, then get a phone camera in behind the head under the intake manifold and snap a picture facing forwards.

The area on the back of the engine above the water pump is extremely prone to either manifold gasket leaks or some of the MLS gaskets tend to corrode in this area:


These are an absolute b*****d to diagnose, the only way to spot it is to catch it in the act - with a camera - I only caught mine because I ran the engine with no timing belt covers on (front OR back) and could see the belt end of the head gasket starting to shine due to water. The area was hot enough to evaporate the leak as well so you couldn't catch it in the act.

B34R said:

Mine had a really annoying phantom leak like this, turned out to be the head gasket.

Get the engine REALLY hot, then get a phone camera in behind the head under the intake manifold and snap a picture facing forwards.

The area on the back of the engine above the water pump is extremely prone to either manifold gasket leaks or some of the MLS gaskets tend to corrode in this area:


These are an absolute b*****d to diagnose, the only way to spot it is to catch it in the act - with a camera - I only caught mine because I ran the engine with no timing belt covers on (front OR back) and could see the belt end of the head gasket starting to shine due to water. The area was hot enough to evaporate the leak as well so you couldn't catch it in the act.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the replies, went all over looking for a leak to no avail, so been topping up and bleeding air out every 2 days. However, water level has remained stable now for a week!!!! So I'm thinking maybe a bad airlock, as the last time I topped it up it took 3/4 litre and nothing since. Fingers crossed, now onto the next problem.....