Coolant outlet housing failure

[TDV6]

I think all older cars should check their coolant outlet housing for leaks, in the TDV6 it’s on top of the motor, under the turbo inlet.

I had been topping up the coolant reservoir for several weeks without finding out where the leak was, and then while towing the van temp rose and dropped off also transmission fault occurred. Upon taking off the black plastic engine cover it was obvious that the plastic water outlet connection had split in two, the car rode home on tray top of tow truck with van behind. Internet search reveals this part is failing regularly worldwide after approx 150 thousand k. The 90 degree elbow that connects to this unit had also eroded to the point of failure; it is part of the radiator hose kit and cannot be bought separately.

My garage has started to replace the outlet component as standard practice when the coolant is due to be replaced; it's only a $30 part while the hose kit was $220.

Car has done 300k since and appears ok, Last weekend I also replaced 6L of transmission fluid, I have yet to tow the van again and place engine and transmission under stress, but am hopeful all is ok.

Ryall

[Ean Austral]

Yep , been a few posts about this problem, someone was actually looking at getting 1 made from steel/alloy or similar. I carry 1 with me when I travel anywhere out of suburbia.

Haven't replaced mine yet at 110,000 but as soon as I need to top up coolant it will be done. Good time to clean out intake pipe work and MAF whilst it's off.

Cheers Ean

[TDV6]

Forgot to add that at no time did any of the land rover gauges or warning lights say anything about no coolant or overheating of the motor only a transmission fault. I have a scan gauge and also a separate temp gauge for motor and transmission (Engine Watchdog TM4).

Ryall

[connock]

Did mine at around the 160k mark but I had a low coolant warning so topped up the water several times whilst looking. Ended up finding it with a LED torch at night , it seemed to make the coolant glow. I obviously found mine earlier than you, it was only a weep and in my driveway, some times you can be lucky.


connock

[Nomad9]

Hi TDV6,
As Ean mentioned I was looking at getting an aluminium one cast up, I know a small manufacturing company local to where I work. They have one of those 3D scanners that create wax models for the lost wax process of casting. The shape and internal porting was to complex, it just became to hard so I left it. The cost would also have been prohibitive.
When mine started to leak my first indication that something was wrong was the smell of hot coolant. The coolant was running into the V and slowly evaporating, my second indicator was a leak from the front of the gearbox of coolant. The V was full and the coolant had started to trickle down the back of the engine. I had slight coolant usage but couldn't find the leak. The V can hold about 2 litres of coolant before it starts to drip out by the way.
The way I checked was to get about 2 m of 8mm clear plastic tubing and feed one end past the oil filter into the bottom of the V and suck, after a short period of time the red fluid came into view, by the way it tastes horrible...........
I modified a pair of wire cutters shaping the ends like hooks to get the EGR pipe clips on and off.

[Fred Nerk]

it was only a weep and in my driveway, some times you can be lucky.



I agree, a little weep at home in your own driveway sure beats crying and wailing somewhere out in the bush. :D

[PhilipA]

It looks to me that there is enough meat on the flange to bolt em together. Bit of araldite between , 4 or 5 bolts and bobs your uncle.
Or do it before fitting a new one to support the adhesive against the pressure.
Regards Philip A

[tasobb]

Just returned from holidays with the family. noticed the low coolant warning on a few days before. topped it up and finally found the same problem. lucky found it before it became more costly.

[shanegtr]

Bit of a thread mine, but a little while back I seen that triumph rover spares have an alloy water outlet on their website:
WATER OUTLET - Part Specials - Triumph Rover Spares South Australia (http://www.triumphroverspares.com.au/page.asp?parentid=5&parent2id=15&productid=1767)
Anyone tried one of these? At nearly $600 its a little pricey compared to the original plastic one, but you'd never have to replace it again

[eddy]

Beautiful bit of kit,pity it is hidden away Water Manifold Part Replacement - C8W0A Replacement (fits a range of vehicles) | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Water-Manifold-Part-Replacement-C8W0A-Replacement-fits-a-range-of-vehicles/272246582874'ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649) Worth a group buy?

[veebs]

Bit of a thread mine, but a little while back I seen that triumph rover spares have an alloy water outlet on their website:
WATER OUTLET - Part Specials - Triumph Rover Spares South Australia (http://www.triumphroverspares.com.au/page.asp?parentid=5&parent2id=15&productid=1767)
Anyone tried one of these? At nearly $600 its a little pricey compared to the original plastic one, but you'd never have to replace it again

Very nice, though $600 would buy me 20 plastic parts. If I were to preemptively change these out every 100k km, the car will have driven 2 million km before i start to lose money... Bit hard to justify i think. :)

[Pierre]

Shane, we got the TRS substitute coolant elbow and will never have to change the thing again. Mind you, if I sell the car, I'll keep the TRS bit and put the OEM part back on.

Ask Phil at TRS how many engines have been toasted by this part's failure....

Pete

[Ean Austral]

Very nice, though $600 would buy me 20 plastic parts. If I were to preemptively change these out every 100k km, the car will have driven 2 million km before i start to lose money... Bit hard to justify i think. :)

my first plastic housing lasted 80,000ks , second lasted less than 40,000ks. It all depends on if you are lucky enough to catch it before it fails doing 100kmh and empties the cooling system before you can react.

i have a spare at home and it will be going on as soon as it even looks like a weep is starting to happen. When I start doing more remote and long distance travels I will be putting 1 on . I understand your point of view though.

cheers Ean

[veebs]

my first plastic housing lasted 80,000ks , second lasted less than 40,000ks. It all depends on if you are lucky enough to catch it before it fails doing 100kmh and empties the cooling system before you can react.


Wow - didn't realise they could break so early. Do you tow a lot?

[Ean Austral]

Wow - didn't realise they could break so early. Do you tow a lot?
car is daily driver , tows a camper trailer couple times a year . There seems to be no consistency to the kms from this part .

cheers Ean

[justinc]

Genuine only is the key.

Jc

[ATH]

I hate the way so many vital parts are made of plastic on cars these days. Might be cheap and easy to make but could leave us stranded. But it's been going on for years and isn't going to change.
I had an FX Falcon years ago which I ran as a taxi and it too had plastic bits on the coolant system. One bit just broke one day when it was about a year old when I accidentally leant on it and it wasn't a hard lean either.
It had deteriorated so badly probably because it never got cold as the vehicle ran for something like 20 hours day.
Thinking back I think it was a plastic tee piece and I found a bit of retic stuff which was better and replaced it with that.
AlanH.

[DiscoJeffster]

my first plastic housing lasted 80,000ks , second lasted less than 40,000ks. It all depends on if you are lucky enough to catch it before it fails doing 100kmh and empties the cooling system before you can react.

i have a spare at home and it will be going on as soon as it even looks like a weep is starting to happen. When I start doing more remote and long distance travels I will be putting 1 on . I understand your point of view though.

cheers Ean

Wow, 240,000km and I'm still on the original. When I do the coolant flush later this year I'll replace mine then!

Does someone have the LR part number for this?

[BobD]

Mine was also OK at 240,000km but I replaced it with the alloy one earlier this year pre-emptively since the car does nothing but remote trips now.

Unfortunately that led to the top hose chaffing on the engine cover, which it didn't before the change, and I only just caught it in time after completing the Gibb a few weeks ago. The LR dealer in Darwin replaced the hose but didn't fix the chaffing and it would have rubbed through in quick time again if I didn't check it. I have a piece of caravan drain hose cut down the middle protecting it now and all is good. My drain hose is 50mm shorter, however!

[DiscoJeffster]

I modified my cover with a file and dremel so hopefully there is now enough clearance.

[101RRS]

I had just had my belts done at 130,000km (10 years) and replaced this housing at the same time - the old one is fine and I now have it in my spares - I would suggest it be done when you do your belts done. Given the price, I really do not see the need for the metal one.

[discorevy]

Genuine only is the key.

Jc

X2 , not expensive, carry a spare if it hasn't been changed for a long time

[Fatso]

Is the water cooling outlet a straight forward part to change out or are there any traps for the unwary , might as well change mine out and keep the current one for a spare as it is not leaking yet at 169k . Thanks Allen .

[justinc]

Allen totally easy. Just have to remove the intake throttle body and a few hoses and then 8mm 1/4" drive socket , extension and ratchet.
Jc

[Fatso]

Allen totally easy. Just have to remove the intake throttle body and a few hoses and then 8mm 1/4" drive socket , extension and ratchet.
Jc

Thanks for that Justin much appreciated , always a bit wary of things that look too easy sometimes . Cheers Al

[DiscoJeffster]

I assume that's during a coolant change, as I'd expect a loss of coolant and air needing to be bled, or not?

[scarry]

I would change it every coolant change,easy as.

[eddomak]

Thanks to all who post on these things...

This part failed on me last week. Intermittent "Low Coolant" warnings (that quickly disappeared within 30 seconds), and some small drops of coolant on the garage floor.

8.5 years old, 112,000kms.

They replaced another suspect hose ($110) at the same time, so the total bill was around $950. [bawl]

[101RRS]

They replaced another suspect hose ($110) at the same time, so the total bill was around $950. [bawl]

That seems awfully high.

[barneyr]

I have a triumph rover outlet fitted. It was nearly 2 years ago but I recall I only paid $500 fitted before a trip to the cape. The housing is machined from a single piece of marine grade aluminium. I have very happy with it knowing I can travel anywhere without worrying about a failure. Good insurance

[eddomak]

That seems awfully high.
Apart from parts (which I don't think I have a choice about), it was 4 hours labour amounting to $522. Should it take that long?

[DiscoJeffster]

Apart from parts (which I don't think I have a choice about), it was 4 hours labour amounting to $522. Should it take that long?

I’m guessing they did a full coolant flush as well? I changed mine myself and at best I’d say it was half an hour at most to swap it out.

[Ferret]

Apart from parts (which I don't think I have a choice about), it was 4 hours labour amounting to $522. Should it take that long?

The actual part itself (water connection outlet LR073372) costs ~$60 ex the UK + freight. Bought one myself about 2 months ago as a spare after reading about such things. Freight was ~$0 in my case because I chucked it in with some other heavy bulky parts (control arms) I was buying at the time.

Adding things up, looks like you may have been charged ~$300 for it. ($950 - $110 - $522 = $318). Perhaps there were other cost items involved.

[eddomak]

The actual part itself (water connection outlet LR073372) costs ~$60 ex the UK + freight. Bought one myself about 2 months ago as a spare after reading about such things. Freight was ~$0 in my case because I chucked it in with some other heavy bulky parts (control arms) I was buying at the time.

Adding things up, looks like you may have been charged ~$300 for it. ($950 - $110 - $522 = $318). Perhaps there were other cost items involved.

I think the parts costs are acceptable, and here's the full breakdown, so it is just a matter of verifying whether the "bleed" constituted a full "flush" of the system.

Water Outlet - $104
Hose - $118
Three Bond Sealant - $60
O Ring - $32
2L Coolant - $22

Thanks all for your help.

[eddomak]

I have since queried this and another reputable specialist says that the job should cost approx $500 inclusive of parts and labour (2.5hrs max, on a bad day).

Given that I have an extra hose that brings it to $620.

When queried, the original shop has said they were estimating the labour as it was done in conjunction with another fix (which was said to be done on the house as it was missed work 2 weeks ago) has now credited me 1 hr labour towards my next visit.

Hopefully this should help people who are facing this job to know how much it might cost. I would have loved to have got the metal replacement part fitted and done like barneyr did!

[Journeytower]

Bit of a thread mine, but a little while back I seen that triumph rover spares have an alloy water outlet on their website:
WATER OUTLET - Part Specials - Triumph Rover Spares South Australia (http://www.triumphroverspares.com.au/page.asp?parentid=5&parent2id=15&productid=1767)
Anyone tried one of these? At nearly $600 its a little pricey compared to the original plastic one, but you'd never have to replace it again


This thread appears a little old & most of you are probably already onto it. However I have fitted one of these units from TR Spares in Lonsdale when I first got my D3. Wasn't quite that expensive at the time, but still expensive. A nice bit of gear which fits & works.

Wayne

WOOPS, didn't see the other pages on this thread. Still getting used to the process. !!!

[Eric SDV6SE]

Car has done 182,000 kms and no signs of any coolant leaks.

Have towed campers across the country, north and south, no issues as yet.

Ordered 2 x genuine outlets from the UK for $76 each including delivery last week.

Will be replacing this plus coolant flush when it gets here, hope to keep the current one as a spare if not too badly worn.

Would like the billet one, but cant justify the cost against the genuine, however Im sure if your stuck out in the desert, that would seem a small price to pay....

Cheers,

Eric

[Eric SDV6SE]

Car has done 182,000 kms and no signs of any coolant leaks.

Have towed campers across the country, north and south, no issues as yet.

Ordered 2 x genuine outlets from the UK for $76 each including delivery last week.

Will be replacing this plus coolant flush when it gets here, hope to keep the current one as a spare if not too badly worn.

Would like the billet one, but cant justify the cost against the genuine, however Im sure if your stuck out in the desert, that would seem a small price to pay....

Cheers,

Eric


BTW - ordered 29.8 ex UK, arrived 7.9 - I think that's pretty good

[Richard07]

Hi, I'm a new member to AULRO. Have had my D4 MY16 since new and about to go bush in a few weeks. I have been advised to replace the plastic water coolant valve this thread seems to talk about, but comments have not been added to for a while. Triumph Rover Spares (TRS) have an Alum replacement housing with a lifetime guarantee. Does anybody have any background info on this failure problem and advice?

[LRD414]

Lots of advice and opinion already in this thread you’ve posted to Richard, both for and against the aluminium version versus the genuine article. Either way I think MY16 is way too soon to be replacing, I have not read of any failing younger than 5 years. Plus I’ve read of one of the aluminium ones rubbing a hole in an adjacent hose.

I will be replacing mine before the 5 year mark and it will be with the genuine one. For last year’s Simpson crossing I carried a spare as insurance even though the D4 was less than 4 years old then.

Regards,
Scott

[Mickyg]

$32 O-ring, wow thats some o-ring

[PerthDisco]

The rule of thumb was to replace at belt replacement time ~7 yr cause everything is pulled apart. Can do new water pump and change coolant also.

My question is regarding the plastic inlet on the side of the 2.7 block. I assume the 3.0 is similar.

You never hear of this one being replaced.

[DiscoJeffster]

$32 O-ring, wow thats some o-ring

That’s not right. Firstly they come with the o-rings when you buy the unit, but I bought the two o-rings additionally (didn’t know they were included) when I bought mine and they were nothing like that price.

[101RRS]

Just replace it each time the cam belt is done is good enough.

[BradC]

TI bought the two o-rings additionally (didn’t know they were included) when I bought mine

You too huh?

Maybe we need to start a "surplus parts" pool.

[DiscoJeffster]

You too huh?

Maybe we need to start a "surplus parts" pool.

Good news is I’ll use them when I remove it to replace the “probably not leaking oil cooler”. Silver lining

[crawal]

Hi TDV6,
As Ean mentioned I was looking at getting an aluminium one cast up, I know a small manufacturing company local to where I work. They have one of those 3D scanners that create wax models for the lost wax process of casting. The shape and internal porting was to complex, it just became to hard so I left it. The cost would also have been prohibitive.
When mine started to leak my first indication that something was wrong was the smell of hot coolant. The coolant was running into the V and slowly evaporating, my second indicator was a leak from the front of the gearbox of coolant. The V was full and the coolant had started to trickle down the back of the engine. I had slight coolant usage but couldn't find the leak. The V can hold about 2 litres of coolant before it starts to drip out by the way.
The way I checked was to get about 2 m of 8mm clear plastic tubing and feed one end past the oil filter into the bottom of the V and suck, after a short period of time the red fluid came into view, by the way it tastes horrible...........
I modified a pair of wire cutters shaping the ends like hooks to get the EGR pipe clips on and off.


Try these next time
https://2ecffd01e1ab3e9383f0-07db7b9624bbdf022e3b5395236d5cf8.ssl.cf4.rackcdn.c om/Product-190x190/7ef90b57-60c4-4e65-98f2-a34574835bc7.png Might need deeper depth than these

[josh.huber]

The rule of thumb was to replace at belt replacement time ~7 yr cause everything is pulled apart. Can do new water pump and change coolant also.

My question is regarding the plastic inlet on the side of the 2.7 block. I assume the 3.0 is similar.

You never hear of this one being replaced.

I had to change mine, it developed a very slow leak through the oring.

[josh.huber]

I should add was not long after a coolant change, I specially bought the genuine coolant, I've never had success with castrol coolant staying in anything, especially the old green, I spoke to product support at castrol and they said this wasn't the same. It was, it now has the correct spec of Nulon coolant in it, no more leaks, after that I'll probably put the old faithful caterpillar elc coolant in it, that stuff never lets you down, isn't quite the right color, more red then orange, so I'll change the header tank at the same time so I don't have that orange stain in thare.
Also if your flushing, Cummins make a product called restore plus. It's simply the best flush you can buy, takes a fair bit of water to get it all out after you have run it through the system but worth it

[scarry]

Replace plastic outlet with new genuine product, when coolant is replaced,as per service schedule.

Use only genuine coolant.

Job done,nothing to worry about,until next time.

[PerthDisco]

I had to change mine, it developed a very slow leak through the oring.

Is it accessible at same time as doing top unit or is further disassembly required?

[gavinwibrow]

Replace plastic outlet with new genuine product, when coolant is replaced,as per service schedule.

Use only genuine coolant.

Job done,nothing to worry about,until next time.

Just to double check, is this the plastic bit in the front of the V valley that is also known as thermostat housing? (despite not being a thermostat).

[scarry]

Just to double check, is this the plastic bit in the front of the V valley that is also known as thermostat housing? (despite not being a thermostat).

Correct

[Tombie]

Pulled the EGR lines, blanked them.
Pulled the inlet manifold.
Replaced the Outlet.
Fitted everything back
Flushed the entire cooling system (this part is tedious and takes multiple drops to flush and clear)
Filled with Penrite Blue Coolant
Replaced bleeders on engine with Bronze
Replaced Reservoir bleeder with Alloy plug

Perfect [emoji108]

[barneyr]

I agree, a little weep at home in your own driveway sure beats crying and wailing somewhere out in the bush. [emoji3]
I have one of the aluminium housings from Triumph rover spares. A beautiful bit of kit but expensive. I replaced mine at about 50k as insurance before a Cape and Kimberely trip. He started selling these to adelaide dealer but when land rover (aus) found out they made the dealer stop buying them and to only fit genuine parts Certainly recommend them if you can afford one, They fitted it in about 15 minutes

[Tombie]

Agree they are a lovely piece of CNC art.

Just be aware they are not the final solution - there have been a couple of failures of these also.

I’m all for bespoke solutions, but in this case went for a genuine replacement and did it before failure. For $50 I can change them 5 more times and 500,000km.

[josh.huber]

Is it accessible at same time as doing top unit or is further disassembly required?

You have to go through a wheel arch, wheel off, liner out, multiple heat shields out, 3/8 ratchet set with good wobble bars, good ratchet spanners, good stubby spanners, patience, it's not over the top difficult. I was quoted to have the air con compressor removed and other things, didn't need to be done, lots of wiggling. It'll come out and go back in.