Rover 75 CDTi Tourer 2004 coolant

[JohnnyBG]

Well, shortly after the MoT that followed the £1k plus of work to get the Rover on the road again, the water pump packed up.


At the time I didn't have undercover access and got the garage that's been doing cars for me for 30 plus years to do the job. They had a supplier problem when the supplied pump and thermostat housing didn't match but all good re-supplied and fitted. Kept an eye on the coolant in case of airlocks and couple of top ups, small quantities and all good. Only 200 miles or so done and I did the HPFP, hydramount and nearside wheel bearing so in total only about 350/400 miles since the water pump.


This morning, the coolant was down. Half a small coke bottle(!) so probably that's only 0.25 of a litre. Nothing creamy on disptick or smelly at the filler.


Warming up at about the speed you'd expect and after left idling for 30 minutes nice and steady at 9 0'clock on the dial, which is where it sits all the time. Idles at about 600rpm and steady as a rock. Nothing out of the exhaust (of any description, runs really clean).



I've a lot of miles to do over the Christmas break, Leominster and Scotland, and it's easy to get nervous. I'm thinking of a new cap for the expansion tank.


JohnnyBG


PS changing the gearbox oil very soon, just got MTF94 from Smith & Allan at Darlington, £14 summat for 5 litres). 8mm allen key to get.

[T-Cut]

There's either a leak or it wasn't refilled correctly. I'll assume you've checked for leaks. After a pump replacement job, a drop in coolant level over a few hundred miles driving is most likely to be due to trapped air. This slowly vents into the header as it circulates and is due to poor bleeding technique during the refill. That Haynes manual you have on the shelf tells you how to do it correctly. You do have a Haynes? If not you'll be given it here shortly.



TC

[macafee2]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBG

Well, shortly after the MoT that followed the £1k plus of work to get the Rover on the road again, the water pump packed up.


At the time I didn't have undercover access and got the garage that's been doing cars for me for 30 plus years to do the job. They had a supplier problem when the supplied pump and thermostat housing didn't match but all good re-supplied and fitted. Kept an eye on the coolant in case of airlocks and couple of top ups, small quantities and all good. Only 200 miles or so done and I did the HPFP, hydramount and nearside wheel bearing so in total only about 350/400 miles since the water pump.


This morning, the coolant was down. Half a small coke bottle(!) so probably that's only 0.25 of a litre. Nothing creamy on disptick or smelly at the filler.


Warming up at about the speed you'd expect and after left idling for 30 minutes nice and steady at 9 0'clock on the dial, which is where it sits all the time. Idles at about 600rpm and steady as a rock. Nothing out of the exhaust (of any description, runs really clean).



I've a lot of miles to do over the Christmas break, Leominster and Scotland, and it's easy to get nervous. I'm thinking of a new cap for the expansion tank.


JohnnyBG


PS changing the gearbox oil very soon, just got MTF94 from Smith & Allan at Darlington, £14 summat for 5 litres). 8mm allen key to get.

I cant recall, is it an allan or a torx?
a funnel, a long length of tube and an assistant helps to make this job easy

macafee2

macafee2

[Mike Noc]

As TC says could be due to any trapped air bleeding itself out of the system.

Apart from the water pump, thermostat and coolant pipe O ring, the other common leak point is the connection from the radiator top hose to the cylinder head.

Keep an eye on it and if the level is still going down and you can't see where from then maybe a cold pressure test will show the leak.

[JohnnyBG]

Thanks a lot for those points. That top hose could be a point, I had to jack the engine up a long way to do the other work and wonder if there might've been a bit of strain there.


The only "water" I had dropping was from the split hydramount, glucol is the sweet stuff?



One always hopes for the best and it's just been some trapped air. I don't think it was bleed, just left to run without the cap on!


Yes, I got the Haynes some time ago. If it's fine next Tuesday/Wednesday I'll pop the vanity cover off and try and nip up what I now realise is the clutch slave bleed pipe and take a look at that top hose where the connection to the head is?


JohnnyBG

[Arctic]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBG

Thanks a lot for those points. That top hose could be a point, I had to jack the engine up a long way to do the other work and wonder if there might've been a bit of strain there.


The only "water" I had dropping was from the split hydramount, glucol is the sweet stuff?



One always hopes for the best and it's just been some trapped air. I don't think it was bleed, just left to run without the cap on!


Yes, I got the Haynes some time ago. If it's fine next Tuesday/Wednesday I'll pop the vanity cover off and try and nip up what I now realise is the clutch slave bleed pipe and

Hi John.
To view the Y connection to the head which if faulty & leaking, most of the time its the seal but the Y connection its self gets brittle over time and starts to crumble.

You will need to remove the manifold to get a proper view of said connection photo's below.

1

2

This was one of the worst I saw.
3

4

5

Some just ned the seal changing.
6

New units cost about £20.00
https://www.island-4x4.co.uk/water-h...0l-p-8085.html
7

[JohnnyBG]

Well, Artic, unfortunately not that housing.


It turns out it's the thermostat housing on the new water pump that I had fitted not more than 500 miles ago. There was a problem at the time as the thermostat housing that was supplied had different stud / bolt holes to the pump. It was returned and the one on now looks new. There was talk of not being able to get the right part but Rimmers, https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-GRID001740 , seem to have it .


Garage taking it back in on Monday and I trust them but it could start to be awkward if I'm expected to pay for something that they did / couldn't fix properly at the time.


It looks like tricky to get to.


Wife's going to kill me.


JohnnyBG

[trikey]

You have an airlock somewhere, don’t worry about a non working fan the diesel will not overheat even in traffic when the coolant system is bled properly.




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[JohnnyBG]

FINAL (hopefully) UPDATE - Needed to add about a litre to the expansion tank. ignition on, OBD on the trip meter and away. About 26 miles and at 60mph steady speed there was slight movement between 87C and 92C except under firm acceleration which gave rises above this but with immediate drop once at new speed. Hot air for feet (my side) but passenger side always been poor, I'll have to check the pipework one day.


So it looks like there was a noticeable airlock.


The only odd thing was that when I parked up I switched off and sat being happy for 4-5 minutes thinking a nice ride to Scotland then after all. For some reason I put the OBD going again and fired up remaining parked. Not surprisingly the temp was up a bit at 94C but the heater air was cold. Switch off, start up again without the OBD going and heater air warm. Same cycle 2/3 times. OBD on, cold air. OBD off and hot air. Quite odd.



I'm wondering if the new thermostat is lazy. Wish I'd gone for the in line job that at least is relatively easy to do something with. I'll check the coolant position tomorrow and make a precautionary dip of the oil but I think the system is secure as there is some very faint residual pressure when removing the cap.


Thanks for all the support and guidance. I'll use Jules' guidance notes and do a proper test of the fan at the trinary(?) switch to see if it still motors. I take the advice offered but the fan's there and I want it working as soon as I can.


JohnnyBG

[Mike Noc]

Originally Posted by JohnnyBG

So it looks like there was a noticeable airlock.


JohnnyBG

These diesels usually self bleed when filling - the only time I have seen a problem is if the small pipe going in to the top of the expansion tank gets blocked.

You can check it by removing the expansion tank cap and running the engine at idle. You should see coolant seeping back into the top of the tank.