Clanky bangy leaky blinky freelander 1.8 petrol

Good morning to you all,

i have a 98 5 door 1.8 petrol with 135,000 on clock (and still going strong) who likes to lose coolant.

I have replaced the top hose (it was buggered anyway) and the expansion cap lid so far. I top up the coolant and after a few days it seems to have finished.

The engine runs absolutely fine, the temperature gauge sits at normal with no signs of overheating, there is no white gunk in the oil and no oil in whats left in the expansion tank.

I would appreciate any ideas, im going to have a look at the water pump and gasket and hoses over the weekend aswell.

My oil pressure warning light seems to flicker away at idle, you touch the throttle and it disappears, it's not on or off it just seems to flicker. Im going to give her an oil change at the weekend and put a new oil pressure switch in there aswell.

The bodywork on the car is in amazing condition, the underside is very good indeed, no rust or holes. The only bit of rust on the body is a small stone chip on the rear door thats gone sceptic.

Any ideas or suggestions regarding oil pressure blinky light and leaky coolant would be very much appreciated from all of you landrover mechanical gurus with a wealth of knowledge.

Cheers

Alex

Any oil/coolant mixed together? Whats the oil like on your dipstick, nice and black?

Check on the block underneath the intake manifold for wetness. This is a common location where you usually get coolant leaks from the manifold gasket.

also check your front carpets the heater matrix may be leaking or pipes to it ?

Good morning gents. Thanks for the responses. I've checked the carpets in the footwells and they are bone dry and no smell of coolant.

I've nice black and gloopy oil on my dipstick to as i checked that. i'll have a look and check on the block for wetness. I'm going to remove the undertray and do an oil change this weekend so i'll check all the hoses and everything on the bottom and rear for anything.

Check the coolant bottle - it is probe to cracking around the top.
It is also unfortunate that Hgf doesn't always show symptoms as it can push the water out of the exhaust .
Also check thermostat as they are known to crack

There is a water path down to the IRD for a cooler.
Sometimes has a leak round the pipes going down there.

Hi Alex....did you ever find the problem? I have a 2005 freelander doing exactly the same...losing water and oil light flickering at idle...the garage keep saying they cant find anything wrong with it and give it back just for it to overheat again :-(

Sometimes the water pump will leak when the cooling system is hot and under pressure with the engine running but will stop leaking when you turn off the engine again but as said above, the first checks are coolant tank and cap, all hoses and joints, inlet manifold gasket and thermostat o ring seals

I would check the oil pressure using a gauge rather than believing the switch, this will either prove that the switch is faulty or low oil pressure (worn main brgs, worn oil pump etc)

when the car is warm put your hand over the end of the exhaust and if it burns you hand quickly then you know your head gaskets gone as it is steam coming out

Then wait 3 weeks for the third degree burns on your hand to heal?