yorkshire_spam
17th Oct 2009, 10:21
Normal warnings about playing with things that can hurt you apply.... don't come crying to me if you drop a Freelander on your head or something.
Symptoms: Water loss. Engine still runs fine. Water visible on front of front sub-frame. (Obviously a leak from the rad.)
Cure: Replace Rad.
Cost: New Rad. (Approx 100 quid from local Landrover specialist) + about 2.5hours work. (For me taking it steady, first time I've done one, etc. etc.)
Tools required: Not much, a few spanners/sockets, screw driver, that sort of stuff.
How I did it:
Remove engine under-tray (I didn't as mine was already removed - so not sure what size socket/spanner is required here)
Take damper pad off top of engine (on mine it's 3x 10mm bolts, but they are recessed, so a socket+extension+ratchet is easiest)
Take air cleaner box out - un-clip top section and move to one side, this is where an 8mm ratchet SPANNER is superb! Just take the 2 bolts out of the side of the box (access down the side of the battery) Otherwise they are a pain and I would probably remove the battery. Unhook the lower part from the inlet hose and just lift it out.
(You could probably leave it in, but it give you a lot more working room and it only takes a few minutes to get it out)
Unbolt the small single row cooler (is it fuel?) just under the edge of the front panel (2x 10mm nuts) - move it to one side, no need to disconnect the hoses.
Remove the top intercooler hose - 2 hose clips, one on the engine end is nice and easy, one on the intercooler end is a bit trickier - a small 1/4" drive ratchet and socket set is good for this sort of thing.
Remove the nearside+offisde top mounting bolts for the fan assembly (2x10mm).
Underneath - disconnect the bottom intercooler hose (should be 1x jubilee clip), the bottom radiator water hose from the engine end. (On mine it's one of those nasty sprung steel pipe clips - I unfasten these by putting a set of grips on the 2 "tabs" on the clip and squeezing them together, releasing the clip). Then remove the 2 lower mounting bolts for the fan assembly (2x10mm) the offside one is quite awkward to get to.
From the top you should now be able to unclip the wires for the 2 fans and remove the fan assembly upwards.
That gives you enough room to remove the 2 radiator top hoses (offside top of radiator) - again they are the nasty sprung steel hose clips on mine.
Using an allen key un fasten the top radiator retainers (black plastic things on the "slam panel") - sorry not sure what size key I used.
Now if you tip the top of the rad assembly back towards the engine you should be able to lift it out vertically. Getting the intercooler past the battery is a little tricky, but it will come.
Then it's 1 nut+bolt (8mm + 10mm IIRC) to split the intercooler from the rad, transfer the intercooler and bottom hose to the new rad and re-assemble reversing the above order.
Coolant system is 5.5Litres to refill according to the book so I put about 2.5 litres of antifreeze in and about 1 litre of water (or to put it another way, as much water as it took to fill it up completely full in the top up bottle) - started the engine and kept topping the water up until the level stabalized.
Check round for leaks.
I used 1 brand new jubilee clip to replace one of the nasty sprung steel clips in the process. So having a few handy before you start could be a life saver.
All this is from memory, so I might have missed something, if I have sorry!
All in all it took about 2.5 hours (excl. removing under tray - which I didn't do)
Symptoms: Water loss. Engine still runs fine. Water visible on front of front sub-frame. (Obviously a leak from the rad.)
Cure: Replace Rad.
Cost: New Rad. (Approx 100 quid from local Landrover specialist) + about 2.5hours work. (For me taking it steady, first time I've done one, etc. etc.)
Tools required: Not much, a few spanners/sockets, screw driver, that sort of stuff.
How I did it:
Remove engine under-tray (I didn't as mine was already removed - so not sure what size socket/spanner is required here)
Take damper pad off top of engine (on mine it's 3x 10mm bolts, but they are recessed, so a socket+extension+ratchet is easiest)
Take air cleaner box out - un-clip top section and move to one side, this is where an 8mm ratchet SPANNER is superb! Just take the 2 bolts out of the side of the box (access down the side of the battery) Otherwise they are a pain and I would probably remove the battery. Unhook the lower part from the inlet hose and just lift it out.
(You could probably leave it in, but it give you a lot more working room and it only takes a few minutes to get it out)
Unbolt the small single row cooler (is it fuel?) just under the edge of the front panel (2x 10mm nuts) - move it to one side, no need to disconnect the hoses.
Remove the top intercooler hose - 2 hose clips, one on the engine end is nice and easy, one on the intercooler end is a bit trickier - a small 1/4" drive ratchet and socket set is good for this sort of thing.
Remove the nearside+offisde top mounting bolts for the fan assembly (2x10mm).
Underneath - disconnect the bottom intercooler hose (should be 1x jubilee clip), the bottom radiator water hose from the engine end. (On mine it's one of those nasty sprung steel pipe clips - I unfasten these by putting a set of grips on the 2 "tabs" on the clip and squeezing them together, releasing the clip). Then remove the 2 lower mounting bolts for the fan assembly (2x10mm) the offside one is quite awkward to get to.
From the top you should now be able to unclip the wires for the 2 fans and remove the fan assembly upwards.
That gives you enough room to remove the 2 radiator top hoses (offside top of radiator) - again they are the nasty sprung steel hose clips on mine.
Using an allen key un fasten the top radiator retainers (black plastic things on the "slam panel") - sorry not sure what size key I used.
Now if you tip the top of the rad assembly back towards the engine you should be able to lift it out vertically. Getting the intercooler past the battery is a little tricky, but it will come.
Then it's 1 nut+bolt (8mm + 10mm IIRC) to split the intercooler from the rad, transfer the intercooler and bottom hose to the new rad and re-assemble reversing the above order.
Coolant system is 5.5Litres to refill according to the book so I put about 2.5 litres of antifreeze in and about 1 litre of water (or to put it another way, as much water as it took to fill it up completely full in the top up bottle) - started the engine and kept topping the water up until the level stabalized.
Check round for leaks.
I used 1 brand new jubilee clip to replace one of the nasty sprung steel clips in the process. So having a few handy before you start could be a life saver.
All this is from memory, so I might have missed something, if I have sorry!
All in all it took about 2.5 hours (excl. removing under tray - which I didn't do)