Had my first ever breakdown in a L322 (2002 Td6) on Sunday evening and a hugely lucky escape.

So what happened? The radiator bottom hose detached from the radiator, dumping all the coolant.

What was so lucky? 20 minutes before we'd been charging up the outside lane of the M4, London bound, but hit very heavy traffic. So we took evading action and were driving through Slough on the A4 to link across onto the M40. Pulling away from a set of traffic lights there was a 'ping' from the dashboard and the message 'Low Coolant' flashed up. Part of me thought "I wonder if this can wait till I get home" but literally 200 yards ahead was a petrol station so I thought "won't harm to have a quick look". Rather glad I did - coolant was pouring out onto the forecourt. Imagine that happening on the motorway at speed with heavy traffic meaning you can't immediately get onto the hard shoulder??

What was wrong? Never has a breakdown been so easy to diagnose - the bottom hose was literally hanging away from the radiator and ALL the coolant has escaped. This also looked like the easiest breakdown to fix. The bottom hose is simply a push-and-click fit into the radiator and I was able to reassure myself that it was secure. The forecourt was well lit and had a ready supply of water and I had some large bottles so refilling the cooling system was a piece of cake once it had had a chance to cool a bit. I eventually poured in about 11 litres, the heater worked properly and no leaks were apparent so I completed the journey home without further incident. My wife and 3 week old baby were less than impressed though!

Interested in peoples views on a couple of things...

1. how on earth could this happen when I can simply reconnect and get a secure fit/seal?? (note: air con radiator was replaced a couple of months back... would bottom hose have been disturbed in this process and is it possible that, if a pour joint was made, it could have hung in there for a couple of thousand mile before popping out?? You would think it would pop put on the first pressurisation of the system)

2. is there likely to be any collateral damage given I was able to stop immediately the coolant was dumped?

3. Now I've reconnected it, could the bottom hose simply jump out again? Understandably I'm a little nervous it might happen again (probably at a far more inconvenient moment) so am wondering if I should get the whole thing replaced

many thanks for any thoughts / feedback.

I love L322s, have owned them for 5 years and 60,000 miles and even driven my other one across Africa without any incident but my faith is slightly bruised this evening!!

RRG

Hi Raymond, sorry to hear about the cooling hose issue.

I remember from my A/C replacement job that the radiator had to be removed to get access to the A/C components and I am expecting that your radiator has been removed as well. It is not unlikely that during the refit the bottom hose (and possibly some of the other hoses, better check them all) wasn't fitted perfectly resulting in the incident. I have seen/heard of it too many times, mechanic gets interrupted, doesn't do a final check etc.

Could also be that the mechanic didn't fit the hose all the way in/over the ridge, so the clamp was holding on the ridge of the pipe instead of behind it. This will hold it for a while or with "lower pressure, read cool running system" but makes it come of when the pressure and heat increase (longer drive/city driving/traffic) or just because the vibrations of the engine over time.

Because you got to it quickly, you are probably OK although there is a small change that the engine overheated slightly. I would not worry about it too much but do keep an eye on coolant level.

I would also suggest to check all hoses and fittings or have them checked by a qualified/experienced mechanic. Remove all the water from the system and put proper coolant in asap as well to prevent corrosion issues or freezing damage.

Glad to hear the little one arrived !!!! Enjoy !!!!!

Cheers,

Eugene MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Eugene

thanks for your thoughts. I don't want to point the finger at the mechanic, just seems a strange coincidence that the hose pops off soon after it would have been disturbed in the air-con condensor refit process. However it was 1,500 miles and two months later, if it was improperly refitted I can't see how it would have hung on so long. Taking it back to the garage today for a closer look and will report back.

Anyone else ever had the bottom hose just 'pop off' ??

hoses don't just come off unless there is a massive pressure surge or the hose hasn't been fitted properly, i suspect the latter.. ... - .- -.




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Hey Raymond,

My guess is that the hose-clamp was on quite tightly but sitting on the ridge of the pipe or half on the ridge. If the clamp and hose are tight, that could hold for quite some time before it comes of (temperature, pressure and vibration will slowly loosen it). Two months seems like a long time but also considering you didn't see any damage, it is the most likely scenario I can see from your description.

Also let them check the clamp(s), it could have gotten damaged during the work and may therefore not be at the full strength (I used to change out older hose clamps and replace them with stainless steel ones as well).

Good luck,

Eugene MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Excess pressure would be what I would be looking for if the hose blew off

Excess pressure would be more likely to escape through the expansion tank, even a big surge should have shown something like overflow on the tank. Better let them check for that as well. Also let them check for bubbles in the expansion tank while the engine is running (indication of a leaking head gasket) and white "smoke" from the exhaust. MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Thanks chaps will report back after we've had a close look this afternoon

cheers
RRG

Hi RRG,
In my experience the coupler is one of the last things that would go even if there was excess pressure. You might pop a hose or the overflow tank, but the couplers are usually rock solid. I have not read about any other couplers coming apart either and I spend much too much time on RR forums

There are usually no coincidences when working on cars. I would venture a guess that the mechanic did not make sure that the coupler's spring-clip had seated properly. I would also go back and make sure that there is no grime in the slot and that the spring-clip has enough tension to keep itself seated.

I really enjoyed following your trip as it was happening, BTW. My wife and I have talked about driving to Tanzania to visit friends. All we need is time... Just out of curiosity - is N now your wife? (must know if the story has a happy end ).

Steve 
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s
(wife thinks I'm nuts - prob right, too)

I have always said that things only seem to go wrong after someone has done something to the car, like it has been to the dealers for a fix. I can live with an electrical gremlin for example because I know if I took it into the Dealers and spends hundreds of pounds on a software fix, it would come back with something else not working, or a scratch, or a dinged alloy etc etc. Discovery 4 HSE
1998 110 TUM HS FFR Hard Top XD WOLF
1982 Series 3 Hard Top

*Gone:L462 D5 HSE LUX, L663 Defender 110 HSE, Discovery 3 HSE, 2014MY Range Rover Sport 5.0 Supercharged AB Dynamic; L405 Exec Vogue SE 4.4, 5.0 Supercharged Autobiography, Defender TDCi XS CSW, Defender TD5 HT, Vogue SE TDV8, Vogue TD6, RRSport SC 4.2V8, Classic 3.9 Vogue Auto, Land Rover Series 3 SWB

RR back at Essex 4x4 for diagnosis. These guys are very good operators and I trust them. We discussed the possibility of a badly fitted hose connector and to their credit they were prepared to consider it as a possibility but they pointed out that i) given the binary nature of this connection they are absolutely paranoid about fitting them correctly and ii) if it was badly fitted it is unlikely the connection would have held out for 2 months/1,500 miles which included many many hot/cold cycles. I'm prepared to agree with them and am giving them the benefit of the doubt at this stage.

On that basis we agreed there had to be a reason for the bottom hose popping out so they are carefully looking at it to work out the problem. On the ramp the first obvious issue is that, even though the car was fully warmed up the bottom half of the radiator was stone cold, while the top half was hot. This presents the possibility that the radiator is partially blocked (it is 10 years old) which could have lead to pressure building up which might have blown the hose off. We're going to try a new radiator and I'll report back.

Steve, you'll be pleased to know that N and I DID get married and we've just had a baby boy, too! So a happy ending all round. If you do decide to drive to Tanzania give me a shout, I'd be very happy to provide some advice...

cheers
RRG

Well then congratulations! (On the marriage and the baby - not the radiator probs. )

If we find the time to make the drive through Africa, I def will do that... Thank you. 
RRC 2Dr, RRC 4Dr,
P38, and 2 L322s
(wife thinks I'm nuts - prob right, too)

Interesting update on this.

Picked the car up on Friday evening. Essex 4x4 had done a detailed analysis but found no reason for the hose to pop off. Suspecting a blocked radiator and a tired bottom hose & clamp they replaced the whole lot.

What they said next nearly made me fall over. Chief mechanic Fred said "look, I don't believe in coincidences. It didn't pop off in the last 116,000 miles and we were the last people to have disturbed that connection. We apologise for the hassle you've had. Here are the keys and we hope it's all now fixed." They refused payment or even splitting the cost!

I felt bad because in my view there is reasonable doubt that they caused the problem, but how is that for an outcome!! Huge respect to Essex 4x4 for being big enough to admit it MIGHT have been their mistake. Let's face it everyone makes mistakes sometimes, it's how you deal with it that counts and these guys get 10/10 in my view.

RRG

Wauw, that is a very rare and great story. That is a place that deserves a lot of business !!

Glad it turned out OK !!! MY 2010 5.0 SC Galway green and sand interior!!
Have the Faultmate MSV2 Extreme to be tinkering with the settings etc. !!

Thanks Eugene, it seems that you might have been entirely correct!