I'll come straight out with it ... in the mad rush of a dark morning and not knowing the L405 very well, I topped up the coolant by putting water into the dynamic response reservoir.

I did think at the time that when adding water
a) it wasn't really very low in the tank to trigger a sensor
b) it took next to nothing to top up to max.

The slow realisation of my error was not a happy one when

a) the coolant low warning signal re-appeared again only after
b) I had driven the thing 50 miles after topping up.

So ... this is what it looked like in the daylight this morning ...

Click image to enlarge

Oh sh*t!

Perhaps somebody like Craig or Pheonix can advise more knowledgably than me, but basically DRF is similar to synthetic power steering fluid, so a thin silicone oil which the water will sink through to find the lowest point. So maybe it needs some special method of flushing? Corrosion is the concern, long term.

Here’s hoping you get some good advice….. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” -where’s the fun in that?

I know, and that's some of my fear, the steering rack has a water sensitive plug in it which if it senses water will open up to release water. According the workshop manual, if it pops, its a whole new rack required. ( why not have a bleed screw is beyond me, but never mind ) ... although in thinking about it, it looks like you'd be able to tap a plug into the hole that opens and seal the thing again.

In terms of quantity of water, it was less than 100ml in total, but that's still way more than should ever be in there.

The initial stuff that came out in the picture above still very much an oil feel to it rather than watery mess. And since flushing it, although still cloudy, its very close feeling and translucent to the new stuff.

Looking at the manual, there are also bleed screws on the roll bar actuators, so i could flush them through too, but thats a more involved process.

sigh! V8 or else ...

Dynamic Response Fluid is Cold Climate Power Steering Fluid. It was developed by Texaco and is a petroleum based product (about 65%) with the rest of the makeup consisting of various polymers.

If I were in your situation, I would flush the system through with fresh fluid then drain and replace again. Drain from the lowest point as Gremlin suggested - ie. from the connections to ARBs, refill according to the workshop manual, run a bleed procedure using SDD, drive, do some sharp turns to get the Dynamic Response System working and the fluid being pumped around the system, drain, refill and bleed again. Kev

2014 L405 RR Vogue SE 4.4 SDV8 in Corris Grey
2010 L320 RRS HSE 3.0 TDV6 in Stornoway Grey

Thanks Kev. I’m totally for trying to flush it through by opening up the bleed nipples at each section and running through till clear, but I believe the valve block onwards is a secondary system which defaults to closed valves and in order to bleed I need hold them open so that new fluid from the reservoir would reach the actuators… either by diagnostics or what I’ve seen in the workshop manual is a specific tool which plugs into the valve block to open it.

It doesn’t seem as simple what like a brake bleed would be.

I’ll need to read up some more. I have an iidtool from my Evoque but I’ve not swapped it to the l405 yet so I don’t know if there are any procedures the iidtool can do. Or will I have to go down the route of a buckshee sdd? V8 or else ...

A full fluid change isn't easy to do, you really want to do it component by component and used compressed air to blow any remnants out. If it went into a dealer, LR process would be the same as for contaminated fuel system - change the lot.

Frankly, it all depends upon how attached to the car you are. In all honesty, I'd say 'sell it', any remaining moisture won't circulate, it'll fester and corrode a bit of metal, the corrosion it will cause will cause you untold misery some time down the line.

If you want to fix it properly, clean and replace as necessary. The bleed procedure is something to video though!

Thanks Phoenix Reality is I’m not likely to sell it. It was the only one of its style I saw and was better than many i looked at. Living in the west of Scotland with the salted roads, there has always been plenty that rusts on my land rovers over the years. If it doesn’t corrode from the inside … its likely to corrode from the outside instead !

So that leaves me with dealing with the issue facing me, and I’m open to realistic suggestions for any of it, and handy enough for the most part with the spanners in the garage and driveway.

Short term … I’m happy i changed a fair amount with the flush I did … I’ll repeat that a couple of time with a bit of a drive in between so that the fluid is flowed around well between changes. New oil is always going to be better than old so to speak. A bit like how you have to drain/fill the gearbox I suppose.

But bleeding is on the list too. As mentioned above, does anyone know if it needs the SDD system and that iidtool wont do it ? V8 or else ...

I've only ever used SDD for that task and I don't own the IID.
If you can, change the reservoir as it has a filter in it that may capture some of the water droplets.

Yup changing the reservoir is on the list, and i wondered whether it was filtering any of the emulsion. I could also use the old cap to make the bottle thing which pressurises the reservoir to bleed the system. ( cause there is no way I’m paying the hundreds of pounds for a genuine LR adapted pressurised ez-bleed bottle ).

Are you workshop based to have access to a genuine SDD ? V8 or else ...

I used to be, work for a different 'premium brand' these days...
It will emulsify more over time as the water molecules get 'chopped up' by the pump, a bit like adding a drop of water to oil & vinegar to make a salad dressing a bit more viscous.

ETA - we modified a Sealey brake bleeder for the job, I think they're about £50 these days. All you need to do is change the swivel connector onto the old reservoir cap.

That was my plan for a tool. Thanks. V8 or else ...