V6 engine temps & head gasket

Hi all,

I'm new here, but I'm jumping in with a plea for advice / help

I bought a V6 petrol Freelander at the weekend. It was fine on the test drive, but driving back to Tonbridge from Eastbourne (50 mins in flowing traffic) started ringing a few alarm bells.

Although the temp needle sat in the middle of the gauge the whole way home, when I got home, the fan was going 10-to-the-dozen and there was a distinct smell of coolant around the front of the car. Looking under the bonnet, there's some white crust around the header tank and on the under-bonnet liner, but no signs of fresh coolant.

It didn't seem to loose any water either, the coolant is still 1/2 way between the min and max marks, and when I restarted the engine, although the fan cam back on, I couldn't see any signs of a leak.

The main reason I'm concerned is because the previous owner told me that he'd recently had the head skimmed because one of the head gaskets had failed. That can be because of over heating right?

The head gasket has been repaired, but what if there's an underlying cooling problem that was the cause of the failure and hasn't been repaired?

What's my first step?

Thanks

Chris

did you keep the receipt ?

Sean said:

did you keep the receipt ?

Click to expand...

Hi Sean, thanks for your reply...

It was a private sale.

A V6 will run quite hot. Big engine + small engine bay = Heat...

As long as it isnt actually overheating, and isnt loosing ANY coolant, then you will be OK.

While we are here, check the seams of the radiator. Quite common for leaking...

Checked the running temp on mine this afternoon. The fans come on at 109 degrees C. Coolant temp then drops to 104 degree C, then the fans switch off. It will happily do this after a journey to warm it up. Also does this when stationary queuing in traffic. Temp rises and falls as the fans switch on and off. Whilst on the move the coolant temp ranges from 88 to 95 degrees C.

As soon as you start to move, after being stationary, the coolant temp starts to drop. If you stop again, then it starts to rise after 15 seconds. As disco mikey says, there’s not much space around the engine under the bonnet, so the sudden increase in airflow when you start moving makes a big difference.

The above is only an indication of what my v6 hippo coolant temp was, on a day when the air temp was about 13 degree C.

Cool. Thanks for the reply guys.

I topped the reservoir up to the max indicator yesterday and took it out for a good blast.

I haven't checked the level again because it was still hot when I went to bed, but I should know tonight if it actually is loosing coolant or not.

Although I initially thought that it wasn't, my bones tell me that it must be. The smell of hot coolant is pretty strong when you get out of the car.

Speaking to my local specialist RCV, apparently the fan will come on if the air-con is on, regardless of engine temp, to cool the compressor.

I'll update the thread later when I've checked the coolant level.

Hippo - how are you measuring the temps out of interest? My temp gauge doesn't give any kind of scale. The needle just sits bang in the middle.

Chris

I’ve got a hawkeye. It talks to my hippo. I use it to read the computers etc. Using that, I can see the reading of the temp sensor monitoring the coolant.

If you remove the big plastic acoustic cover off the top of the engine, and have a look into the V of the engine, there may be coolant in there. The plastic thermostat housing on the LHS of the V (battery side) is a known item to fail by splitting the housing. You could check all the oils to see if they’ve got coolant in them.

It should use the orange/red oats long life coolant. If it does, this stuff is fluorescent when it dries so you may find a leak on one of the connection joints. If it’s under warranty, then let them fix it. The coolant goes through the engine, radiator, IRD cooling, heater matrix and auto oil cooler.


coolingv6 cgqcYv2

So I checked the coolant level last night and it hasn't moved.

Hippo, thank's for the info. That diagram is perfect. I'm not sure what brand of coolant is in it, but it's bright red so possibly the stuff you mention.

Next thing is to whip that cover off and have a good look in the V & around the hoses & connections for any signs of trouble.

I've also got a voucher for a free 30 min health check from my local LR specialist, so I'll get it booked in and see if they can pressure test the coolant system while it's there.

Thanks again for the info, I really appreciate the replies.

Chris

Actually, using my super sensitive ( and rather large ) nose, I had noticed that the smell of coolant is strongest on the offside, 1/2 way along the engine bay between the end of the rad and the header tank. I'd dismissed that, because I couldn't see anything there, but Hippo's diagram suggests that's roughly where the oil cooler is?

Is the oil cooler best viewed from the top, or under the car?

Chris

If you look under the front wheel, theres a plastic cover by the oil cooler your thinking of. This plastic comes off once 3 vertical bolts are removed. For a better view, remove the whole under tray. Bolts below:





Cooler at the bottom. Ignore the arrow, it points to the air con pump.