losing water and cracks in the expansion tank

My freelander 2001 1.8 k Series (dont shout, it was free), is losing water. Every 100miles or so it needs topping up. The headgasket was replaced about 8 months ago. Im sure i read that the cracks in the expansion tank could cause the water loss but wanted to get some feedback before i buy a new one and fit it. (its a new cap on the tank as i lost the origional when topping it up! doh!)

thanks for any feedback

a picture says a thousand words so here it is:

it seriously looks like emulsified oil in the expansion tank, is this new or bad flushing from previous problem

freelance said:

it seriously looks like emulsified oil in the expansion tank, is this new or bad flushing from previous problem

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head gaskets been replaced already.
i need to get rid of it asap and get a defender.

my mates 02 plate had same problam he replaced the tank and filler cap ,my td4 has the same tank and cap ,the replacement cap in your photo differs ,anyway his is running ok now

Ian jones said:

my mates 02 plate had same problam he replaced the tank and filler cap ,my td4 has the same tank and cap ,the replacement cap in your photo differs ,anyway his is running ok now

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for 20quid its worth a shot

thanks for that.

whilst under the car i spotted alot of oil on the bottom of the engine bay :s

tighten the oil filter! and is it emulsified oil ? yes or no.

freelance said:

tighten the oil filter! and is it emulsified oil ? yes or no.

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im not sure, im Very pro DIY but, never really played about with engines too much.
So treat me like a dunce :doh:

Also, any tips on how to go about tightening the oil filter?

i have a simular problem help me please i have a yr2000 petrol freelander that seems to be loosing water ! I have checked all the pipes / hoses and radiator and there are no leaks visible ! The car runs and reaches operating temperature fine but as soon as the engine is turned off the radiator water bottle just seems to empty and i don't know where to ? please any suggestions would be greatly received as basically my car is unusable the way it is

jbtbjlc said:

i have a simular problem help me please i have a yr2000 petrol freelander that seems to be loosing water ! I have checked all the pipes / hoses and radiator and there are no leaks visible ! The car runs and reaches operating temperature fine but as soon as the engine is turned off the radiator water bottle just seems to empty and i don't know where to ? please any suggestions would be greatly received as basically my car is unusable the way it is

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Oh dear you got any mayo in the oil filler cap????

hi not sure if its a good thing or not but there is no mayo or gu in the filler cap??????????????????????

Just replaced my header tank. Looked simular to the top photo, and made the coolant look oragne. New tank shows coolant as red. Didn't change the coolant either. It's as if the plastic went funny.

LR updated the tank, so you have to get a new cap if you get a new tank.

tank = PCF000012
cap = PCD500030 (this has now been replaced by PCD000090)

I purchased a new tank PCF000012 and cap PCF500030 in Feb 2010.

There could be some confusion on which part is the latest (PCD500030 or PCD000090). I will ask the man dealer to confirm when I visit next week as different online suppliers supply different information.

According to microcat:

pcd100160 cap is for vin plate up to 3a289375
pcd000090 cap is for vin plate 3a289376 onwards

pcf101360 tank is for vin plate up to ya999999
pcf000010 tank is for vin plate 1a000001 to 3a289375
pcf000012 tank is for vin plate 3a289376 onwards

EDIT: I've been to the main dealer this week and they confirm the following:

PCD100160 is old and the replacement is PCD500030
PCF000010 is old and the replacement is PCF000012

This information came from the latest data they have on their parts supply system for my 2001 v6 Freelander 1 vin plate SALLNABG11A33nnnn.

is that the noo one with the water level sensor in it as well?

Yes. Put the sensor in, but not connected it up to power and bulb yet.

I was wondering - cant it be connected into the overtemp bulb system?
If I remember correctly - the freelander was a warning light for overtemp in the dash. I reckon it could be coupled up to that. That way you only need to connect it into existing wiring in the engine bay?

Just had a look in the rave disk owners manual, and can't see an over temp lamp. With it being a k series, you'd of thought it would of had several. Here's the dash when it starts: [nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rxaxrNKRto"]YouTube - Freelander 1 2001 v6 cold and warm engine start[/nomedia]

I agree connecting it with another lamp could be the way forward. Saves having another lamp. But it depends how the second lamp is used. Some are direct control of the computer only. Others as subject to external switches making them illuminate if needed.

Don’t see how it could be done. The lamps need 2 connecting voltages to make them work. 0v one side, and 12v on the other. Or at least 2 differing voltages, both relative to the cars DC power. Say 2v and 8v would be enough. My coolant switch will be either open or closed circuit. So this would disable the lamps original use, which is to illuminate to show a fault. That’s if the coolant switch was wired in series. Parallel wiring may interfere with the computer. I wouldn’t want to pop one of it’s outputs/inputs by forcing it to one of the DC rails, when it wanted to be something different.

I’m looking for coolant ok = closed circuit = lamp lit. Hence coolant low = lamp off. None of the lamps do this. Inverting the coolant switch by using the switching contacts on a relay as the inversion would work. This would give closed circuit = fail, but that relies on the lamps original use having a fail state to light the lamp, or the lamp still won’t light when the coolant’s low.

I was going to take power off something that only receives power when the ignition switch is on, like the sunroof. That way the LED won’t drain the battery when the cars not in use. Other end would be the 0v bodywork connection to the rear of the coolant tank. I’ve got a panel mount LED and will add a resister to dim it a little so it doesn’t annoy at night. I haven’t bothered with the false alarm timer, as a flickering lamp every so often doesn’t bother me. Sensor is mounted in just the right place, but needs to be at an angle to fit to avoid a bulge in the tank base. The tank is mostly round, with the switch on the straightest section. The bench test worked ok.

will have a look - i think some of the sensors in the engine bay are light on-closed.
If yu turn the coolant sensor over it works the other way round. as it opens, it goes open circuit, so if it falls open when down then it is coolant ok=closed. If it goes open with a rise in coolant then it is coolant ok=open.

I am sure (well almost) that my KV6 had an overtemp lamp

I was wrong - I just checked . no reason why a small LED couldnt be fitted into the guage tho - like the low fuel light????

i reckon the best way (coz that the way i have it in my '40) is to have power from dash, going to 12v led and from there to ccolant switch and from there to a convenient local earth. That way power to LED is nice and short and any damage to wiring subsequent to that (to ground) will just turn the LED on. It also means you only need to run one wire from dash to coolant tank.

Yep that sounds good. That's the way I was thinking too. Got an inline fuse too so I can tap off a positive, and put something like a 100mA fuse in there. So if I short it, then the main fuse to whatever which I've tapped off, won't blow. I've chosen to put my switch on as fail safe. This is the way we tell customers to wire things. They don't always listern. Hence switch closed when healthy. So if the switch falls off, like the first one did when it snapped (coz I over tightened it as it wer leaking) it will show a fail. Same for fuse blown. Will post pics when it'a complete and put some info up so your can add a Freelander to your thread. Thanks.

think i would be inclined to wire it to a buzzer, and a bulb.