Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak

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Mon 4 Jun 2012 19:56
Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak - argybargy

Hi all

Significant water leak has developed on my son's T reg Rover 400 GSI Turbo diesel: he has to add at least a couple of litres after every trip. We suspected the head gasket at first, but there's no mayonnaise either under the oil cap, on the dipstick or in the coolant expansion tank, nor any steam apparent from the exhaust. Heater will blow hot air, and temp gauge is steady too. I took the car for a run of a couple of miles this afternoon, and on getting home there was a steady drip of water from under the engine. From underneath I cant identify the source due to the engine undershield, and on top theres just too much gubbins in the way.

Just wondering, firstly would the absence of typical head gasket failure symptoms DEFINITELY rule that out, and secondly, does this model have any particular weaknesses in the coolant system to allow a starting point for diagnosis of the location of the leak?

Cheers in advance.

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Mon 4 Jun 2012 20:27
Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak - andyp

You need to take it for a "sniff test", this is a test which tests for exhaust gasses in the cooling system, they insert a device into the neck of the header tank and a chemical changes colour if hydrocarbons are detected. . It only takes minutes & will confirm HGF.. Almost any garage will be able to do this for you.

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Mon 4 Jun 2012 22:45
Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak - Peter.N.

If its head gasket leakage it will generally loose coolant from the filler cap or overflow pipe, check those areas for signs of dry antifreeze, this is because the cooling system will be pressurised, if there is still pressure in the system after it has cooled down it will be the gasket. You will not necessaraly get water in the oil, depends where and how bad the leakage is, it usually just escapes into the cooling system.

If there is no pressure then possibly the water pump is leaking.

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Tue 5 Jun 2012 11:24
Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak - argybargy
Thanks very much, will investigate

Edited by argybargy on 05/06/2012 at 11:25

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Tue 5 Jun 2012 11:42
Rover 400, T reg - Rover water leak - TeeCee

>> there was a steady drip of water from under the engine

Sounds more like water pump / hose / rad / usual cooling system suspects than head gasket. I'd be looking for the source of that leak before suspecting anything serious.

Try wiping your finger on the underside of the water pump nose, behind the pulley, when it's warm. If your finger gets wet, you have found the problem.

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