Cool

A cold shiver went down my spine when I looked at the coolant level the day after a 300km trip. Almost empty! I topped up and hoped it was one of these mystic Land Rover whims. The same evening we had a 200km trip and I had to fill about 5dl coolant after this. Now I was starting to be afraid. I drove the car to work (1km) and had to top up with 2,5dl.

Everything else was ok, the temperature didn't rise, the heater worked normally, oil looked good, no coolant coming out from the exhaust... So I checked the hoses under the bonnet and fond them wet and pink. Eventually I found a leak. It dripped from the plastic air vent in the top hose above the fan. When I touched the plastic plop it fell off and water started to run. I pushed it back and drew a strap around it and drove home slowly.

At home I took the hose inside and started to pull away the old plastic bolt. A phone call to the local LR mechanic showed that this air screw wasn't to buy separately, you had to buy the whole hose, which of course is an expensive item. So, I found a bolt with a matching thread. There are no threads in the hose, the bolt is held in place by a form of plate from the inside of the hose. This plate had fallen out when I pulled away the remains from the plastic thing. To get it back I used a piece of string with a spacer tied to it as a drag stop to draw it in place. I had marked the top position with a pen previously so I could turn it into the right position. Finally I tightened with the new bolt and a rubber seal.

If I do this again, I will use something else than a ordinary metallic bolt since it was a little bit hot for the fingers to bleed the system afterwards. But anyhow, the car has stopped leaking as it seams.


(Hoping, hoping, hoping this was it... I'm not interested in another top work!)