The reasons it says to put on a lift is so you can easily remove the undertray and also access the cylinder block drain plug.
I have never managed to find the block drain plug although looking at the page I posted its behind the starter and above the drivers side cv joint.
The coolant tester looks like your easiest and cheapest first step as this will tell you what you have in their currently.

I managed to undo the radiator drain plug with my hand with the undertray in place by sliding my arm down as I posted earlier although the undertray isn't difficult to remove, just a lot of screws.

If you want a practice without too much commitment I would let the car cool and remove header tank cap.

Slide my arm down the right hand side of the rad and undo the pink tap and catch the coolant coming out and measure how much comes out and what colour it is. If it's less than 8 litres then you wouldn't have enough space to put concentrate back in at roughly 50% concentration as the system holds 17 litres total although some coolant can be diluted down to 33%.

Close the drain tap, top up with water and run the engine to bleed using the method shown by keeping topped right up while waiting for bubbles to stop coming out the bleed screw and keep it running until the heater works and the level is correct and temp gauge is stable.

If that all goes well, you could repeat but this time top up with correct coolant.

Ideally you want to drain the block to do this properly but I don't know how to tell you to do this.

If I am honest my advice to you will be to take it to the garage as I don't know what you are capable of or even what tools you have so don't want you to kill your new toy for the sake of £100.
When you have had it a while and you know your way around it better then you will feel more confident working on it
Good luck
 
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Ok guys, bought an anti-freeze tester from Eurocar parts.

My question is this, if empty of coolant, will the tester pick up a trace and if so will it state what chemical is found further indicating the type previously used?

I know understand G48 (Blue) to be the most common used in the M62 as per British Atlantic Video on Youtube.
 
The header bottle should have some fluid/ coolant in there or you have issues.
Dont open it when engine is hot either.
Yes, the tester will tell you approx freezing point of the mix thats in the systrm and the coolant type thats in there. (But you obviously need to get a sample in the tester tube)
 
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if you look at post 27, the 3rd picture i posted shows you how to measure the correct level in the header tank

When its completely cooled, slowly remove the cap and a floating stick should be visible out the top of the tank but you may have to put your fingers in as sometimes they get a bit stuck.
if the float is not visible, add an amount of water until the float appears to the correct level.

it may be best to replace the cap then run the engine for a while to make sure all the water added has mixed with all the coolant currently in the system which means the stat has to fully open, leave it to tick over for a while with the temp gauge in the middle and then once it s fully cooled, check with your tester.

without chopping off your fingers, the stat will be open when the large pipe on the driver side of the rad will be as hot as the top rad pipe or there abouts.

if you had to add a significant amount of water, more than a litre say, you may have a problem such as a leaking rad or hose split in which case you need check this out.
 
I tried the test antifreeze thing, I followed instructions and no readings appeared.

What I can see is that when exposed with a torch the liquid is milky with tints of light pink/brown.

I am booked into LR tomorrow for a flush and change, can you shed light on what the colour means?
 
I tried the test antifreeze thing, I followed instructions and no readings appeared.

What I can see is that when exposed with a torch the liquid is milky with tints of light pink/brown.

I am booked into LR tomorrow for a flush and change, can you shed light on what the colour means?

What colour is the fluid in the test tube ?
Pink means OAT coolant, but could be a little rusty / gunky inside if it hasn't been changed in a long time, hence your seeing the brown, hopefully it's not oil in there.
 
If its oil, what could happen and how to fix? I am getting a flush/replacement tomorrow I guess this will make the coolant whatever colour its meant to be.
 
Before you jump the gun and thinking worst case scenarios get it changed tomorrow and see what LR say about it. :)
 
HG failure could be oil in coolant, or coolant in oil, exhaust gasses in coolant.

Black oil in a V8 petrol doesn't sound good TBH, should be healthy golden colour. Sounds like that needs changing too sooner rather than later....
 
HG failure could be oil in coolant, or coolant in oil, exhaust gasses in coolant.

Black oil in a V8 petrol doesn't sound good TBH, should be healthy golden colour. Sounds like that needs changing too sooner rather than later....

That is what it was before I put new stuff in. Will LR diagnose the colour or simply do as I ask and change the coolant?
 
They should do as you ask, if they notice anything un-towards should let you know.
It doesn't matter what colour is already in the cooling system, they will drain, (hopefully flush it through) then put correct coolant /water mix in.

As for engine oil, if it's Black, get that renewed too along with new oil filter.
 
Checked the oil cap and its browny, like poorly maintained just. Strange I was hearing odd dial up tones from above air filter?
 
i dont know who is ringing you on your air filter, vacuum leak or air leak possibly, but if the coolant looks messy then it could have been mixed in the past and its turned gunky.
needs a good flush and refill, if you are at a landrover main dealer they will do a very thorough job which is why you pay £100 / hour.

sounds like a full service is in order with a health check as you could be in for a rough ride if service history is poor or non existent.

the bmw m62 is a very robust engine if maintained correctly .........

i am guessing you have just bought the car ?
 
i dont know who is ringing you on your air filter, vacuum leak or air leak possibly, but if the coolant looks messy then it could have been mixed in the past and its turned gunky.
needs a good flush and refill, if you are at a landrover main dealer they will do a very thorough job which is why you pay £100 / hour.

sounds like a full service is in order with a health check as you could be in for a rough ride if service history is poor or non existent.

the bmw m62 is a very robust engine if maintained correctly .........

i am guessing you have just bought the car ?

Yes just acquired this. I had a TD6 and well to say that is a different cattle of fish is no understatement, far easier engine to work with. The coolant looked 98% milky with odd spots of light brown/pinkish.

The coolant flush/change is £210 inclusive so not sure how much coolant they will insert or how long the labor will be, but 17 liters of coolant will be required so that is bound to cost at least £50-70 retail.

Did I mention ill get a FREELANDER on loan for £12, there goes the thought of an L405 :(
 

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