patman Posted February 8, 2008 Share Posted February 8, 2008 Hi, I am I need of some much needed HELP! I have a 1999 Discovery TD5 that I bought about a month ago. It’s been running fine until a few days ago when it started to over heat and lose coolant. I stopped to let it cool down, filled it with water then carried on. After about 5 miles it started to over heat and had lost about 6 litres of water. I can not find a leak, no loss of water when parked up, have had a land rover mechanic look at it who could not find a leak and has ruled out head gasket. He said that he has had another TD5 with the same problem. It could run 1000 miles without over heating, then lose coolant and over heat for no apparent reason. The only drip I could see was from overflow pipe from header tank. I had the top off with the motor running, after about half an hour the tank was empty. But has now stopped leaking. Could there be a crack between the in pipe and the overflow pipe in the top of the tank where the lid screws on? I am driving to Italy in a month and need to get it sorted or get another vehicle. P.S. before my Discovery could over heat and go in to the red, it lost power. Is this a safety feature? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRX Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 It could be you have a very small leak somewhere that a you drive is leaking until the water level drops down and the system gets an air lock. then promptly overheats and boils over. I had a capri that did similar which i traced back to a dodgy expansion tank cap slowly letting water past under pressure and 1000 miles later it boiled over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FridgeFreezer Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 A friend had the plastic expansion tank split round the seam, it only leaked when it was under pressure (tank bulges slightly) so as soon as you stop & investigate it the leak goes. Could be worth checking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxminer Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 P.S. before my Discovery could over heat and go in to the red, it lost power. Is this a safety feature? HI Patman and welcome, my `99 TD5 also had this problem and it was a small split on the coolant hose that went into the heater matrix it also around around the back of cyl head. The answer to your "safety feature" is yes , it allows you to limp home without boiling your engine. Foxminer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teabag Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 patman External coolant leaks can be seen by looking all around the engine and rad when both are hot and under pressure not with the expansion/header tank cap off, u may need a torch to help u, and any drips u see then tighten the clips. Also have a look at the core plugs on the side of the block. If nothing is found then suspect your head gasket is about to blow or already has. When the engine is slowing down (losing power) that is not a safety feature, but the engine is about to seizes up and u have gone to far if u have reached that point. I not up on D2s and I may have mis-understood u but I thought that the system would be sealed as a D1 so why do u have an overfow pipe as such from the expansion/header tank. u may have to take the car in and have the system pressure tested. Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Divster Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Hi, I am I need of some much needed HELP! I have a 1999 Discovery TD5 that I bought about a month ago. It’s been running fine until a few days ago when it started to over heat and lose coolant. I stopped to let it cool down, filled it with water then carried on. After about 5 miles it started to over heat and had lost about 6 litres of water. I can not find a leak, no loss of water when parked up, have had a land rover mechanic look at it who could not find a leak and has ruled out head gasket. He said that he has had another TD5 with the same problem. It could run 1000 miles without over heating, then lose coolant and over heat for no apparent reason. The only drip I could see was from overflow pipe from header tank. I had the top off with the motor running, after about half an hour the tank was empty. But has now stopped leaking. Could there be a crack between the in pipe and the overflow pipe in the top of the tank where the lid screws on? I am driving to Italy in a month and need to get it sorted or get another vehicle. P.S. before my Discovery could over heat and go in to the red, it lost power. Is this a safety feature? I had a very similar experience with my D2 when towing. Unfortunately it turned out to be the head gasket. When I had the head pressure tested I found there were cracks in at some of the galleries, so unfortunately it needed a new head too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lynall Posted February 9, 2008 Share Posted February 9, 2008 Almost certianly head gasket Get it changed then you will have enough time to run it before the italy trip to see if its okay. Lynall Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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