Most stupidest Question

Right guys and Gals .. Please feel free to give a ME SLAP for this Question ..

But as Some of you already know i have the FL1 Booked in next week for some work on the HEAD gaskets, all the week points on the car to be sorted,,

But I am having to keep topping it up with WATER. till I get it sorted..
But I read somewhere just plain water would be doing more damage than good.,.is this true or a complete load of BULL..??

am I right in thinking I will need to use RED coolant .. if so WHY .. ??
Here's the Slapable question ... Am I safe to use Plain tap water to keep topping up.. ??

I wouldn't fuss. The garage will be replacing all fluids with new including coolant so for a week it won't make any difference.

+1
'Red' coolant uses organic acid technology [OAT], apparently lower acid effect on the internals, doesn't form silicates which can damage the water pump. More stable and lasts longer - according to the label!

At this time of year in the uk when temps don't go near freezing it's ok to use just water for a short time. If it were colder then I would say no, just in case others are watching this from colder places or differing times of the year. If the coolant freezes then the liquid will expand and possibly do damage to the metal bits like cracking the head etc.

Coolant like the oats used in LR products lowers the point where the coolant will freeze, well below 0. This is dependent on the mix.

Short periods, not a problem.

Once you've got a new Head Gasket in though... take care of it, always top up with coolant if you can:


My head gasket blew because some tit hadn't been using it and it's destroyed the gasket. I think.

Holy Sh_t! I've not seen one like that before. It would have to be made of poor quality metal wouldn't it?

htr said:

Holy Sh_t! I've not seen one like that before. It would have to be made of poor quality metal wouldn't it?

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I dunno, a lot of the early MLS type gaskets had quality issues. This one didn't even stay in one piece as it came off the block:

WOW..I myself have seen many hg repirs done..but never in my life seen one that bad..
Surprised the fl even started..but with that said I may ask the machanic to take a few snap shots while he is doing mine.. if he able to.. I'll post them up on the forum
Got a feeling mine may be as bad as that..lol..if not dam close to it

I am hoping the MLG has since been improved since then..
But yes I will be making a effort to keep a check on levels once it's been done..
Even thou..it has issues ..I do love it it may only be a freelander..
I can now say I am a around owner of a landy.. lol

doesn't cooling have a higher boiling point meaning less evaporation and more liquid in the system?, altho I wouldn't worry 2 much for the short period of time..

My old Disco V8 was a bitch for overheating. It did it one day going over the Port Levy Saddle stuck on a mountain miles from anywhere. The only 'water' I could find was in some ruts in a paddock - full of a water/cow ****e mix. It went in the car and got us home Stayed in there for a while as well - by that point I couldn't give a toss if it was a anti-freeze or cow ****e coolant mix !

GrumpyGel said:

My old Disco V8 was a bitch for overheating. It did it one day going over the Port Levy Saddle stuck on a mountain miles from anywhere. The only 'water' I could find was in some ruts in a paddock - full of a water/cow ****e mix. It went in the car and got us home Stayed in there for a while as well - by that point I couldn't give a toss if it was a anti-freeze or cow ****e coolant mix !

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I think Land Rover should make new Coolant mix.. Cow **** LOL..
that made me chuckle.. lol..

with the engine getting hot anyhow would have burnt off any bactria lol..
I am so wanting to hear what she is going to sound like once its done.. with out sounding like a sag of ****e when starting ..

I replaced a HG with a 'low cost' part sourced locally. It died within 2 years. There was a pin hole corroded through between cylinders 3 & 4. I got a better one in from the UK after that.

thequeenscheese said:

doesn't cooling have a higher boiling point meaning less evaporation and more liquid in the system?, altho I wouldn't worry 2 much for the short period of time..

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It's the pressurisation of the coolant that raises the boiling point to around 120 degrees C

Once you take the rad cap off - the coolant will happily boil itself away