where's my coolant gone...

the engine i recently replaced had a 2mm diameter hole in the engine block just above the ird and very hard to find at first ,i brought it to a local engineer who reckoned if it wasnt in such a hard to reach place he'd use a self tapping rubbber washered bolt/screw.Looking back now it would have been worth dropping the engine and trying summet like that.

also had a crack on the underside of the top radiator hose,very hard to find at the time.

hope you get it sorted soon,or already.

I had a similar problem last year.

Used lots of coolant, one day checked and found empty, so toped up, water disappeared, so added more and looked underneath, nada.

So I tried starting it, it turned over but would not fire up and sounded odd.

Had it towed to garage and basically the sleeve in the piston had a chunk taken out by the piston, which had bent.

Luckily only cost £400 for new sleeve, secondhand piston and rings.

The liquid was entering the piston area and goin into the exhaust, which is why nothing leaked onto floor.

I had it done cheap by a mate, the dealer would have binned the engine.

It may have cracked weeks before, which explains the coolant disappearing before it packed up.

Too a few weeks to burn off the debris in the engine and exhaust.

Still couldn't find where the coolant's going, so I took it down to the local garage and they had a look and did a pressure test. And they couldn't find it either.
Best guess would seem to be a worn water pump (thanks to a previous reply) which is thought to leak only when it aligns in a particular way, and when the weather is freezing possibly causing a liitle contraction of seals or things...
I check the level every day now.
Another little niggle to add to the list of woes.
Thanks for all the replies.

ssmn1234 said:

you ever at anytime smell coolant when driving? very strong smell when hot.

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hi, I have a 2.5V6 and it loses coolant, oil level is fine with no milky deposits, and yes mine does stink bad of coolant when driving, and very strong smell when hot. Do you know what this could be? sorry for crashing the post..

Get a sniffer test done and also a pressure test carried out. Buy a new exp bottle cap and check for signs of cracking around the cap area.
Feel the passenger side under the heater matrix for leaks.

I have the same problem, my Freelander is losing coolant, I am topping up about once a week and have a horrible smell. Someone did mention to me to check the coolant bottle to check it hasn't perished under the label on the top of the bottle as this could cause loss of water. I have checked it today, and it has a large amount of small cracks around the top, so think I may get a new bottle and see what happens - got nothing to lose!!!