MicaNielsen

New Member
Hi guys.
Having a problem with my 2001 Freelander TD4....

Not native english speaker so go easy on me ;-)

My Freelander is leaking coolant.... I dont know what the part is called but I'll try and explain...

If you are standing in front of the car looking at the engine, we have the coolant reservoir on the lefthand side.

The lower hose then goes down somewhere on the left side of the engine, probably the waterpump?....

On the engineblock in the vicinity of where the reservoir hose "disappears", there seems to be what I would describe as a "hole" in the engine block which has then been sealed off with some kind of cap....inverted cap if that makes sense.... and right there in the middle of that "cap" there is the tinyest, finest spray of coolant softly spraying away...

When I get to the car in the morning there is no spray, the engine is cold and the level of the reservoir is wayy below MIN but with approx. 1 cm of coolant in the reservoir.

If I then top off the reservoir, the spray will start again, even with a cold engine and not running.... the spray will continue until the coolant level is "back" to about 1 cm from the bottom of the reservoir.

When driving the car it is always at normal driving temperature....

Apart from loosing the coolant from that tiny hole in that cap, there seems to be nothing wrong...

NOW.... my mechanic told me that it is common on a Freelander 2001. He couldnt "explain" to me what the part is as I am danish, living in Spain and he doesnt speak anything but spanish, which I dont ;-)

He could tell me however that it was a fairly cheap part, but that it would require 10-15 hours of work as it can only be relaced by taking the engine out..??

Anyone ever heard of that....?

I suppose I understood as much that it is some kind of "safety-cap/plate" that should pop out if the pressure rises in the cooling system instead of blowing up the engine....??

Any explanation to a tiny, little hole in the middle of that "safety-cap"..?

How about RadWeld... would that be recommendable for my problem.?

Any repair ideas apart from removing the engine..?

Thx guys for serious and prompt replies....

Michael
 
We do not have a Freelander, but if the plug is on the front of the engine and access is unobstructed, then no, I wouldn't have thought so.

The usual method is to get a screwdriver and 'pop' a hole in the plug and carefully lever it out.

Replacement is fitted with a smear of Locktite and tapped 'home' to just below the surface, as the original.

Careful measurement and you should be able to source a new one very cheaply.

Someone else will be along soon to clarify what I've said or tell different.

Warning, if one core plug has become porous, chances are the others will fail sooner rather than later and they are not all easy to get at. :cool:

Remember to clean the seat for the plug before refitting
 
Sounds good, well not really hihi, but anyone have any idea how many plugs we are talking about..?

Not sure how many in total.

Have you looked at the link in my previous post ? ^^^^

If you don't want to do it your self, shop around for an Independent garage that are familiar with Freelanders and get a price to compare . Have fun :cool:
 
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I've not come across a leaking core (freeze) plug in years. Modern antifreeze contains some pretty powerful anti corrosion additive's. Rusted core plugs should be a thing of the past.
 
Yes it should be a thing of the past, unfortunately it appears the previous owner didnt think antifreeze was necessary, just because we live in Spain, so there we go... pure tapwater.....one of the first things I noticed, but apparently too late ;-(
 

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