G'day guys,

99 4.0 P38 180 000 kms; motor has 70 000 kms.

It keeps using coolant, and I don't know where its going.

I have done the heater O rings, and it is, as far as I can see, not leaking into the inside of the car any longer.

The motor has just 70 000 kms on it and is in A1 condition. As far as I can see there are no leaks on the motor. Not even any oil leaks, but that's another matter!

The LPG system was new 12 months ago, and I have traced the hoses around and I can see no leaks or signs of leaks.

Occasionally there is a small showing - a couple of drops - of coolant on the carport floor. Lining it up it is from the back of the motor, just to the left of centre. I can see no source of the leak. It is nowhere near enough to account for the coolant loss.

Otherwise the car is all good. No overheating or any other such issues.

And it still eats coolant - about a half a litre every three or four days.

Its got me stumped! Any ideas? The only one I have is perhaps an internal leak in the LPG converter?

Willem

There is a little l shaped hose that goes into the bottom of the manifold at the front. I'm not sure whether the Thor manifold had this hose or not, but mine was leaking and it was very hard to tell. You may need to stick a mirror down there, and look back up at the base of the manifold. I now have it easy as I have a Endoscope camera on a flexible hose, so looking into tight places is a sinch.

Stu

Do you accept medicare card?

One of the leaks I had on my Thor was a small hose running across the top of the engine behind the aircon compressor and alternator. The leak was so small that with the heat of the engine it evaporated and never reached the ground. It took ages to trace, the smell of the coolant gave the area away. Had to remove the Compressor and alternator to change the small hose as no way could I get at it.

You would certainly notice if it was an external leak.

My picks would be
Internal leak in gas converter.( there was some discussion on this a while ago) . Is it a "gas ring" or vapour injection?
Slipped sleeve. Nuff said
Regards Philip A

Nuff said summs that one up!!

Also might pay to check the tell-tale on your water pump. Its a little hole on the left hand side of the pump that dribbles when your pump is cactus! The leak on mine dripped down the block, along the length of the sump and ended up dripping from around where the sump plug sits!

Its hard to see without a torch and some good spotting, but if it's leaking, you'll notice those first few drips within a minute of the car starting up from cold! I caught mine in the act luckily!

Cheers
Keithy

The next installment in the coolant saga ...

I've isolated - by-passed - the heater and the LPG system, and it still leaks coolant. Its coming from the back of the motor in the middle. It is running in a steady stream down the outside of both sides of the bell housing and dripping steadily from there.

As far as I know it can only come fro the join between the inlet manifold and the valley cover/ cylinder head area, where the coolant flows into the inlet manifold. But I'm not totally convinced.

Does anyone have experience with this that can enlighten me? It's getting a bit frustrating! Otherwise I may have to start stripping it all down.

Thanks

Willem

The first Adelaide trip I did with the Disco 3.9 in my Rangie resulted in a tow truck trip home. It was pouring coolant out at the back of the engine and it was running down the bellhousing. I couldn't see exactly where it was leaking even with a mirror.

I came to the conclusion it was either the intake manifold gasket or a head gasket, so I started stripping it down. While undoing the intake manifold bolts I found the two rear bolts on the drivers side were only finger tight. Obviously this was the cause of the leak.

The coolant doesn't pass from the block into the heads at the rear, so I guess it ends up being a slightly high pressure area in the cooling system and prone to leaking.

__________________
(88 Hiline - Now with Limited Slip rear diff)

the most probable cause is the valley gasket, but there are a few things it can be as they leak onto the valley gasket and run out from the back of the motor, throttle heater plate and its associated pipe work, coolant temp sensor, top hose or its steel extension tube leaking or is rusted through, heater outlet O ring behind alternator, the ends of the head gaskets.

This thread is from the 27/07/2010.
I would think it has been fixed long ago and the original poster has not bothered to tell the forum what the outcome was.

Regards Philip A