URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

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URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby forestman » Tue Mar 02, 2021 8:40 pm

I have recently noticed that my car is running very low on coolant in the RESERVOIR tank. It is way below the “low” line in the reservoir, i figured it was odd as coolant is a closed system so it shouldn’t decrease to almost nothing. However, the car is running fine, I drove it even though I saw it was low on coolant to get to work. I basically hoped it wouldn’t break in the middle of driving to work. The car dash didn’t give me any indication of low coolant or overheating. The temperature needle shows operating temperature, and it isn’t going past the middleline of the temperature meter.

I searched up and there could be a leak somewhere in the system, maybe a leak in the head gasket into or out of the engine. So I left it out at idle for 10 mins, it didn’t overheat, there wasn’t any coolant dripping to the floor. I recorded the exhaust of the car when I slowly revved it, to see if white smoke would come out, and if it did it would mean head gasket leaked into the engine. I will show you the footage of the exhaust, there is very very very little white smoke coming out, I am not sure if its normal or I have a leak in head gasket into the engine. This is a cold start as well, and I revved it slowly, so maybe the white smoke is just condensation or maybe because it was cold outside? I also noticed there was no oil on the dipstick after i wiped it with towel and reinserted it. There is also a sweet scent coming from the air con from time to time when driving.

Should i add water to the reservoir? Should I not drive it and risk destroying the engine? Is it a leak in head gasket? Maybe it’s just a leak of one of the hoses hopefully?

https://youtu.be/chP3MgCFLmo
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby norbs » Wed Mar 03, 2021 9:10 am

Take it to a radiator place and get it pressure tested. They can also test for exhaust gas in the coolant which would confirm a HG.

The rad. is more than 15 years old now and could have a small leak.

In the meantime, it is more than fine to top up the reservoir with water.

Good luck.
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby forestman » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:22 pm

norbs wrote:Take it to a radiator place and get it pressure tested. They can also test for exhaust gas in the coolant which would confirm a HG.

The rad. is more than 15 years old now and could have a small leak.

In the meantime, it is more than fine to top up the reservoir with water.

Good luck.


I have booked a service, next wednesday, because the car is due for a service as it just hit 200k km. Will they check these things for me and notify me of the leaks or must i go somewhere else? i booked in Lucas Automotive in Melb. One more question, when i top off with distilled water, will the car last me until the service? Have you seen the youtube link i posted about my car blowing off traces of white smoke?

Thanks for any help!!
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby norbs » Wed Mar 03, 2021 12:57 pm

Tell them about your low coolant levels and get them to check the cooling system (pressure test it) and for possible head gasket. Keep topping up and limit the amount you drive it till it gets diagnosed. That video, was it after warm up?
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby forestman » Wed Mar 03, 2021 1:48 pm

norbs wrote:Tell them about your low coolant levels and get them to check the cooling system (pressure test it) and for possible head gasket. Keep topping up and limit the amount you drive it till it gets diagnosed. That video, was it after warm up?


The video was a cold start on a windy day around 18 degrees Celsius. First start of the day, and I slowly rev it from idle to around 4000rpm and I was scared to go any further because it was already low on coolant and obviously the oil takes time to lubricate all areas properly. But there was faint white smoke around 3000rpm as seen in video.

I drove it to Supercheap auto just then and bought some oil and distilled water, because the dipstick is completely dry (after I wiped off with paper towel and redipped to get proper reading) and that is worrying. There’s no dash warning lights and still not overheating.

Will add water in about 1-2hrs to cool down before adding.

edit: the coolant level in the reservoir tank is so low that you cant even see any green coolant when the engine is cold. When the engine is hot and pressure is built, i can see maybe 2 inches of green coolant in the reservoir. so now im unsure of adding water as it will likely make it 90% water and 10% coolant in the reservoir tank.
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby norbs » Wed Mar 03, 2021 6:53 pm

Add the water. It will eventually mix in with the rest of the coolant. You can add it whilst it's hot just don't go too much above the Max line. As it cools the level will drop. Then check in the morning and make sure level is between the lines.

Regarding the oil, no oil on the dipstick is not necessarily a disaster, depending on how much you put back in to get it to register. And don''t wait for the oil light. Too late when that goes on. Always check your oil levels every couple of tanks of fuel. Older engines can consume a little bit of oil. What brand and weight are you using?
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby forestman » Wed Mar 03, 2021 7:05 pm

Okay, will add distilled water when engine reaches operating temp. It shouldn’t spew coolant in my face yeah? As long as it’s not the radiator cap and is the reservoir? I added 1L of hpr 5w-40. And now there’s clear mixed with brown oil on the dipstick near the low end. Which should be fine til my next service next Wednesday. Also the last service was done 190500km. If that info is of any relevance and the car is 200000km currently. What do you reckon is the cause of this coolant reduction?
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby Ric » Fri Mar 05, 2021 1:13 pm

Distilled water is a waste of money for anything but battery topups.
Melbourne water is fine to add directly to your radiator.
The overflow bottle holds way less than the rest of the system, so filling an empty bottle with just water still wouldn't dilute the coolant much.

As mentioned, don't wait until you see a "low oil" lamp. It's really a "you've probably blown your engine" if it gets low enough to light the lamp, which is long past the point it is off the bottom of the dipstick.
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby forestman » Fri Mar 05, 2021 5:33 pm

Is it okay to drive with below min coolant reservoir? I haven’t filled it up with water yet, but I most likely will tomorrow because I have work tmr. To give you an idea of how low the reservoir is, when the engine is completely cold and I look at the reservoir, there’s literally no coolant in the reservoir, but when the car is operating temp, there’s abit of green at the bottom of the reservoir. Do u have any idea abt why it’s like this though?
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby Ric » Fri Mar 05, 2021 6:17 pm

So long as the rest of the system is still mainly full,. the overflow level won't matter, but you could rest your mind by just pouring a couple of glasses of tap water into it.
Plainly you've lost a bit of coolant somehow. Impossible for anyone else to know why.
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby TFish » Sat Mar 06, 2021 12:32 pm

I had a coolant loss issue on a different car and also expected to see dripping coolant like you did.

However after dicking around I realised that the hoses/clamps were only leaking at normal operating pressure and what comes out is a mist not drops on the garage floor.

The sign of this kind of coolant loss is a white spray pattern noticeable at the leak point. It won't necessarily even stand out, in my case I just thought it was dust or dirt or a bit of corrosion on the hoses but now I can spot the difference.

Easiest fix (and total piece of mind) would definitely be a pressure test and not to expensive or difficult. The car I was working on was a beater and I had 2 spare engines hanging around so I was fine to diagnose it myself at home after multiple attempts. The fix for me was replacing 2 hoses and clamps.

I thought it would look like this - https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/cimg/www.mustan ... 109905.jpg

But it looked more like the white deposits/stains in this - https://mbworld.org/forums/attachments/ ... -clamp.jpg or this - https://i.ytimg.com/vi/h77nIhzlskU/maxresdefault.jpg

Much easier to spot once you know what you're looking for.
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Re: URGENT HELP! with my Liberty 2.5i 2005 model

Postby norbs » Wed Mar 17, 2021 6:24 pm

Hey so what's the verdict? Did service find any issues?
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