There are a few posts on the site about the water/oil heat exchanger leaking though hairline cracks.

I was wondering if this is becoming a weak spot on the engine now these cars are becoming 'vintage'.

I have suffered a persistent leak which was possibly the O-rings at the back of the engine as covered in several posts, however JLR replaced these under warranty, but the problem remained unabated.

The car went back to the workshop and was released yesterday having had all of the gaskets/seals in the Vee changed. I am still smelling burning oil and I don't know if it is paranoia, remaining oil from the repair, or if the oil is still leaking?

I will clean the area up (JLR made no attempt to clean the underside) and see if oil comes again.

In the mean time, who else has suffered a cracked/failed water/oil heat exchanger?

To the best of my knowledge from compiling my 4.4tdv8 Fault log, no one has ever actually 100% proved that they have had the actual cooler casting leaking.
Several have been changed by dealers under warranty, but the deeply held belief by both members who have actually stripped the whole assembly down to really investigate the true cause of their oil leak is that the problem lies with the rubber gaskets and not the actual casting.

I am sure they will be responding to your post soon with their thinking.

Also Stan may be able to add his findings soon because he too is investigating an oil leak problem.

Mike. G reg 2.5VM Vogue Portofino red 1991- 1999
V reg 2.5td P38 Rioja red 1999- 2006
53 reg td6 Vogue Oslo blue 2006- 2015
11 reg 4.4 TdV8 Vogue SE. Baltic blue 2015- date.
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic56162...tty+affair

That's encouraging, because they have now changed the gaskets.

I figure it would have to be quite a leak to be noticeable immediately after the repair.

Hi, it took over a week to get rid of the smell I went to a car wash that had an underbody wash.

I even took it back to LR who had fixed it and they showed me the underside just residual.

Same here , i had mine replaced and it took a while to get all of the oil gone from all the nooks and crannys .
3 months later all good.

Hope yours is sorted, but I saw my old unit had a crack in it when I was at the garage....so it does happen. They say they have done more than a dozen since..... 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport

Yep just the gaskets and o rings done on mine a few weeks back and no new leaks that I can see. Plenty of oil still sitting in the vee from previously, but worst of the oil burn smell now gone. I don’t know if I’ll need to suck out the residual oil in the vee or whether that will go in time. Chris

mjdronfield, out of interest, where abouts was the crack on your oil cooler? I’m guessing on the fins of the cooler somewhere? Chris

it was a good two~three weeks that smell remained on mine, especially going up steep hill, so if you can find some uphill roads do some spirited driving to get engine hot and burne that residual oil.

,

stoutgoose I also have an unfound 4.4TDV8 leak. Wet bottom rear or engine. A hose at the front too, low down. O-rings have been done. Oil cooler's been done too so still looking.
. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Last edited by GGDR on 11th Feb 2018 11:27am. Edited 2 times in total

After replacing the gaskets in my oil cooler, I doused the V with engine degreaser and pressure-washed the area to remove any remaining oil.

Seems to have worked though there are still some signs of oil in the coolant, which will come out over time (I hope)

Apologies to mjdronfield. I must have missed your “crack “ report in the hundreds of other reports on various 4.4 tdV8 problems that I read. I dare say dealers must have found others, but also, having gone to the trouble of stripping everything down, I can understand that they have changed some good ones just to “be sure” they fix the problem leak.

Mike. G reg 2.5VM Vogue Portofino red 1991- 1999
V reg 2.5td P38 Rioja red 1999- 2006
53 reg td6 Vogue Oslo blue 2006- 2015
11 reg 4.4 TdV8 Vogue SE. Baltic blue 2015- date.
https://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic56162...tty+affair

The saga continues.

The car was returned to me last Friday having had the gaskets replaced on the oil/water heat exchanger.

Following a 250 mile road trip I noticed the coolant level had dropped resulting in 1 litre of coolant being needed (the low coolant warning had not come on until I fiddled with the wires under the expansion tank, then hey presto!).

I filled precisely to the top of the cold fill level.

I drove another 120 miles today and noted that it had dropped again to the point in the expansion tank just above where the bottom part flares out into a reservoir.

Last Friday, when I first started driving the car following collection, I noticed that the heating didn't seem to function as efficiently, so this morning I turned front and rear on high and left it for the journey. It is now definitely working, however it made me consider a few points;

1. Does the cooling system self-bleed, and if so, how long can this take?
2. Do you need to select high on the cabin heater to ensure a full bleed as per older cars?
3. How much coolant can be consumed whilst the system is expelling air?
4. Is it likely that the system would even lose that much coolant following the removal of the oil/water heat-exchanger?

Prior to this, the cooling system level was static, so can someone offer some experience of similar issues, or do I just have a plain old coolant leak courtesy of the chaps at JLR?

All thoughts appreciated.

If it was a straightforward change then I wouldn’t expect much coolant loss. When I changed my gaskets I had an added complication that the front coolant hose plastic connector that rises from the radiator broke, so having to change that hose resulted in a lot more coolant running out. There’s a bleed screw at the front but this will only expel air when the coolant is hot enough to run around the radiator. Don’t know if there’s any more on the engine block itself. Chris

Sorry, seemed to have missed these updates

I’m not sure I used the phrase “crack” in my thread on the issue....think I just said it was the heat exchanger that was at fault. It was a while back, but I remember it being in a place I was a bit surprised with. The gaskets May have been an issue too, but as it was all replaced we will never know.....

Mine got to a stage where there was no coolant in the tank at all, just oil.... which took 5 cooling system flushes to get out.

I ran it for 12 months and then had the coolant replaced again during service to make sure.

Seems fine 2 years later.....never checked the O rings, but I never had a reason too. 2011 Range Rover Vogue SE 4.4 TDV8

Previous cars :
2003 Range Rover Vogue TD6
1999 Discovery Td5 ES
1995 BMW M5 3.8 6 speed
1992 Range Rover 3.9 Efi Vogue
1992 BMW M5 3.8
1988 BMW 735i SE
1989 Ford Sierra XR4x4 2.9i
1981 Ford Fiesta Supersport