Coolant Leak Issues

[Fire99]

Hi Guys,

I'm sure this issue has been covered a thousand times and i've done the trusy search but just to be sure could someone answer a coolant leak question?

My Chim has just obtained a wonderful water leak which shows itself as a fine spray of water behind the water pump...
It is further back than the water pump and my guess is the Timing cover gasket.. Is this right? does the timing cover gasket seal water in some way?

And is V8 developments a good place to go shopping for the necessary parts? I'm tempted to change the water pump at the same time while i'm at it as a precaution.. (Car being 9 years old now and done 50k)

So if oh wise people could just clear this up i would appreciate it.

thanks,

Nick

[v8 racing]

It will be the the front cover gasket that is blowing, not uncommon and an easy change about 3 hrs of your own time and £5 in parts, just make sure whoever you buy the parts from you ask for the serp gasket.

[Fire99]

v8 racing said:

It will be the the front cover gasket that is blowing, not uncommon and an easy change about 3 hrs of your own time and £5 in parts, just make sure whoever you buy the parts from you ask for the serp gasket.

Thats fine.. thanks alot for the information.. Always a bit off-putting when you lift the bonnet and the engine squirts water in your eye..

[TVR Thomo]

Fire99 said:

Hi Guys,

I'm sure this issue has been covered a thousand times and i've done the trusy search but just to be sure could someone answer a coolant leak question?

My Chim has just obtained a wonderful water leak which shows itself as a fine spray of water behind the water pump...
It is further back than the water pump and my guess is the Timing cover gasket.. Is this right? does the timing cover gasket seal water in some way?

And is V8 developments a good place to go shopping for the necessary parts? I'm tempted to change the water pump at the same time while i'm at it as a precaution.. (Car being 9 years old now and done 50k)

So if oh wise people could just clear this up i would appreciate it.

thanks,

Nick

Sounds like the timming cover gasket to me. Just had mine done about 3 weeks ago by my local garage, i'm not very good when it comes to that sort of thing! You will defo need to do the water pump gasket at the same time because it will probably fall apart when you are removing all the necessary components to get the timming cover gasket. V8 Developments is where I did my shopping (under £10 for both gaskets) and they are very helpfull with advise if you are doing the job your self. Just remember to put the right greese/lub on any retaining bolts that come into contact with water (i.e the 2 at the front of the water pump for a start).

Cheers
Neil

Edited by TVR Thomo on Saturday 21st July 21:32

[sparkythecat]

I had this gasket failure 3 years ago on my way home from Le Mans and had to be brought from Dover to Lancaster on the back of an RAC lorry all for the sake of a gasket costing £3.45 + VAT !
This job although time consuming is not as complicated as you think and requires no specialist tools. It can easily be undertaken by a reasonably competant home mechanic. Neither the exhaust nor the timing pulleys and chain need to be removed and the water pump can be left attached to the timing cover. Get yourself a copy of the Haines Range Rover manual and follow the instruction for the job in there. The job took me about 5 hours in total. As well as the timing cover gasket you will need to budget for fresh oil and coolant as well. They cannot be reused as they may have been contaminated either as the result of the gasket failure, or during the dismantling process itself. Just one note of caution however, there is at least one and possibly two bolts which secure the sump pan onto the bottom of the timing cover. So in order to remove the timing cover you have to loosen those sump bolts. This is why the engine oil must be drained. If you are very lucky you may then be able to seperate the timing cover from the sump pan without damaging the sump gasket and need only use a dab of sealant to reseal the sump gasket on reassembly. If however the sump gasket is damaged as you remove the timing cover (very likely!) then that gasket will also have to be renewed
You could of course entrust the job to your local TVR dealer, but with labour rates quoted on this site 4 to 5 hours labour will make it an expensive job. ( look for a previous thread entitled Am I being ripped off?)
I used to have my car serviced at the TVR factory. When I mentioned to them my gasket failure experience. I was informed that this was an acknowledged problem in the rover engines. Apparently there is a weakspot at the top right hand corner where the gasket is particularly narrow , so much so that the factory stopped pressure testing the cooling system on these cars for fear of rupturing that gasket!
So either get out your spanners or your wallet and good luck.

Edited by sparkythecat on Sunday 22 July 12:00

[Fire99]

Thanks alot people.. I'll be onto the guys at V8Developments tomorrow to get the necessary bits of 'fag paper'
Once it started to leak it certainly dumped considerable water very quickly.