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Coolant loss thread no. 358


Matt Harris

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A couple of questions I'd like your help with:-

1.8 K-series engine in 2004 Gaylander, had the head gasket repaired last year, but now starting to see coolant loss again.

Drives around no problem at all.

Generally, it goes from max to min over the space of about 2 weeks.

There are fine cracks in the top of the coolant reservoir, but tbh these have always been there from before the CHG went last time.

Haven't seen any signs of coolant on the ground underneath the engine like there were last time.

Temperature gauge does not register overheating, but then again it didn't last time either.

My questions are:

If the head gasket has gone again, could this be caused by damage to the engine as a whole caused by previous failures? If so, I don't see the point in replacing the HG if it's just going to go every time.

Is it common to have multiple head gasket failures over time? Naively I thought that one you had had it repaired once, that was it for good!

Could the cracks in the coolant reservoir allow enough coolant vapour to escape to account for the coolant loss?

Can anyone post a picture of what the 'gunk' in the oil looks like when the head gasket fails? My oil looks fine to me, but then I don't know what I'm looking for.

Other threads have pointed to other causes of coolant loss (O ring failure etc) so I'm hoping it's one of these. The trouble is it seems to me that if you take a freelander into a garage with coolant loss then they automatically assume it's head hasket failue (rightly in most cases probably).

Thanks

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If water is mixed with oil the colour of oil will turn creamy white, however cracks on the water reservoir indicates pressure build up in the cooling system.

Evaporation of cooland is possible. In the mean time try to replace the thermostad and cooland reservoir.

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If water is mixed with oil the colour of oil will turn creamy white, however cracks on the water reservoir indicates pressure build up in the cooling system.

Evaporation of cooland is possible. In the mean time try to replace the thermostad and cooland reservoir.

Thanks for the replies. Is it inevitable that head gasket failure will lead to coolant mixing with the oil? Or is there a scenario by which the head gasket will fail but coolant will not get in and mix with the oil? The reason I ask is that before and since I've had the head gasket repaired, the oil has never been anything other than dark greeny brown (i.e. engine oil coloured.

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hello i had similar coolant loss had inlet gasket replaced but made no odds also had cracks on expansion tank it seemed to be hissing so replaced which was about £40 from lr dealer also required new cap as tank was redesigned with a ratchet cap no water loss since so might be worth a try

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Head gaskets can fail in several ways, not all of which lead to water and oil mixing. The head gasket is separating several things: Oil, water, combustion chambers, and the atmosphere outside. It can fail between any of these.

For the sake of £8 and 15 minutes with the spanners I'd do the inlet O-rings if only to rule it out. Better than doing a head gasket unnecessarily.

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Have you actually tried changing the inlet manifold gasket? For the sake of eight quid it would seem a shame to give the car away because it "probably" has a head gasket problem. Hell, it seems a bit daft to ditch it for want of a head gasket but what do I know.

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Have you actually tried changing the inlet manifold gasket? For the sake of eight quid it would seem a shame to give the car away because it "probably" has a head gasket problem. Hell, it seems a bit daft to ditch it for want of a head gasket but what do I know.

Will try replacing the inlet manifold gasket and the expansion tank, but as a general point are products like K-seal, and similar that are added to the engine oil, worth trying as a temporary solution to gasket failure?

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Will try replacing the inlet manifold gasket and the expansion tank, but as a general point are products like K-seal, and similar that are added to the engine oil, worth trying as a temporary solution to gasket failure?

Well it's a moot point now as the garage say that the bottom end knocking is very severe and have recommended a new lump. Given the coolant loss and overheating problems as well, I'm inclined to agree with them. Trouble is there don't seem to be that many K-series on the usual auction websites, and those that are are invariably at the other end of the country!

So I guess I'm in the market for a 2nd hand 1.8 k-series engine in the S Wales / Westcountry area, if anyone's got one going spare...

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K-seal, Bars Leak, and Radweld will not cure a leak that is coming from a soft seal, such as some types of gasket, hoses, rubber O-rings, etc.

As Fridge says, there's a few seperations performed by the head gasket, but most commonly - the 1.8i K-series engine nearly always fails between water and oil - giving the creamy 'emulsion' that is the new contents of your sump.

I recently looked at an '05 freelander that was losing water - no anti-freeze crystallisation, and no signs of water anywhere. If the inlet seal fails, then water leaks into No1 inlet, then passes through the cylinder and out of the exhaust. A minor, but steady leak like this is almost impossible to detect, so the cheapest option is to replace the seal - if only to cancel out one possibility.

Anyway - the engine continued to lose water, and 2-days later there was the all-too familiar emulsion in the sump, so now the head is off :)

30-minutes to 1-hour to replace the inlet seal, and about £8 for the part, so no great deal, and it might be the problem.

Les.

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As Fridge says, there's a few seperations performed by the head gasket, but most commonly - the 1.8i K-series engine nearly always fails between water and oil - giving the creamy 'emulsion' that is the new contents of your sump.

I recently looked at an '05 freelander that was losing water - no anti-freeze crystallisation, and no signs of water anywhere. If the inlet seal fails, then water leaks into No1 inlet, then passes through the cylinder and out of the exhaust. A minor, but steady leak like this is almost impossible to detect, so the cheapest option is to replace the seal - if only to cancel out one possibility.

Les.

Just out of interest, there has never been water in the oil (nor vice versa) either now or before I had the HG fixed last time. There's blue crystalline coolant deposits around a lot of the hose connections and on the hairline cracks in the expansion tank though....

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Every crystalline formation is the sign of a leak. The water evaporates and leaves the antifreeze behind.

Les.

I assumed this was the case, and that the leaks (just about every hose connection seems to have crystalline deposit) are caused by the engine overheating and the coolant system pressurising. What I don't understand is why the engine should be overheating even when the coolant level reads 'full'. Is it the case that coolant is not flowing 'round correctly or not reaching certain parts?

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Matt, there is a breaker that specialises in Freelanders at Parkend in the Forest of Dean.

Just while you lads are on the topic of engine replacements, is it possible to replace a 1.8k series engine (2000 Freelander) with a TD4 engine.

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Just while you lads are on the topic of engine replacements, is it possible to replace a 1.8k series engine (2000 Freelander) with a TD4 engine.

Anything's possible, I suspect you'd need the gearbox, engine loom, ECU, etc...

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