Headtester Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Hi All, first post here so please be gentle. My 2001 TD5 is losing engine coolant, other than a little around the expansion bottle top I can't find any signs of a leak. I had topped it up the other weekend and then did a 200 mile trip to Birmingham and back with five of us in the car. All was fine and the Disco pulled like a train apart from going up long hills when it would lose speed and power, slowing to about 60 from the previous brisk 70 mph, changing down to 4th didn't improve matters apart from getting noisy. Today the heater was only blowing cold so, after searching around on the forum I checked coolant level again and topped it up. I warmed the engine until the top heater hose got hot and then bled a small amount of air out of it. The heater worked fine - all warm and toasty again - I drove around locally and did about 5 miles in 20 mins and it warmed up well. When I got back I checked the coolant level again and it had used most of the contents of the expansion bottle. There are no obvious signs of leaking, the expansion bottle cap has held since I tightened it up hard. Is it the head gasket or (hopefully) something more straightforward that I've missed? Thanks in anticipation Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headtester Posted December 10, 2008 Author Share Posted December 10, 2008 Cheeky bump - Can anyone help please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BogMonster Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 Check the end tanks of the radiator, it is a poxy arrangement of metal and plastic crimped together and they have a reputation for leaking. You should find lots of pink stains wherever the leak is. It could be the head gasket - but I'd check the rad first. Was the power loss definitely something different to normal or just the effect of a full vehicle on a long hill? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s11aun Posted December 10, 2008 Share Posted December 10, 2008 also check the 2 rear heater hoses that go around the back of the cylinder head as the plastic engine cover tends to rub through them as i found out eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headtester Posted December 13, 2008 Author Share Posted December 13, 2008 Thanks for the suggestions guys, there's no visible coolant leak and I've checked the carpets for dampness as well as under the car. I thought the lack of power might just be the effects of a fully loaded vehicle going up hill but another Disco breezed past us on the motorway, they were only two up and there were five in my car but I wouldn't have thought three lightweight teenagers would make that much difference. It's in the repair shop now, I'll post an update when I get some news. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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