Where'd all the water go?

[SteveGoodz]

Before we start, happy new year to one and all.

Now that the pleasantries are out of the way and I've got you feeling benevolent towards me  :twisted:  here's the problem: my 300Tdi Discovery is losing coolant at an alarming rate ~ about 1/2 litre in the last 200 miles.

For a few months now I've been getting gurgling noises from behind the dash and am assuming the noises are coming from the heater matrix. I figured the most likely cause was the head gasket so that was recently replaced and the head skimmed at the same time but I'm still getting the gurgling and it's using/losing coolant big time  :(

I've just spent about an hour looking for a leak from all the joints, hoses, couplings, etc., but can't find one. The inside of the engine bay is pretty muddy from the last laning sortie so I would have expected a significant leak to be reasonably easy to spot. Not so! The front carpets are both dry as well so I don't think the matrix itself is leaking.

I'm open to suggestions and ideas from the floor ....

[Pete]

 Could well be the heater matrix, or a split heater pipe.   Try checking under the carpets, usually worth trying the passenger side first.
 If it is the heater, at least it's a lot easier to get at on the 300 than the 200.
 Pete.

[mac]

I know it's different on my TD5 but after a lot of head scratching and suspecting a head gasket as the cause of coolant loss then thinking it might be the pressure cap (changed it) I tied a plastic bottle under the pressure tank overflow - caught nowt but still a puddle underneath. After lying underneath found the back side of the noise insulation blanket on the engine bulkhead was wet - found a loose hose clip on one of the heater hoses going through the bulkhead that was hidden by the blanket, tweaked it up - fine.