I have a 2008 HSE. No problems until last couple of months. Engine coolant seems to be leaking very slowly. Keep having to top up every 1000-2000 miles.

Dealer has done pressure check - nothing found. He suggested that it was just because i had been doing lots of long journeys (drove to Switzerland a couple of times). Still needs frequent top ups though, even now I'm just doing regular trips.

No exterior signs of leakage. Could it be head gasket? Oil looks fine, no mayonnaise.

Its going back to the dealer for more investigation in April.

Has anyone else had this?
I see there was a technical bulletin SSM41478 - does anyone know how to see what the bulletin contains?
Any ideas?

Cheers.

my Audi did same, it was thought to be the exhaust gas recirculation, turned out to be a cracked head, warranty job in my case At work
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If your oil is normal " no milkey colour " and theres no oil in your water then the head and gasket is fine.
The cooling sytem is a sealed presurised one. A presuriesd system will heat more quickly to reach normal operating tempresure.
The coolant flows through the engine and back via the cabin heater matrix, once temperature has been reached the thermostat opens to allow excess heat to be removed from the engine via the front radiator.
If there is no visable leak it might be leaking through the heater matrix which you wont be able to see.
Are your carpets getting damp ? Is there a sweet smell of antifreeze in the cabin on longer trips ?
Any weeping leaks may not be visable at engine tick over but may leak faster with the greater presure put on the system when engine revs are higher, eg 2 to 3000rpm under load.
This is often the case and you might only need to have hose clips tightened. Its rare to have a faulty radiator but not unknown. These faults as you can imagine can be quite hard to find, good luck and keep us all posted

Traditionally the first step is to check for coolant leaks, the second is to replace the pressure cap in case it is opening at the wrong pressure. If this was a TD5 I'd say you very likely have a cracked head, but I'm not aware of similar problems (yet) with the FR2 engines. Heater matrix is indeed another possibility: smell of anti-freeze in car. If it's a cracked head you will probably eventually notice white smoke (actually steam) from the exhaust.

Went into dealers yesterday. Leaking radiator drain plug replaced.

sufe wrote:

Went into dealers yesterday. Leaking radiator drain plug replaced.

I had a similar problem back in September 2010. Loss of coolant started after a trip to the lake district. 500 ml. Problem has got a lot worse and yesterday after a trip from London to Liverpool lost 2 litres of coolant. Started up car today and wham!White smoke pouring out of the exhaust for a mile then nothing. Checked over car, no sludge in the oil filler cap nothing untoward in the expansion tank and nothing on the dip stick. Can smell coolant coming out of exhaust. I would hate to think that this model has a head gasket problem, it might be the egr valve blowing coolant from it's cooling sleeve straight into the inlet manifold but I will find out tomorrow when I take it to the dealers.
Fingers crossed for a cheap fix and not a head gasket. At 2007 I would be appalled if it was the head gasket with only 30000 miles.

Now stuck with no confidence in the car to haul a family round the north...."hello Mercedes I'd like to buy an ML!" Kurt

Cagliere wrote:

Started up car today and wham!White smoke pouring out of the exhaust for a mile then nothing.

But Alex, normal exhaust condensation would not smell of anti-freeze. I have had these symptoms three times on different cars and it was a cracked head each time, although as I wrote above, I'm not aware of cracked head problems on the TD4 engine. TD5 is another matter.

water will always build up in the exhaust pipe this is due to moisture in the atmosphere which is drawn into the engine during the normal running conditions. As the exhaust gases cool the water vapour condenses inside the exhaust pipe returning to water droplets, these build up and run out of the pipe from time to time, thats why exhausts usualy rust out from the inside out.
Antifreeze/ summer coolant is much more dense than water and when under pressure will find gaps to escape from that water will not.
The first thing to check would be all the hoses,that they are tight, the radiator may have been hit by a stone while driving. A very small hole would not be visable and only when the engine is at hiher revs might then antifreeze start to leak. If you rub your finger arround all hoses etc, if its been leaking then there will be residue left behind and it will feel greasy. If this is found then you have found a possible leak and you can go from there.
Be careful though and dont get it in your mouth as it is toxic to us mear mortals good luck.

It is definitely not condensate. I put two litres of water in a cold engine having covered 240 miles in a day. Fired it up and the smoke was incredible! As I said before no oil loss or build up of gunk ie oil and water mix in any of the normal places. Took the car to the dealer this morning. Unfortunately he is booked up for three weeks and I have to be back in London tomorrow. Told me it could be the egr valve the head gasket or the intercooler. I am going to go for intercooler or egr valve. A blown head gasket is too expensive to contemplate and not logical anyway. Am quite disappointed with the fault as the car still performed perfectly even since the start of the leakage.

Will be heading off back down the M6 at silly o clock to avoid traffic to London.

So if you have to top up your coolant and you are in warranty you know what to do. I had mine pressure tested last year when the coolant loss first started. Could not detect a problem. Replaced the pressure cap and leak continued. It is very frustrating indeed.  Kurt

Pressure test may not find the problem - especially if the dealer doesn't want to do a warranty repair! When I had a head gasket go on my TD5 the Park Royal people (it wasn't Lookers back then) pressure tested it and said it was fine. A week later it was relayed back to them to do the head gasket, which they grudgingly did on warranty (and not a very good job either, but no reflection on Lookers as it was before they took over). The problem may only be occurring when engine is hot (this would allow water into cylinders, egr or whatever once it stops, which explains the clouds of steam when you start it).
Don't be too hard on Land Rover - this can happen on any car, and at least it's not a known fault on this engine, so you may just be unlucky.

Thanks for the advise. I noticed that I do not lose any coolant until I switch off the engine and on fire up and a few hundred yards travel, the coolant warning light comes on. My theory is that the residual pressure on the system is somehow helping to exit the coolant into the engine area and perhaps straight into the exhaust system. The water loss stops when the pressure has dropped sufficiiently to prevent the leak. I have no problems starting it and so do not suspect coolant in cylinders which should give a problem starting the car. There is no pinking or loss of performance.

I have booked it into Park Royal for Monday so will hopefully find out what this darned problem is . I hope they don't do a pressure check as this has already proved unhelpful in September. The engine seems to have a great reputation as having spoken to a number of parts depts none of them can recall selling any parts related to coolant loss. Kurt

For anyone else reading this, coolant loss after switching off usually indicates a knackered water pump bearing. I've had that on several cars but not on a Land Rover. However your coolant seems to be finding its way into the exhaust, so it's not a soluition for you, I'm afraid.

OK

I got a call from Lookers Park Royal who have been excellent. It is the EGR Valve and Cooler - cost £215 plus vat plus 3.2 hours labour. Total cost to fit £750.

Called Land Rover customer care on Monday and informed them of my woes with the car. I offered to pay for the labour if they would pay for the defective parts. They knew that it was previously owned by Landrover and that the fault developed 2 months outside of the warranty with a measly 20000 on the clock. Called me back today to say what I already knew " As you are the second owner and the car is out of warranty..." tough.

I have to admit that this is my first and last experience of customer care, as they put it, with Landrover. They are being very short sighted. The person I spoke with saw my point but sadly her line manager has got the brains of a beetle.

Putting aside my disappointment I have to warn all of those with 2.2 diesels if you are loosing water take it back to your dealer and get it looked at. If they cannot find the problem it is likely to be the EGR valve. It vents the water directly out through the exhaust so you may not even notice. It appears to happen when the engine is switched off but can also happen during driving.


In my mind the part was either installed defective or manufactured defective. Don't let Land rover fob you off. They know there is a problem and are doing nothing about it.
They actually offered me a discount on a new car?!! How bizarre is that? They are in effect saying that their cars are only good for 3 years.

When the time comes I am going to look at the other marques Meredes or good ol' Jeep.

Right on to honest John's website for an update on reliability...and Which! Kurt