04 Discovery coolant level weirdness

[mitch]

Hi All, this is my first post to an awesome forum.

I have recently bought a 2004 Discovery S 7 seater and it's done about 800Kms. After getting it home from the dealer, I noticed a small loss of coolant from the top right of the radiator where a small thin hose is attached leading from the coolant expansion tank. I replaced the clip-on style hose clips with screw-type ones and it fixed the leak.

When I picked up the car tho, I noticed that the coolant level in the expansion tank was well below the marker (about 1 inch) when the engine was cold. I filled it up to the correct level near the top of the expansion tank, and after about 600kms it's back to where it was - about half way down. I filled it up again and yesterday my Wife drove about 60kms, and the level is down slightly again - about 1/2 inch.

Apart from the initial minor leak, there's no sign that coolant is being lost anywhere, so I wonder if anyone knows what's going on here!

Thanks heaps, Mitch

[DionM]

Mitch,

Can't offer any specific advice except to say that our 02 Freelander had funny coolant levels when we first got it. Now with 24000 kays on it it seems to have stablised. Again, appeared like a leak but no leak to be found anywhere!

[mitch]

That's interesting Dion - thanks for the info. I was thinking that perhaps the dealership didn't fill it properly and somehow left air in the system somewhere. Just a theory (or a guess actually)...

I'll keep watching and post back with some findings.

mitch

[tempestv8]

With your Disco so new, there shouldn't be such a big loss of coolant over such a short period of time. Me thinks you have a leak somewhere. Better get the dealer to have a look into it. It's not acceptable to have such a leak. I have a '99 Disco II V8 and it used to drop a little every time I looked at the tank.

For 4 years, I could never work out where the leak came from. Then this year I replaced all the cooling hoses as preventative maintenance. After topping up the tank a couple of times, presumably due to air still trapped inside the system, the level on the coolant tank has been rock solid. Hasn't budged a peep. So I presume all the air has been let out and it is stable now.

If you have to keep topping it up all the time, it's time your dealer looked into it. :roll:

[mitch]

Thanks for the replies! I've taken my car back to the dealer and the Service Manager was pretty sure that it wasn't filled correctly or fully. He started the motor, took off the expansion tank cap and topped it up with the engine started.

Now I'm just watching and waiting.

Thanks again, mitch