Thread: 06 TD5 Defender using WATER

while it should be above the cold level it doesnt have to be... mark the tank with a line and dont add anyting to it but keep a damn close eye on it if it doesnt move in a month then thats where your engine wants to be...

Temps also affect the level a fair bit.

good point....

cold is considered 25 degrees which is supposedly room temperature...

I forget the formulas for working out the expansion rate of water over temp but the rough reckoner for water is something like 1CC per L per 2 degrees between 15 and 80 degrees...

whats the temp your checking it at?

why was the expansion tank empty in the first place??

I have a had worry with my disco that the head cracked at about 150000 and I had the typical dramas and x $k cost.

Everyone says "now the steel head dowels are in it's great" etc...

Just like it was when it was new...

But what happens at 300000? Will the head stuff up again? Is there any real proof the dowels are the cause (I hope so!!), or is there a design weakness in the head and in reality they last 150000 and are very sensitive to high temps, steel dowels or not??

What I'm saying is of course the head is ok on mine now it's new and there's a new gasket and dowels, but I will be intersted to see if this case is a cracked head on a newer model, with the steel dowels?

As an aside, when mine was cracked, temp made a slight difference to the amount it leaked - I guess the crack may twist open or closed.

Hope it's not!!

Dave

It should not use any coolant - my current TD5 doesn't use a drop.

When my 99TD5 was loosing coolant the LR dealer said they all use a bit. Eventually I discovered that it lost water from the hose connection at the top of the head. The leak was not detectable due to the engine cover being unable to be removed due to a broken captive nut and the dealer refused to damage anything to get the cover off, whereas I took to the bolt with an angle grinder. Subsequently the head was destroyed due to overheating whilst arguing with LR as to who was going to pay to fix it.

My conclusion re the plastic dowels is that they only allow the head to move once the bolts loose their tension due to overheating. If the head moves enough then valves can damage the bores.

I replaced all hose clamps on my 03TD5 before warranty ended as I believe the spring type clamp was the cause of my earlier problems. I heard many years ago that Jaguar replaced all hose clamps on new vehicles in Australia before they were sold because the clamps were unreliable.

Look if any vehicle is worked hard in hot dry conditions, you will use some coolant. It is a liquid and will evaporate / condensate to some extent. As long as it is not excessive. Look out for tell tale signs like oil in water , water in oil, steam from exhaust or just leaks. Mine uses a tiny little bit when really worked hard, but not much.
A coolant sensor is a great investment. A friend with a 100 series will be getting one after the weekend after throwing both drive belts and ballooning his radiator. He was lucky this was the only damage, would have been much worse if a hose had failed or another few minutes.

My 05 car was doing the same... ie using a tiny bit of coolant **very** slowly. I as for it to be checked under warranty and they found a very small leak in one of the hoses. They replaced it and it hasn't moved since

The other time that the coolant level moves around a bit is after it has lost coolant (eg, flush etc) and it has been refilled. Despite following workshop procedure, there will still be some air left in the engine and it takes a little bit to get it all out.