Member Since: 24 Apr 2017
Location: Dubai
Posts: 25
HELP! - Loss of power/low coolant warning/dead car.......
Hi,
Car is a 2009 Disco 3 V8. The only issue I was aware of until this morning was the air compressor making more noise than usual on start-up.
Drive to work this morning, nice and steady, nothing unusual and no error warnings on start-up or during the journey.
Halfway down the motorway I lose power, which is a great feeling when you're in the outer lane of the 6 lane traffic chaos of Dubai!
Having no choice to proceed I found could maintain 80-100kph easy enough but the car would not rev beyond 2k in 3rd/4th. Still no warning lights or messages, all I noticed was a whirring noise I couldn't quite identify but there were no vibrations or evident misfires. Being only a few km from work I thought the car park here would be best place to stop.
Made it here fine, selected reverse to park up and the car died and would not start. The low coolant level warning came on the dash even though the temp gauge was in the middle of the range. When turning the key it would crank but not fire. It caught once briefly but died, so had to pull all my muscles pushing it back into a space.
Popped the bonnet, there is evidence of coolant escaping from the front and smoking on the top of the engine but not too much, no evidence of a spill on the floor. Gonna leave it to cool and top it up and see what happens next but would appreciate some pointers.
Any thoughts?
14th May 2018 5:50 am
Globetrotter448
Member Since: 21 Mar 2017
Location: Londonderry NSW
Posts: 1782
Check that you did not put it in low range accidently
15th May 2018 10:36 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72785
ISTR there is a plastic hose join bit that has a tendency to split on the V8, unfortunately that’s the end of my knowledge on the subject.
15th May 2018 10:47 am
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6570
LR027661, Valve, air bleed ("T-piece") - it’s on top of the engine. As you’re saying you saw coolant escaping, this might be the problem. The piece gets brittle over time.
It should probably be called a Jesus piece as in “Jesus, how much” or “Jesus, it broke the vehicle”.. plenty of other similar ones like the brake light switch..
I would also add that a reading the fault codes might be very useful.
15th May 2018 11:09 am
shirt
Member Since: 24 Apr 2017
Location: Dubai
Posts: 25
It definitely wasn’t low range, i was cruising at 120kph at the time.
It started last night so i’m glad the engine isn’t lunched. CBA’d with it so took a taxi home, planning in having a proper look when i finish work today. Will check out this tee piece, hope that’s the problem. Don’t see how that would cause a loss of power especially as I didn’t get a warning message or have high coolant temp, but having fallen victim to LR foibles previously i shoudlnt be surprised
15th May 2018 11:45 am
DSL Keeper of the wheelie bin
Member Since: 11 May 2006
Location: Off again! :-)
Posts: 72785
Friend of mine (anglefire here) had same with with his TDV6 on the top of a mountain in Andorra, with a thunderstorm raging for fun. He lost all of his coolant and luckily knew it (us shouting on the radio) and shut down quickly. No engine temp warning at all, just a cloud of steam coming from the front. These cars love to warn you when you are low on screenwash but stay silent when it’s something that’s going to destroy your engine. Good for parts sales.
15th May 2018 11:52 am
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6570
shirt wrote:
It started last night so i’m glad the engine isn’t lunched. CBA’d with it so took a taxi home, planning in having a proper look when i finish work today. Will check out this tee piece, hope that’s the problem. Don’t see how that would cause a loss of power especially as I didn’t get a warning message or have high coolant temp, but having fallen victim to LR foibles previously i shoudlnt be surprised
Another thing which is on top is the thermostat housing. It does also get brittle over time, crack and fluid can (does) come out.
Did you have any fluid in the expansion tank?
15th May 2018 12:20 pm
shirt
Member Since: 24 Apr 2017
Location: Dubai
Posts: 25
i took the engine cover off, the bleed tee has sheared....
yes there was still coolant in the expansion tank, albeit right at the very bottom.
local LR parts dealer opens late so will head there now and get the tee and some coolant. i am more or less convinced to power loss is related now as the chances of it not being are too small. just hope there is no other damaged caused as a result of all this.
15th May 2018 1:59 pm
kajtzu
Member Since: 11 Aug 2017
Location: Helsinki
Posts: 6570
Nice... that you found it.
Remember to bleed the air from the system.
15th May 2018 3:48 pm
M3DPO
Member Since: 22 Sep 2010
Location: Notts.
Posts: 8087
If you’ve lost all the water there’s nothing for the water temperature gauge to read, if you’ve lost power through overheating be prepared for a massive bill
80-100kph without water in your climate the whirring noise would be the poor viscous fan fighting to keep the engine cool. Look for further signs of overheating like the cylinder heads changing colour, the engine oil may be burnt, take the cap off and smell it, should you be very lucky and get away with it, change the engine oil sooner rather than later, although you may notice it is harder starting, not quite got the power it had
Sorry to be a pessimist It can when others can't,
It will when others won't,
It goes where others don't.
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