Where the [expletive deleted] is the coolant going?

That'd be the coolant in my wife's Range Rover (2001 with the 4.6L).

Ever since we got that thing, it's been using or losing coolant. We've had it at the local Land Rover specialist (who has a very good reputation) and he's replaced head gaskets (those were leaking externally), the O-rings on the heater core (twice within 2-3 years!), several of the coolant hoses after one went from a slow leak to a blowout while driving to the LR specialist's shop. Oh, and I replaced the water pump a few months ago after it started both seizing and leaking.

By now, both the engine bay and interior are bone dry, there's even hardly a sign of any oil leaks (note to self - check if there's any oil left in the engine). No signs of external coolant leaks and no sign of coolant and oil mixing that I can see in the header tank.

What drives me nuts is that the car is really sneaky about its coolant loss - it goes like "he checked the coolant, I'm OK; he checked the coolant, I'm OK; Oh look, he forgot to check for the last three weeks, let's freak him out by emptying the header tank". I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is no gradual loss of coolant - the levels can be OK for quite a while under normal operation conditions and all of a suddenly the level is down by over a quart and I can't berkeleying figure out where it's going.

Any ideas?

It has to last at least another six months and at that point we'll probably bite the bullet and get her a new car, but I'd like to have my new job stabilize a bit before having that sort of expense.

Oh, forgot to mention - she drove it once with the temp gauge pegged as she didn't want to call AAA for the three miles home. However even after that I seen no evidence of fluids mixing.

With all that work, is there a chance there was still air in the system? When I replaced the water pump on my GMC, I let it run for a while to get the air out and thought it all came out, but about 500 miles later the system burped a ton of air and emptied the reservoir tank. Haven't lost any more coolant, but that kind of sounds like what you're experiencing.

Are you also sure your not burning it?

It's possible that there is still air in the system. The work was over the course of our ownership so you'd think that the coolant system burped itself in between repairs but maybe not.

I didn't keep records but from memory I've topped up the header tank at least 2-3 times since I did the water pump. And that was after my "burping sequence" after the pump change - basically, run the engine up to temperature and keep it there for about 20 minutes, let it cool down all the way, top up the coolant tank, then repeat the next morning and add a 15-20 mile drive into the mix.

One other oddity is that we've driven it long distances - for example, I topped up the tank, drove it to San Francisco and back (about 450 miles in total), no change in cold coolant level. My wife drives it locally for a similar distance or a little more and the header tank may be empty.

I imagine you have run the heater and all that to make sure the air is out of that system as well?

I did, yes.

I hate all coolant related problems. Here is what I would do in no specific order:

• Pressure test the system overnight. You can buy a kit from Harbor Freight.

• Rent the headgasket test kit from Autozone. You buy the fluid and use their tester to check for traces of combustion gases in the coolant.

This is the Autozone test kit:

Click here

4.6 and overheated? you are dropping a liner. I went through the same thing. Eventually it will fall completely and you will just start gushing coolant through the cylinder and out the exhaust. Better start saving now for a new engine or a new truck. Sorry

From everything I have read

This

BoxheadTim wrote: Oh, forgot to mention - she drove it once with the temp gauge pegged as she didn't want to call AAA for the three miles home. However even after that I seen no evidence of fluids mixing.

Equals this

mad_machine wrote: 4.6 and overheated? you are dropping a liner. I went through the same thing. Eventually it will fall completely and you will just start gushing coolant through the cylinder and out the exhaust. Better start saving now for a new engine or a new truck. Sorry

If it was not on the way out already I think she killed it.

Seems to me that if someone made a reasonably priced LSx or SBC drop in swap kit for one of those, like the ones for the Jags, they would make a lot of money. Or at least get by, which in a small business today is a good thing.

I'm going with "BHG" and likely the cylinder liner thingie. I have no experience with Land Rovers. I have this version:

which also has well known problems like the CD player doesn't work after 18 years. I mean, come on. It's only 18 years.

I agree, a kit to put a more reliable motor in these would be very attractive. When I had my DiscoII I thought that a BMW V8 would be the way to go as the car was already running a Bosch Motronic ECU and the same ZF transmission used in the e38 7 series. Those are readily available and powerful, and were used in the later RR and LR4.

I'm definitely not ruling out a dropping liner. The only odd thing about that is that the rate of fluid loss doesn't seem to have changed much, if at all since that incident. Also, that incident was about six months ago whereas it's pretty consistently been losing coolant for three or so years. Of course one possible explanation is that one liner might have dropped a little well before we had the head gaskets done shortly after we bought it. Oh well, I had asked the mechanic to check for that...

@mad_machine, replacement vehicle for her is already in my financial plan for next year. At this point I'm mostly hoping that the RR is going to hold together long enough so I can follow through with that plan - well that, or expire in the next couple of weeks so I can find a temporary vehicle for her while she doesn't need a working station wagon or SUV.

@Dr. Hess clearly one can't find decently built cars anymore . One of those would actually be on my radar if it hadn't been nixed by my wife already as being too big.

basically, I have found that any Rover 4.6 with "head gaskets" done is really a time bomb about to go off. People do the HG thinking it really is the gasket, which seems to rarely go wrong.

and I would love a LSx in my Disco, seems like the best of both worlds. More torques, more power, and more economy tied with more reliability

In reply to Dr. Hess:

As I recall, the trouble is the drivetrain isn't really up to anything much hotter than the 4.6, so a mild SBC or stock LS isn't really a cheap swap even if somebody did devise a way to make it a drop in.

In reply to mad_machine:

Actually in this case the head gaskets were weeping externally, so they did need replacement...

What I'd really like would be that RR with the BMW Diesel as it was available in Europe.

So, a nice Toyota V6 then? Hey, to make it "authentic" and "British," use the 3.0 V6 from up to '95 so you still have head gasket problems. No cylinder liner problems, but you can keep the head gasket problems. It's Win-Win. Or, I suppose, some kind of (cough) GM V6 as they have got to be practically free at the junk yards.

BoxheadTim wrote: One of those would actually be on my radar if it hadn't been nixed by my wife already as being too big.

Just get a 4Runner then. It's even less unreliable than a land cruiser ;) And smaller. My wife really liked ours (though she doesn't much like the Sequoia we have now)

There is a remote chance that you can just keep topping it off indefintely.

I'd do an oil analysis to confirm that the coolant isn't ending up in the oil. If it's not and the leak remains very slow, it's probably not catastrophic. A couple of the GM stop leak pellets might even be enough to slow it down if you can't find it.

Tyler H wrote: There is a remote chance that you can just keep topping it off indefintely.

if it is a liner, it will go a few thousand miles before dropping to a catastrophic level. At that point it begins to look like you are spraying for mosquitos. When mine did it, I went through 12 gallons of water to go the last 2 miles home