Strange coolant loss.

FLYING BANANA · 10th April 2022, 15:59

Today I attended the MGOC meet in Hayle Cornwall. Met up with two other cars and we convoyed the 61 miles to the event. Stopped outside the clubhouse and Banana dumped half of her coolant out of the overflow pipe on the catch tank. Lots of steam coming out of the near side edge of the bonnet.

Parked up and looked for the cause. Nothing to be seen on top but underneath, again on the near side, there was water dripping down via the undertray.

Left her to cool down for about an hour. Took 3 litres to re-fill. Started her up but left the radiator cap off. No bubbles, no oil in there. Ran the OBD and the temperature gradually crept up to 104 and the fan cut in. Still no loss. Turned her off.

Before leaving to come home I checked the level and it had dropped, not much, but down a little.
Drove home and she pulled like the proverbial train. Got home with no steam or coolant loss.

On the way down, and home I ran the OBD, and the temperature never went over 88.

Could it be the PRT?

Any ideas?

edwardmk · 10th April 2022, 17:53

Glad you made it back OK Bob. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the PRT?
Google says 'personal rapid transit'. My best guess is pressure radiator top?

FLYING BANANA · 10th April 2022, 18:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by edwardmk

Glad you made it back OK Bob. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the PRT?
Google says 'personal rapid transit'. My best guess is pressure radiator top?

Pressure Relief Thermostat sits at the bottom of the radiator on the right. Available in two colours, a buff or a black one. Both work at different temperatures. Mine is the buff coloured one. Last changed 9 years ago.

suzublu · 10th April 2022, 18:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by edwardmk

Glad you made it back OK Bob. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the PRT?

Google says 'personal rapid transit'. My best guess is pressure radiator top?

This is a black one 😎

Sent from my SM-A326B using Tapatalk

edwardmk · 10th April 2022, 19:00

Pressure radiator thermostat?

TourerSteve · 11th April 2022, 06:54

Morning Bob
this is obviously a re occurrence of an ongoing problem and if not sorted will lead to a failure of your head gasket , if it isn't the problem already

But First things first, With the amount of coolant you have lost your system needs filling from cold and the bottom rail requires bleeding as the chances are you will have entrained air in the system , Once you have sorted that you can then run and monitor the system . Did you ever change your expansion tank cap as a PRT needs a sealed system to operate as it requires a system pressure differential and a failed cap wont support this
As for the PRT they come in all different configurations and this has been debated scores of times on here , but I know trikey suggested the PEL500110 Which I know from experience works well with our cars
I would personally only buy a genuine Landrover one
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-PEL500110
I would certainly go down the route of changing the PRT ( particularly as yours is 9 years old) and cap as a starter then monitor the car .

SD1too · 11th April 2022, 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by FLYING BANANA

... Took 3 litres to re-fill.

I would take the precaution Bob of getting the cooling system fully drained and bled.

Simon

FLYING BANANA · 11th April 2022, 07:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by TourerSteve

Morning Bob
this is obviously a re occurrence of an ongoing problem and if not sorted will lead to a failure of your head gasket , if it isn't the problem already

But First things first, With the amount of coolant you have lost your system needs filling from cold and the bottom rail requires bleeding as the chances are you will have entrained air in the system , Once you have sorted that you can then run and monitor the system . Did you ever change your expansion tank cap as a PRT needs a sealed system to operate as it requires a system pressure differential and a failed cap wont support this
As for the PRT they come in all different configurations and this has been debated scores of times on here , but I know trikey suggested the PEL500110 Which I know from experience works well with our cars
I would personally only buy a genuine Landrover one
https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-PEL500110
I would certainly go down the route of changing the PRT ( particularly as yours is 9 years old) and cap as a starter then monitor the car .

A couple of months ago I changed the cap, bought a new one from DMGRS. But that did not seem to fit right. So I bought another one from Rimmers. That fitted better. Car has been running perfectly OK temperature wise since, till the incident from yesterday. Been out and checked this morning and the coolant is at the correct level.
Going to phone the garage this morning and get her booked in.

Many thanks for the advice.

FLYING BANANA · 11th April 2022, 08:57

Now booked into the garage. The boss thinks it all points to the PRT. I'll get the cap replaced as well.

planenut · 11th April 2022, 09:00

It's the colour Bob, get rid of that yellow primer and paint it blue!

10th April 2022, 15:59	#1
FLYING BANANA Moderator/Club Shop MG ZT 1.8t+. No.3 of 4 in Sunspot Yellow & Ford Fiesta in Black. Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Rattler Farm Posts: 22,555 Thanks: 9,270 Thanked 15,645 Times in 6,806 Posts	Strange coolant loss. Today I attended the MGOC meet in Hayle Cornwall. Met up with two other cars and we convoyed the 61 miles to the event. Stopped outside the clubhouse and Banana dumped half of her coolant out of the overflow pipe on the catch tank. Lots of steam coming out of the near side edge of the bonnet. Parked up and looked for the cause. Nothing to be seen on top but underneath, again on the near side, there was water dripping down via the undertray. Left her to cool down for about an hour. Took 3 litres to re-fill. Started her up but left the radiator cap off. No bubbles, no oil in there. Ran the OBD and the temperature gradually crept up to 104 and the fan cut in. Still no loss. Turned her off. Before leaving to come home I checked the level and it had dropped, not much, but down a little. Drove home and she pulled like the proverbial train. Got home with no steam or coolant loss. On the way down, and home I ran the OBD, and the temperature never went over 88. Could it be the PRT? Any ideas? __________________ 233,320. New rear tyres on order for BBB. onen hag oll

11th April 2022, 06:54	#6
TourerSteve Loves to post Rover 75 Tourer Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Withernsea Posts: 436 Thanks: 43 Thanked 290 Times in 167 Posts	Morning Bob this is obviously a re occurrence of an ongoing problem and if not sorted will lead to a failure of your head gasket , if it isn't the problem already But First things first, With the amount of coolant you have lost your system needs filling from cold and the bottom rail requires bleeding as the chances are you will have entrained air in the system , Once you have sorted that you can then run and monitor the system . Did you ever change your expansion tank cap as a PRT needs a sealed system to operate as it requires a system pressure differential and a failed cap wont support this As for the PRT they come in all different configurations and this has been debated scores of times on here , but I know trikey suggested the PEL500110 Which I know from experience works well with our cars I would personally only buy a genuine Landrover one https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-PEL500110 I would certainly go down the route of changing the PRT ( particularly as yours is 9 years old) and cap as a starter then monitor the car . Last edited by TourerSteve; 11th April 2022 at 06:56..

11th April 2022, 08:57	#9
FLYING BANANA Moderator/Club Shop MG ZT 1.8t+. No.3 of 4 in Sunspot Yellow & Ford Fiesta in Black. Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Rattler Farm Posts: 22,555 Thanks: 9,270 Thanked 15,645 Times in 6,806 Posts	Now booked into the garage. The boss thinks it all points to the PRT. I'll get the cap replaced as well. __________________ 233,320. New rear tyres on order for BBB. onen hag oll

10th April 2022, 17:53	#2
edwardmk Gets stuck in MG ZT 260, Rover 75 Connie SE auto Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Redruth Posts: 984 Thanks: 1,324 Thanked 399 Times in 271 Posts	Glad you made it back OK Bob. Excuse my ignorance, but what is the PRT? Google says 'personal rapid transit'. My best guess is pressure radiator top?

10th April 2022, 19:00	#5
edwardmk Gets stuck in MG ZT 260, Rover 75 Connie SE auto Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Redruth Posts: 984 Thanks: 1,324 Thanked 399 Times in 271 Posts	Pressure radiator thermostat?

11th April 2022, 09:00	#10
planenut Regional Secretary Rover 1.8T Tourer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Heathrow Posts: 6,948 Thanks: 1,551 Thanked 2,036 Times in 1,264 Posts	It's the colour Bob, get rid of that yellow primer and paint it blue!