Freelander 1 TD4 Auto Coolant Loss

Hello All,

Just a quick question. Last week just before a longer trip the coolant reservoir was empty so used my wife's tiny one. About two/three weeks ago I had the auto box oil cooler changed as leaking. I thought to refill and run the engine to see if I can spot a leak, but so far nothing, guess I need to have it running longer than 1/4 temperature on the gauge. What I recognised is that the fans are both turning after only a minute or two from cold engine. I thought it would have been the aircon before as I rec. the fans turning before, but today it was off. Also the silver pipe (the thicker one) on the right side of the engine bay is ice cold even though the aircon was off. Is that normal or could it be related to the cooling problems? The car is in the sun but it's not that warm today that I would expect the fans to run that quick not to mention the reservoir to be empty. Fortunately it seems that there was some fluid left as it turned reddish when filling with distilled water to check.

Any ideas?

Matthias

Was the air bled out of the coolant after the work was done ?

Good question, no idea. Would need to ask but doubt if getting an answer if not. Could I do that myself, where would the outlet be? It felt like it bubbled out on the left upper corner of the radiator, but couldn't find anything and it got dark.

The AC is unrelated to the coolant issue. The AC is on whenever the heater diverter dial is set to a windscreen position, there's no override for that.

The bleed point is behind the air filter housing, where the heater pipes enter the bulkhead. You fill the reservoir with coolant to an inch above the max line, then open the bleed point screw a couple of turns so coolant along with air escapes. Close the bleed screw when the bubbles stop and the coolant is back to the max mark.

Nodge68 said:

The AC is unrelated to the coolant issue. The AC is on whenever the heater diverter dial is set to a windscreen position, there's no override for that.

The bleed point is behind the air filter housing, where the heater pipes enter the bulkhead. You fill the reservoir with coolant to an inch above the max line, then open the bleed point screw a couple of turns so coolant along with air escapes. Close the bleed screw when the bubbles stop and the coolant is back to the max mark.

Click to expand...

Thanks @Nodge68 . Am I right in thinking it's this (first pic) and the other two are for the air con? For the air con one they killed the head last time changing the compressor. Any way I get one on again?

Ok, just thought and opened it till the fluid was down to what you said and kept it running for an hour no loss of fluid so far. Wondering if they really didn't bleed it or would I need to drive it?

Drive it to get it up to temp and stop to check it regular. Don't drive too far from yer house in case yer need to carry it home.