dunno about the Disco but on the TD5 Defender all those bolts do is hold on the acoustic cover.
Just had the car serviced on Tuesday and this afternoon the TD5 decided it didn't need coolant anymore so emptied it all out, I believe from the overflow outlet as it is all over the driver's side wheel arch and under the engine.
I couldn't find any broken hoses but did find a bolt (in picture) that looked like it is not sitting properly in place and in fact can be jiggled about but not actually removed. This bolt is on the driver's side and holds the engine cover in place.
Called RACQ and they confirm that this bolt is installed incorrectly, looks like a spring washer has been used instead of a flat washer. He could not remove it without breaking the engine cover so could not see what sort of damage has been done. His conclusion is that it is impossible (read highly unlikely) that anything could have caused this damage except mechanic's error. I am not sure what the connection between the bolt and the coolant is, I guess something to do with pressure issues, but RACQ were quite convinced that this is the root cause.
Before I contact the mechanic tomorrow and say "you stuffed it, you fix it" does anyone think there are other possible causes like something going bang inside the engine block breaking the bolt off?
This is a major pain as I had a big weekend coming up with GCLRO down at Crystal Creek this weekend and I doubt that this will get remedied in time. Bad enough that I missed the club meeting tonight.
The picture below is an engine bolt on the passenger side. Notice it does not use a spring washer.
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dunno about the Disco but on the TD5 Defender all those bolts do is hold on the acoustic cover.
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As far as I can make out from your pictures the bolt you are refering to holds the acoustic (plastic) cover in place. This bolts into a metal bracket and unless it's about 4" long and has punctured your cylinder head there should be no connection between this and losing coolant. Behind this cover on the drivers side however there is the cooling/heat exchanger for the fuel. May be something has let go here.
The nut is supposed to be encapsulated/welded to the fuel cooler bracket but it breaks loose. I used an angle grinder to cut off the bolt head on mine.
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That's what I thought but the RACQ guy thought otherwise. I suspect you are right but because he couldn't get the cover off he couldn't really do any diagnosis, apparently. Or maybe he became so focussed on that he didn't look elsewhere.
I am assuming that given it is obvious that the coolant was expelled externally then it is unlikely to be the dreaded head gasket issue?
Doesnt sound good to me.....if coolant is blown out overflow
Did they replace the coolent on the service,maybe systm was not bled correctly
Was the service done by LR specialists,if not dont go back,if so we all need to know.
Fuel cooler hides under that side....
If you undo all the other ounting bolts for the acoustic cover you should be able to work the cover off over the head of the bolt (there is a rubber washer that the bolt head will pull through). Then you can see what needs doing to fix the problem.
had a similar experience with my td5. That bolt is into a caged nut. They are ridiculously expensive and if like mine broken by the dealer at service time. Something like $35 for a nut if its a genuine part! The difficulty in welding the thing in place is all the rest of the plumbing adjacent ... almost impossible.
I now operate with these loose as yours. no impact and cover has stayed in place for the past 50,000k with no problems
doesn't help your coolant loss though
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