I've got an '04 Disco (90k miles, replaced engine at 60k) with a coolant leak - it sat for a few days and have a very small puddle underneath it. I think I can see where it is leaking from - and I took a pic to show you guys, but I can't figure out how to upload it. Can anyone tell me how to upload a pic? I even resized it to 600x800, but it's telling me it's an invalid file (it's a jpeg). Thanks,
D2 Coolant Leak
- Thread starter RR1
- Start date
Thanks - hopefully this works - you can expand the pic bigger by going to slideshow:
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=9ef654baf84a1c49&sid=0AYs2zlw4YtWTFsg
You can see a small droplet pooled and about ready to drop about 3/4 of the way up the pic. Is that the water pump? Yeah, I know that's a basic question - but I'm not very technically inclined.
It's dripping down on to the oil pan which is making that look like it's leaking, but as near as I can tell it's not.
Thanks for any info.
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=9ef654baf84a1c49&sid=0AYs2zlw4YtWTFsg
You can see a small droplet pooled and about ready to drop about 3/4 of the way up the pic. Is that the water pump? Yeah, I know that's a basic question - but I'm not very technically inclined.
It's dripping down on to the oil pan which is making that look like it's leaking, but as near as I can tell it's not.
Thanks for any info.
RR1 said:
So maybe take your truck to somebody who is? First of all thanks for the picture but anybody would still be guessing if they told you where your leak is coming from. If you want help you're going to need to find the source of the leak.
Water pump or front cover. It might even be coming down from the valley pan gasket.
Your sump gasket looks to be leaking also.
Water pump is easy. Worst bit is scraping off the old gasket. ~3 hours in my experiences.
Front cover is not so easy, but you'd replace the sump gasket, could do the water pump gasket in the process, and have the chance to change the timing chain & sprockets. ~6 hours.
Valley pan is easy. Worst bit is removing and replacing the coil packs and wires. Make sure to seal it up right when reassembling. ~5 hours.
If you don't just want to top off your fluids once in a while, then your best bet is to get a clear diagnosis before tearing things down. Get the workshop manual, the right tools and some patiences and you'll be fine. Any garage will fleece you at ~$70+ labor an hour. None of the parts are that expensive, your biggest cost will probably be on replacing the fluids.
Your sump gasket looks to be leaking also.
Water pump is easy. Worst bit is scraping off the old gasket. ~3 hours in my experiences.
Front cover is not so easy, but you'd replace the sump gasket, could do the water pump gasket in the process, and have the chance to change the timing chain & sprockets. ~6 hours.
Valley pan is easy. Worst bit is removing and replacing the coil packs and wires. Make sure to seal it up right when reassembling. ~5 hours.
If you don't just want to top off your fluids once in a while, then your best bet is to get a clear diagnosis before tearing things down. Get the workshop manual, the right tools and some patiences and you'll be fine. Any garage will fleece you at ~$70+ labor an hour. None of the parts are that expensive, your biggest cost will probably be on replacing the fluids.
Dan B said:
X2 - lots of 04's are doing this same leak. I believe a lot of HG jobs are actually valley gaskets but since you are 80 percent of the way there, might as well do them.
Is your transfer case slinging oil too?
I thought I had solved my transfer case leak - I resealed the bottom cover after trying some White Shepard. It stopped for a while but is back again. 
I presume with the cleaning I did, it took a while for the leak to make its way down from where ever it is, off the bottom cover, onto the cross member and then onto the garage floor. It is only very slight, and I have a sealed garage floor, so I just wipe it up once a week and will top off sometime soon.
I presume with the cleaning I did, it took a while for the leak to make its way down from where ever it is, off the bottom cover, onto the cross member and then onto the garage floor. It is only very slight, and I have a sealed garage floor, so I just wipe it up once a week and will top off sometime soon.
yep, sounds about right. just about all the 04 leaks on here nowadays are:
front cover/valley - probably more so front cover
transfer case
seals at the factory on those parts must have gone bad or the torquing of bolts got sloppy...
front cover/valley - probably more so front cover
transfer case
seals at the factory on those parts must have gone bad or the torquing of bolts got sloppy...
Thanks for taking a look and for all of the feedback. It helps.
The leak has been impossible to spot when using the truck daily (it leaves no puddle and evaporates on the way down) - it's only when it sits for a few days do you see it pooling and dripping. After cutting that dang bottom drip tray off it was a lot easier to see what was going on.
Your input will help guide the discussion with the tech when I take it in (I would try to fix it myself...I like to learn by trying - but it sounds a little out of my league).
Thanks again.
The leak has been impossible to spot when using the truck daily (it leaves no puddle and evaporates on the way down) - it's only when it sits for a few days do you see it pooling and dripping. After cutting that dang bottom drip tray off it was a lot easier to see what was going on.
Your input will help guide the discussion with the tech when I take it in (I would try to fix it myself...I like to learn by trying - but it sounds a little out of my league).
Thanks again.
yep, try getting a wrench on the front cover bolts, might even have one that is hand tight...common occurrence.
Keanan said:
~1 hour to set up shop, drain coolant, wipe up all the non-caught coolant, and pull off the old pump.
~1 hour scraping, with frequent breaks to let the back of my knees go to their normal stretch.
~30 minutes put back together, ~30 minutes refilling and bleeding the coolant.
UPDATE: Ended up being a coolant leak from the front timing cover gasket and the weep hole in the water pump (they also mentioned a bolt had also been cross-threaded when I got a new engine installed 30k miles ago and it was loose - and contributing to the leaks). She seems leak free now. Bueno.
