Coolant leak ('00 DII)

[rjl2001]

'00 LR Disco II, 156k miles. Has been running pretty well lately.
Drove home early this morning and didn't notice anything unusual about how the truck was running, and also didn't notice the temperature gauge being other than normal. When I got into my driveway and parked I immediately noticed the smell of steam/burning and as soon as I opened my door noticed the steam pouring out from under the hood. I opened the hood and noticed there was a small stream of coolant that was spraying out of a small pinhole somewhere near the intake manifold, and was spraying onto the rest of the hot engine causing the steam. There was a lot of coolant puddled at the bottom of engine compartment on that side. The engine was already off when I got out of car and opened the hood, and the leak slowly weakened and about two minutes later it had stopped completely. I had enough time to grab my camera and take a picture of what was going on. Picture is from standing in front of hood looking towards engine.

The second picture was taken much closer and you can see the little stream of coolant that is spraying out.

It was dark and I'm exhausted, so thought I'd share the pictures with the hope that someone on here can give insight into what the problem/solution may be. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Bosbefok]

Throttle body heater
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/MGM000010KG.cfm

 

[K-rover]

Throttle body heater
http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/MGM000010KG.cfm

X2.. Pretty common place for it to leak.

 

[rjl2001]

Awesome, thanks for the feedback. Got the kit ordered and will probably attempt to replace it myself. Had it happen a few years ago too but took it in to a shop.

 

[Gman]

The bolts that hold the plate on are small and easy to break. Be careful taking them out.

 

[riceybean]

dont forget the throttle gasket

 

[akronk1]

sometimes the hard plastic line can break when your replacing the tbh

 

[JFD]

ditch it, send the hose to coolant tank and be done with it.

 

[Roving Beetle]

Your info indicates you're in AZ? Just remove it and tie the hoses together at their source.

Its not *really* needed unless you're driving in cold climates.

 

[mike97d1]

Your info indicates you're in AZ? Just remove it and tie the hoses together at their source.

Its not *really* needed unless you're driving in cold climates.

X2 on that, just by-pass. And replace those small plastic hard lines with a good hose. That hard plastic stuff gets brittle.
Also, the temp gauges in these trucks suck. They don't move from the center to hot until its very close to disaster time. Get a Ultragauge or Scangauge. They will be accurate and you can set a high temp warning alarm. $60 - $120 could save you from needing a block due to slipped liner.

 

[listerdiesel]

The LR Throttle body kit includes gasket and new screws.

Peter

 

[rjl2001]

Got the kit yesterday and TRIED to do it myself before work today. Think I may have made things worse...

Got everything apart alright and went to install the new gasket and heater plate, while trying to install new heater plate I dropped the bolt and washer. I found the bolt under the truck, but spent 30 minutes looking for the washer with no luck. I THINK it may have fallen down into that tube on the valve cover which is open because you have to take that larger hose off to get access to area.

What should I do now? What would happen if that little washer for the bolt did drop down into that valve cover opening?

No matter what I know next time I would try to unbolt the throttle body itself to get easier access to bolt on the heater plate. I actually dropped the bolt/nut twice, but first time managed to find them in the engine compartment. So was already trying extra hard not to drop them again and did anyways.

 

[jafir]

Can't you use one of the old washers?

 

[jafir]

When I did this replacement, I had the upper intake off for spark plug wires and ignition coils, so I was able to just flip the whole thing over. When I planned on doing it to my other D2, I bought a throttle body gasket. I just don't like messing with stupid little bolts (5.5mm?) upside down in places that I cannot see.

 

[rjl2001]

I'm not concerned about the washer itself, rather I'm not sure about if it fell into that hose opening on top of the valve cover. Could that cause damage to the engine? Does that opening go straight into the engine block?

 

[riceybean]

I took the throttle completely off and set it on the table, much easier. A couple of plugs, four hose clamps, two cables and 4 screws and its off.

There is a cover/splash shield just inside the valve cover so if it is in there try a small magnet, hopefully it got stuck in the oil and didn't fall in.

I would search very hard for that washer just to be sure, if not off comes the intake and valve covers. Easy job just takes a while. Just to be safe.

 

[ptschram]

Don't sweat it.

Those washers won't do any damage.