Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Since buying my Rover 45 I have had to top up the coolant on a regular basis. There's no mayo in the engine and the temperature gauge sits at halfway so I don't think it's the head gasket. After fitting a new expansion tank cap I took it for a 40 mile run which included a traffic queue, a single track country lane and a 60mph blast along a dual carriageway and upon checking the coolant afterwards it hadn't gone down but after a few short journeys over the following few days I had to top it up again. Looking under the bonnet I did notice some white residue on the engine and that the upper radiator hose was damp in a couple of places with what might be oil as it's only on the side facing the engine.

DSCF0416 by timothy jones, on Flickr

DSCF0414 by timothy jones, on Flickr

The hose did make a cracking noise when I gave it a light squeeze so maybe it's on the way out.  If it's the original hose it is 16 years old and these things don't last forever. The coolant could probably do with changing anyway as if it's been in since the last time the timing belt was changed it's 7 years old which would explain the rusty looking gunk in the expansion tank.

DSCF0156 by timothy jones, on Flickr

Any suggestions as to what the cause might be would be welcome.

The leaks that are harder to see are 'round the back of the engine.

The thermostat hosing is plastic and goes brittle though heat-aging so if that hasn't ben changed for a while it would be well worth doing.

As would the inlet manifold to head gasket which is also the cause of coolant leaks.

And those hoses too...

We had the same problem with my Dad's 45 last year, the top hose looked identical to how yours has gone. Ours only seemed to loose coolant when standing.
Replace the hose and it should be ok. I think the rubber has degraded and is sweating coolant.

I thought I'd post an update to this. I took the car in last month to have the upper hose fitted. When the garage rang to say that it was ready they said that the coolant leak is coming from the water pump. They gave me a price for replacing the pump and timing belt and as the last time it was done was 2012 it was due to be done so I had it done the end of last month. I took it for a few longish runs with no sign of coolant loss and thought that the problem had been solved. Then last Thursday I had planned on taking it to the seaside and thought I'd check the coolant before I set off as I'd done a few short trips to the shops over the previous couple of days. Lo and behold the level had dropped and had to be topped up so the seaside trip was cancelled but I decided to risk a trip to Shrewsbury instead (around 45 miles). Got there with no problems, checked the level before starting back and it was fine. Checked it again a few hours after getting home, once again fine. Another couple of days of short trips however brought the level down again. To be honest I don't know what to do next, do I spend more money on it or try and move it on to someone who can sort it out?

This is basically heat related.
The longer journey expands the metals and fills in the gaps.
If the water pumps been done and you are happy the thermostat housing isn’t leaking, the only place left is to do the gasket. It’s a 3hr job start to finish, without mayo and I usually say it’s just £100 in parts but that’s with new thermostat and water pump as well, so maybe even just £50 in parts.

And it would be worth spending a tenner to get a new inlet manifold gasket. That was where our 1994 414 dprung a leak with only about 35,000 miles on the clock

1234dist wrote: ↑Tue Aug 20, 2019 2:42 pm This is basically heat related.
The longer journey expands the metals and fills in the gaps.

That's what I thought it might be. I have checked the thermostat housing as well as I can and can't see any leaks so maybe it is the manifold gasket. No sign of mayo in the oil filler cap but the coolant in the expansion tank looks a bit gunky so it might need a flush. I would like to get it sorted as it's only done 32000 miles and is a nice drive.

Hgf is not just instant mayo!

If it’s only done 32k it’s still on it’s or (cheap) gasket I’d do it anyway. As at a bare minimum it’s 15yrs old and the elastomer gasket could well be on its way out.

It's been a while since my last post but the car has been SORNED since last August but it looks like the HG was on it's way out (or had already gone) as I had a look under the bonnet today and, while there was no mayo on the oil filler cap it was in the engine.

DSCF1462 by timothy jones, on Flickr
DSCF1463 by timothy jones, on Flickr

This was the state of the coolant in the expansion tank.

DSCF1464 by timothy jones, on Flickr