Radiator 'lasting' 20,000 miles / 2 years....??

3691 Views 20 Replies 11 Participants Last post by BigCarrot, Jan 10, 2011

Spooner

Discussion Starter · Jun 6, 2010

Hi all,

Whilst changing the glass on my headlights I was able to get a good look at the engine with the bonnet in the 'service position' - great instructions RRPhil - cheers.

I've noticed over the last week a gradual lose of coolant - not much, but enough to get me wondering where the leak was. Anyway after a look at the radiator its plan to see that it is loosing coolant from the top of the radiator passenger side (engine side) when under pressure. There is coolant streaking out down the radiator across the fins.

Now a quick look at the service history shows it had a new radiator at 45,000 miles in July 2008. It's now done 68,000. It has a FLRSH and all the work was carried out by a main Land Rover Dealer.

I've think I've got a pretty cast iron case to get this fixed by my local LR dealer for free. 20,000 miles/2 years is nothing for a radiator. I'll be calling my local dealer tomorrow .....

What does the forum think?

1 - 20 of 21 Posts

Rich998a

· #2 · Jun 6, 2010

No chance.

LR parts generally have a 12 month warranty & there is no chance of them admitting any liability, even if they did do something incorrectly.

What state is the coolant it? Are you using the correct type at the correct mix?

SGW

· #3 · Jun 7, 2010

I have had 3 radiators in less than 3 years. When I bought the car I knew the radiator was leaking and this reflected in the purchase price, it was leaking in the top right hand corner (as viewed from the drivers seat). I bought and fitted a new radiator myself it only lasted for 9 months. The main dealer supplied and fitted a replacement free of charge, in less than 6 months this also leaked. When I contacted the main dealer they told me that Land Rover would not authorise another replacement as it was outside of the 12 months warranty. I contacted Land Rover several times by phone but they were most adamant there would be no replacement. They stated there must be a fault with my engine, the main dealer carried out a pressure check and all was ok. Land Rover stuck to there decision and I had to pay again. ALL the radiators failed in the same place and I believe there is a manufacturing issue with these radiators, or coincidence !!!!! I think not.

Stewart.

jhepworth

· #4 · Jun 7, 2010

My aftermarket - non LR branded - is 2+ years and still no leaks.. But i may be just getting lucky.

JH

Spooner

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 7, 2010

Thanks for all the reply's - I'm going to pop into my local dealer later and see what they say. Out of interest JH, what was the brand of your rad? Britpart?

Rich998a

· #6 · Jun 7, 2010

Aren't they Behr? I think they are anyway, and I bet the Aftermarket is really a Behr as well. :think:

jhepworth

· #7 · Jun 7, 2010

I am not the mechanic - i just buy the parts and have my RR indy guy do the work - here is the one i bought: http://www.bputah.com/RR44Parts/Range_R ... 00850.html

Looks like a behr/Hella like mentioned above.

JH

Rich998a

· #8 · Jun 8, 2010

:lol: There's the problem then. Something German on a Land Rover. The genes don't mix for some reason.

GKP

· #9 · Jun 8, 2010

2

I replaced mine a couple of weeks ago after spending the last six months constantly having to top it up. One side was partially blocked with mud/leaves etc the other shows an obvious area where the leak was.

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Monty

· #10 · Jun 8, 2010

Think i've had 4 -5 replacements generally they all go in the same place and while the vehicle was under warranty they used to get replaced foc however, i've now had to start paying for them as the vehicle is to old for an LR waranty!

Spooner

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jun 8, 2010

Well, as expected/advised by you all, LR didn't want to know :snooty:

But they kindly offered to fix it for 'about 500 plus VAT' ...yeah right. I'll be putting an order in for one of the aftermarket ones but can anyone in the UK who has changed the coolant on a L322 tell me what make of coolant they put it and where they got it from?

Also, I can remove the radiator but despite searching the forums can't find the correct procedure to flush the whole system through? I'm going to renew all the coolant whilst I'm at it as a matter of course.

Rich998a

· #12 · Jun 8, 2010

The coolant on the MkIII (except TD6) is the G48 type. Get a couple of 5 ltr bottles from Land Rover - It's an STCXXXX number I think. They are much cheaper that the containers of OAT for the Td6. I think we charge the G48 out at around 2 or 3 GBP a litre, whereas the OAT is more like 7 which gives you an idea of the cheapness.

I've found flushing to be hard work on the M62. The thermostat won't open to allow full circulation around the whole system 'till about 106C, so if you are adding any flush to the cooling system, you need to make sure you run this up to temperature. Still, if you are then removing the radiator, it won't matter too much, but there is usually a lot of [email protected] in the system especially if you live (or the vehicle has been owned) in a hard water area and the owner has not been using soft water to mix the coolant.

When you remove the radiator, check around the hoses on the front of the engine for any possible leaks, as the coolant (especially on overheated and bad coolant ratio cars) will leak past the o ring seals as they break down.

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linuxfreakus

· #13 · Jun 8, 2010

My guess is that the radiator has not been flushed properly, or the wrong fluid led to excessive corrosion and ultimately blockages. Also, it could be that the radiator was replaced but the transmission cooler/lines were still bad which quickly ruined the new radiator. Mine is now at 60k miles and still original. I flush it once a year regardless of mileage. Also, the replacement really isn't very difficult if you only need a radiator, the only slightly tricky part is removing the fan, and not making a mess with the fluid.

marcpablo

· #14 · Jun 9, 2010

Rich998a said:
:lol: There's the problem then. Something German on a Land Rover. The genes don't mix for some reason.

Almost everything has a BMW logo on it as far as I am concerned it is really a BMX X7 in disguise.

Spooner

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jun 9, 2010

Ok - radiator ordered from Paddocks and popped down to local dealer to get coolant. Couldn't get 5ltr containers and ended up with 7 x 1ltr ones... Said it only came in 1ltr bottles 8~ Also picked up the clips that go into the radiator surround as they usually break when removed.

I've managed to locate my copy of RAVE and it says it there -

Cooling system - V8 Engine:
? Refill 13.0 litres
? Fill from dry 17.3 litres

So my 7 bottles isn't going to be enough after I've flushed the system through and drained as far as I can see. I'm a bit confused to be honest as LR dealer said 7 litres on a 50/50 mix would be fine, but that only gives me 14 litres which is 3.3 litres short after a flush/drain - or am I never going to manage to drain all the system 'dry' to get the 17.3 litres in that it mentions in RAVE?

Rich998a

· #16 · Jun 9, 2010

I get 20 ltr boxes of 4 x 5 ltr bottles, and each one does have a part number.

I'll have a quick look on the GTR when it is up and running again. The server is down at the moment... :roll:

For some reason, 9 ltrs sounds familiar when doing a complete fill, but I could be wrong.

Rich998a

· #17 · Jun 10, 2010

The part number is PDA500130 for 5 litre bottles of the coolant, and you should need no more than 9 litres in total.

linuxfreakus

· #18 · Jan 9, 2011

Doh... I was returning to my RR today in a parking garage, and noticed several drops of blue fluid on the floor

Upon further inspection, it looks like my radiator is leaking, despite my previous bragging about its longevity.

Why does stuff always happen when its freakin cold outside...

Stevemfr

· #19 · Jan 9, 2011

Rich998a said:
:lol: There's the problem then. Something German on a Land Rover. The genes don't mix for some reason.

Remove everything German from a pre 06 LM and there won't be much left... :lol: Even the later ones, now that I think about it...

I've not yet seen any true aftermarket radiators - all the ones I've seen have been maufactured by Behr, the OEM supplier. They just sell to channels outside of the LR dealer network too. I have an 'aftermarket' Behr in my TD6 too.

03rangiemark

· #20 · Jan 9, 2011

linuxfreakus said:
Doh... it looks like my radiator is leaking, despite my previous bragging about its longevity...

You did have a good run at it though. I replaced mine a year or so ago too.
The leak mine formed was at the same spot where most others described- the top-left (right as you're facing the vehicle from the front).
I still need to take my old one to the radiator shop to have it cleaned, repaired & pressure tested. I'll keep it on-hand for when the current one fails.
I'm amazed that the one in my old '92 Ford Explorer never has failed. But then the only powertrain-related thing I've had to replace on that was the starter, back in 1996. :think:
My wife's Oldsmobile (GM product) needs a new one about every 5 years, but it's not all aluminum; plastic end caps/tanks. The plastic degrades from the heat.

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