I am beginning to regret ever buying it, but I have and now another thing has arisen. I have the message Check Coolant Level come up when I start the car --it also come on when I turn it off. There are no signs of a leak under the car but I have to fill the tank up every time -- The level in the header tank drops within a few minutes of the temp gauge reading normal so Where is it going ? No signs of water on the dipstick or in header tank.

The car runs fine and the temp gauge stays dead centre all the time. The heater seems to work OK although I don't have it on this weather, but did try it and felt the cabin get warm.

Another thing I've noticed ( and it may be normal ) is that when he car is started from cold, after a couple of minutes the electric fan comes on for a minute or two and the cuts out --- It then does this at intervals seemingly forever.

I am nervous about keep filling up the header tank as goodness knows where it is all going --- Any Ideas ?

Car is 2008 Vogue 3.6 V8 with 115k on clock

Have you checked around the expansion tank for any residue around the cap and down the side of the tank?

It could be as simple as your expansion tank cap has failed and its leaking from there... Gavin

2005 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.2 Supercharged V8
1998 Defender 50th Anniversary - GB168 - preparing for sale

Follow my 4.2 Supercharged antics -
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Hi Gavin --- Yes I have. Looks pretty clean and in order. No obvious signs of any leaks and when I stand there watching it I don't see anything.

OK.

I had a 3.6 before my 4.2 and when I had mine water was leaking from around the oil cooler in between the 'V' and instantly evaporating due to the heat of the engine. I took it all apart, cleaned it up and also found a pipe up there was leaking. So, I replaced the thermostat, pipe, plastic knuckle connector and put it all together with a new gasket ... and then found I had a weep from the water pump to so replaced that (and the tensioner/belt)...

These posts of mine might help -

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61237.html

https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic61303.html

Fixed the issue for me (Genuine Parts)... and then sold it 6 months later, fully working I might add with no leaks. Get yourself one of these Endoscopes - really handy getting down to see if you have coolant down there and at the back of the engine where it can drip onto the transmission tunnel.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CZD...&psc=1 Gavin

2005 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.2 Supercharged V8
1998 Defender 50th Anniversary - GB168 - preparing for sale

Follow my 4.2 Supercharged antics -
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic63354.html
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ChHNSdscnJarKjBLd_IAg

Thanks for all that info Gavin -- I'll take a look and see if I can see anything in that area ( I like the endoscope ! )

I am still puzzled by the fact that I have twice now done a 50 mile trip with the empty header tank and the temp gauge has stayed on normal. Or I wonder, was I just lucky and if I had done 55 miles it could have gone into the red?

As a thought, did your 3.6 electric fan come in when the engine was warming up, or didn't you notice?

I would look at it/get it looked at asap - I wouldn't drive it until you know the cause. That coolant is going somewhere and even if the gauge is faulty it doesn't explained where.

My fan never came on from memory. Gavin

2005 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.2 Supercharged V8
1998 Defender 50th Anniversary - GB168 - preparing for sale

Follow my 4.2 Supercharged antics -
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic63354.html
https://www.instagram.com/l322_supercharged/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8ChHNSdscnJarKjBLd_IAg

Thanks -- My thoughts also !!

The fan bit worries me a bit as I'm at a loss why it would turn on when the engine has only been running for a minute or so from stone cold ---anyway, finding where the coolant is going is priority 1

Happy days !!!

The 3.6 TDV8 doesn't have an electric fan - it's an electrically controlled (PWM signal) fan with a viscous coupling, on start-up it does a self test that involves being activated at 100% lockup, also if you have the airconditioning at a fairly high duty level, the engine cooling fan will be more active to draw air through the condenser - although if you're losing a couple of litres in 50 miles, that's enough to worry about. Is there pressure in the coolant system when you've got the engine hot? Don't take the expansion tank top off, just feel the pressure in one of the larger coolant hoses and compare with how it feels with a cold engine. I doubt it's being 'consumed' by the engine as you've not mentioned any smoke/steam or performance changes which I'd expect there to be if you're losing in excess of 2 litres in 50 miles.... you're also diluting the coolant by topping it up (presumably) with tap water, that will need to be checked and corrected once the cause is found.

A cooling system pressure test would be the first thing to get done really, probably not something you can do yourself though - do you have RAC / AA cover? they usually are able to do coolant system pressure checks.

Wow, thanks for all that info Phoenix ---that's interesting and, Yes, I do have the A/C on quite cool as it was the hot day last Thursday when it happened . I have not been anywhere since, just started it up under the car port, so not checked the pressure. I did feel them this morning when the temp gauge was at normal and to be honest they didn't feel at all hot, which surprised me. I didn't think to mention it in my first post !
I do have RAC cover and i will check what level I have to see if I can get a test done.
I do understand that topping up with water will dilute the coolant and I read somewhere that the sensor detects this as well as the fluid level, so when I get to the bottom of it I will get the mixture right
Thanks again

The temperature gauge indicates the engine coolant temperature, which can be around 88 Deg. C. or so before the thermostat starts to open up and bleed coolant into the radiator, it's possible to have the temperature gauge in the 'normal' range with the engine running and not be able to detect any hot coolant flow towards the radiator. You can have a 'hot' engine with a relatively cool radiator & hoses with a low load and everything working as it should...
If / when you ring breakdown assistance, don't be too specific - just report 'coolant loss', firstly, this won't get you labelled as a 'serial tinkerer' by the call handler, and more importantly, won't give the roadside tech any 'confirmation bias', just let them do their job, but don't let them fob you off with 'it needs to go to the dealer', ask if there's any checks they can do, what they think the problem might be, get them interested in finding it - all to often they're on a timer and have pressure to 'drag & clear' to get to the next one in the promised timeframe, so pick your time if you can. Forget Monday & Friday altogether, Saturday mornings and Sunday afternoons plus any commute times. Sunday mornings are good, as are Tuesday - Thursday 1100-1400 or after 1900 weekdays but only in good weather....

Any sooty/black deposits on the inside of the cap or around the rim on the expansion tank?

Is there significant pressure build up when the engine is hot (turn the cap anti clockwise a little to see if it releases pressure) after a drive? Keep your arm out of the way, as any air or gases will be hot.

Although not common, with this kind of loss, I'd be concerned about more than just a leak and be thinking about a failed EGR or head gasket. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Hi Gary -- No, the cap and neck are reasonably clean considering their age. Haven't driven it since I last noticed it so not had an opportunity to test for pressure yet. If I get time I will do a bit more investigating today or tomorrow. Thankfully have the wife's FL2 to use, so no absolute panic.

To rule out an EGR or head gasket issue, you can get a smoke tester kit - they're not expensive and saves spending hundreds on a garage telling you yes or no. (A little disclaimer that something like a head gasket seals oil channels, combustion channels and cooling channels so, if there *were* a failure, it would only detect a failure between combustion and cooling. Since combustion operates at higher pressure than the coolant, you'd expect to find combustion gases displacing coolant in the cooling system. If it were a failure between oil and cooling then, the easy way to check is white gunk on the oil filler cap or water in the engine oil).

But, as they're cheap, it's a good peace of mind activity:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124375564706?mk...media=COPY


The reason I say is because I was losing litres of coolant every 100 miles or so and it turned out to be a head gasket. I'd spent many hundreds on 2 garages "diagnosing" the issue without a clear conclusion, when a simple test kit confirmed combustion gases in my cooling system. Decision made, no further money spent and the car packed off to salvage auction. I also used the kit on my new FFRR to confirm no combustion leaks before I bought it. I'd rather someone else not have to tread that expensive path. 2015 Range Rover Autobiography 4.4 SDV8

Thanks for that Gary -- I have just checked the oil filler cap and looked inside the cover and absolutely no sign of any sludgy mayo, the dipstick is quite clean also. However, having had a further poke about I have found what I hope may be the issue although it doesn't answer my question of where ALL the water is going. There is a pipe going from under the offside headlight, under the expansion bottle and to ( I think ) the block. This pipe runs over the head of a small hex bolt and when I put my finger on the hose where it touches the bolt --I find a very large hole. Must have been rubbing for years. There is some water I the area but not the amount I have lost but I guess it could be in the undertray. Anyway, I am going to replace that hose it only looks to be a short one but probably a bug**r to get to, and see what happens.