Symptom: Leak in foot well. Garage diagnosis: cracked radiator = help

"does seem to contain some ‘oily’ looking substance and not just water "

learn to read will yer before, you start trying to lecture folk on the finer points of vehicle mechanics

slob said:

"does seem to contain some ‘oily’ looking substance and not just water "

learn to read will yer before, you start trying to lecture folk on the finer points of vehicle mechanics

Click to expand...

Learn to read within the correct context MORON!

He/She said - "no noticeable loss of cooling liquid but the liquid patch in the foot well does seem to contain some ‘oily’ looking substance and not just water"

This only implies that there is oily looking substance in the footwell, he/she does not mention if there is oily looking substance in the coolant reservoir.

For all I know he/she could have dirty oily carpets.

Hopefully the OP will be able to narrow down the cause and we can all live happily ever after

we all know its a leaky heater or heater hoses. but for some reason you seem over keen in pursuing other avenues.
you can sprout all the bollocks you like about "the lotus boys' and their adaptions, you waffle on all day about the phonetics of the OP and it wont change a thing.
'oily' water in the footwell comes from a leaky heater core/hoses.


in post 14 of this thread you said "The tubes are not under pressure!!"

that was followed by this from post 18 "You'll find that because the system is pressurised"

clearly you fail to understand how hydraulics work as you cannot have it pressurised and a part of it not under pressure.

now you may chose to go off and waffle on about 'the lotus boys' and how they isolated the heater from the rest of the system and in doing so stopped the heater from becoming pressorised, but we arn't talking about 'the lotus boys ' here.
we have a woman that has little understanding of the mechanics of her car, i doubt whether she would attempt the clamping of the hoses even if it was 100% way of testing the heater.

you even suggested that someone that has no mechanical ability shouldn't be driving.

so you don't seem to be able to get your head around things too well.

being a mechanic isn't a requisite for being able to drive

owning a particular vehicle isn't a requisite for you to work on them,

or do you rush out and buy an identical vehicle to the one to are about to work on?


this all started because i asked a genuine question about your method of testing the heater as i thought the female concerned might find it a bit daunting giving her apparent lack of mechanical knowledge ( rear radiator,etc)
and straight away you leap in with "here we go again". and got all uppity. we can continue if yer like, i don't mind in the least or we can get back to trying to sort the problem in hand.
if she wasn't so far away i'd offer to go have a look for her but its a good few hundred miles so unless she wants to drive up here thats not gonna happen.

Hi to everybody who have so kindly tried to help - particualry to slob who seem to have gotten my number, eg 'woman', not mechanical but game within reason - I will be loading pictures later when I have found an URL to host them, but in short they show smallish droplets of green 'shiny' (oilish) liquid by the speed pedal, as well as a seeming 'entry point' by electircal cabel next to the fan under the central console.
Other info:
I have never noticed any bubbles in the coolant expansion tank, and I have looked when the engine was warm. The leak seeemed to be greater in the warmer months, the carpet under the floor mat was soaking for a while, though I should repeat that I have not had to top up the cooling liquid more then twice in 3 years so as far as I know there has been no noticable loss form this source. I was not worried initially about the water as my previous car had the same problem from a blocked windscreen water wiper channel. Also the 'wet period co-insided wiht the period when the central cooling fan was not working and I thought that might have been related in some obscure way if it was not a blocked windscreen wiper channel.
Hope this will clarify the matters - regarding to what extent it is possible to advise somebody like me on DIY diagnosis, well if it is going to save me a lot of money I will try fairly easy stuff, but I could not take apart the dash, even if I would like to, and even if it it saved me paying for a cooling matrix (560Euros+tax) no matter that the probelm in fact is a minor issue like a loose hose joining it.

Will post picture as soon as I can and Again many many thanks'At a loss in Gascoigne'

i'll side wi slob on this one....

coolant leak from matrix!

if its washer fluid then that would be soapy rather than 'oily' ,coolant, while not actually having oil in it can be described as 'oily' first thing to do it find out if its washer fluid or coolant. use yer right hand and get some between yer fingers. them go to yer already open washer bottle and using yer right hand get some between yer fingers. you should now be able to compare the two fluids and see if they are the same. then do the same but with yer coolant. you now should be able to tell us if its coolant or washer fluid. i still reckon its yer heater core/hoses.

if its only a small leak you wouldn't really notice any drop in fluid level except over a long period. I ran with a leaky heater core for months and only had to top up occasionally, the carpet was wet and the screen misted up if i tried to accelerate quickly but with no noticably coolant lose.

you could also take it out ,warm it up and then accelerate quickly in 2nd gear. if the outside temp is low your screen will mist up and you'll have an oily residue left on the screen which will confirm yer heater /hoses has a leak

By inez_beaum, shot with E5400 at 2007-11-24


By inez_beaum, shot with E5400 at 2007-11-24

Hi again, Slob, I will try the tests you suggest in the morining, when I can see properly, but for now I hope the pictures of the footwell will be loaded Ok, not just mechanically challenged, I am forum IT challenged too BW's and thanks 'At a loss in Gascoigne'

yup, deffo a coolant leak, the oily substance stands a chance of being antifreeze or just crud from inside yer water jacket

on the liquid staining on the heater motor, is there any trace of colouring - ie green or red? wot colour is your antifreeze - green or red.

NI - can you confirm - the OAT antifreeze shud be a red colour, shouldnt it? Or can yu get OAT in green now?

knowing that the leaky heater matrix is a well known and documented problem - i reckon Slob is rite - burrits a hellova job to do if it aint - best to be 150% certain fust before paying fur 5-8 hours labour:eek!

main dealer issue oat antifreeze is indeed red / pink. (and £8.95 a litre robbing bastards)

no i think that looks like rain water leaking in at the rear window.............................................

course its coolant, now yer gotta find out if its heater core or just a hose. my money is still on the heater core

no i think that looks like rain water leaking in at the rear window.............................................

course its coolant, now yer gotta find out if its heater core or just a hose. my money is still on the heater core

Hi - I have now carried out the tests suggested by Slob;

1) The liquid drips in the footwell are green, a viscous and not oily liquid, sorry about inprecise word, and it is the same type of liquid as in the coolant liquid reservoir. The stains on the central coolant fan are white calcium like, with no remaining colour from the original contaminant. The stains are no more than one month old corresponding to when the fan was renewed.The antifreeze bought locally was green, not a land rover pink product - but suitable according to garage selling it.

2) Demisting the windscreen with a warm engine = no residue on windscreen or noticiable fogging - BUT, At full fan speed, on the blue and white sections of the dial, I suddenly got a whole lot of little finely gritty, white calcium deposit like, bits being sprayed out of the windscren vents. It lasted about half a minute and now there are no more coming out. As the fan is so noisy I never use it normally so I hope theese grit like deposits are just water reduced and condensed over a long time (we live in a hard water area)- if not - Do I have another problem?


A) I have 0 mechanoical knowlege and no garage /other facility so I can not dismantle the dashboard myslef to check if it is a cracked matrix or a pooly fitted hose.
Could one of the radiator leak repair liquids mentioned elsewhere on this site help eliminate any doubts about the source before I hand in the car to a garage where I do not trust them to just fix a loose hose if that is indeed the problem? (I am pretty sure they would charge me for the matirix unit no matter what....). Sorry no disrespect to the many great mechanics on this forum, but I have absoloutely no confidence in this garage and their ethics, and the alternative is at least 3.5 hours away and they too are a landrover concession, eg double the price for everything.....

B) If I keep a close eye on the coolant liquid do I risk damaging the car if I keep driving it untill after xmass? It seems to me I could protect the top of the central fan and drips from matrix/joining hose would then just go onto the footwell with no risk of shortening the fan. It would be helpful if I could postpone an expensive repair untill after the present season , but potentially endangering anybody due to a poorly maintained car , (even with 5% odds), is not an option.

Again many thanks to everybody who has been helpful and patient with a non mechanical person - If it hadn't been for the cost of maintenance I would have been a unreservd fan of the Freelander, really enjoy driving it and would have upgraded as soon as I could have afforded to, but I suppose the only people who will keep these expensive cars on in the future will be people like yourselves who can tackle them at home - strange fate for a car that when I bought mine brought on chuckels and numerous references to your 'hair dressers car', and it is a shame that you need to be a mechanic in waiting to drive a car that was supposed to be for a broader consumer market .... BW's At a loss in gascoigne

am not a fan of rad seal stuff as it has a habit of blocking more than you want, which will cause major problems. as i sed i ran my car for ages with a leaking heater and that caused no problems, other than the window misting up on really cold days, although with a gaylander i think i'd be a bit more wary, and if you do run with it leaking carry atleast 5 liters of coolant in yer boot , just incase.

the white stuff is just the minerals in yer water getting left behind when yer water evaporates.

and if its only started happening after the fan was replaced and the fan is noisey you should be taking it back to who ever replaced it and saying " sort it! now!"

ave just checked and yer gort a doosul gaylander so you should be ok to run with the leak so long as you keep a close eye on coolant temp and level.

slob said:

we all know its a leaky heater or heater hoses. but for some reason you seem over keen in pursuing other avenues.


Did I rule out a cracked matrix altogether at any point in this thread?...NO

you can sprout all the bollocks you like about "the lotus boys' and their adaptions, you waffle on all day about the phonetics of the OP and it wont change a thing.
'oily' water in the footwell comes from a leaky heater core/hoses.

Dont knock the Lotus boys, the reference to them was regarding the K-series heater, same system in the diesel. As I have said to others who spam peoples threads.............I am prepared to back my claims. Send me a PM if you want the links carried out by 'Lotus Boys'


in post 14 of this thread you said "The tubes are not under pressure!!"

Thats correct, the inlet/outlet tubes can be squeezed by hand when the system is cold, no pressure on the internal tubing!

that was followed by this from post 18 "You'll find that because the system is pressurised"

Yes the system is pressurised when hot

clearly you fail to understand how hydraulics work as you cannot have it pressurised and a part of it not under pressure.

Its not hydraulics in the coolant system, flow dynamics facilitated by thermal kinetic properties of water/coolant when warm. Additionally when the hoses are isolated from the rest of the system they are no longer under pressure

now you may chose to go off and waffle on about 'the lotus boys' and how they isolated the heater from the rest of the system and in doing so stopped the heater from becoming pressorised, but we arn't talking about 'the lotus boys ' here.

Just to reiterate, in case you didnt understand the first time, the lotus boys have carried out loads of mods, restricting pipes, diversions, valves in relation to the k-series coolant system. No we are not talking about the Lotus boys, in was an analogy of what work they have carried out, Exactly the same principle for the diesel coolant hoses


we have a woman that has little understanding of the mechanics of her car, i doubt whether she would attempt the clamping of the hoses even if it was 100% way of testing the heater.

That was entirely up to the lady in question, I am not undermining her ability or IQ, however, on hindsight we see that it is not oily water but clearly coolant in origin

you even suggested that someone that has no mechanical ability shouldn't be driving.

No, I clearly said anyone who can not clamp two hoses between pieces of wood should not be driving let alone stripping the dash out

so you don't seem to be able to get your head around things too well.

Perhaps it is you who needs their head seen to, deliberately taking things out of context and mincing other peoples words.

being a mechanic isn't a requisite for being able to drive

Since when was it ever?

owning a particular vehicle isn't a requisite for you to work on them,

or do you rush out and buy an identical vehicle to the one to are about to work on?

Yes all the time

this all started because i asked a genuine question about your method of testing the heater as i thought the female concerned might find it a bit daunting giving her apparent lack of mechanical knowledge ( rear radiator,etc)

You did ask in post 11, although in post 13 you totally diregarded the answer that was given

and straight away you leap in with "here we go again". and got all uppity.

Slob you chip in the odd piece of useful info, however, given your track record, for full abuse to Freelander owners, some of which is personal, with total lack of respect of some of the Freelander drivers, many who have done a stirling job when it comes to DIY fixes. Hence, the 'here we go again statement' your tactics wear a bit thin at times

we can continue if yer like,

Like I said, send me a PM. Personally I dont like spamming other peoples threads due to tangents and baitings set down by other members. ie yourselfi don't mind in the least or we can get back to trying to sort the problem in hand.

Exactly

if she wasn't so far away i'd offer to go have a look for her but its a good few hundred miles so unless she wants to drive up here thats not gonna happen.

Click to expand...

Such the charmer in shining armour

Northern Irelander said:

Such the charmer in shining armour

Click to expand...

a bet they called you farmer's trailer at school

At a loss in Gascoigne said:

By inez_beaum, shot with E5400 at 2007-11-24

By inez_beaum, shot with E5400 at 2007-11-24

Hi again, Slob, I will try the tests you suggest in the morining, when I can see properly, but for now I hope the pictures of the footwell will be loaded Ok, not just mechanically challenged, I am forum IT challenged too BW's and thanks 'At a loss in Gascoigne'

Click to expand...

Good pics. A picture is a thousand words! coolant is visible, not oily stuff afterall

As Slob suggested you need to find out if its just the hoses or a crack.

The hoses are on the LHS of the car, drivers side for you. Do you have a small make-up mirror and bright torch to shine up behind the dash.

Get your OH to do it

slob said:

a bet they called you farmer's trailer at school

Click to expand...

People in glass houses shouldnt throw stones, aint that right me old muck spreader

Like I said if you wanna continue this send a PM

oooooooooooooohh handbags out girls!!!!!!