Little Help on Coolant Loss

[SeriesCanuck]

Hi folks,

Hopefully someone can give me some tips on what to look for. Symptoms are:
-low idle when engine warm (in Park the tach reads about 500rpm)
-lower idle (in drive - at a stop light about 200-300rpm)
-the oil light comes on when idling low - goes out when driving or puting foot on accelerator
- just noticed today that I'm low on coolant all of a sudden - can't spot any visual leaks

Would these be signs of a blown head gasket? something else?

I also have a blown gasket at the exhaust manifold to down pipe (can hear it and feel it) I have a gasket for it but haven't put it on yet.

If it is a blown head gasket.....where can I get a gasket set for a 4.2L or is it the same as a 4.0L?

Thanks,
Thom

[FlagRover]

IIRC you should see bubles in the coolant if you blew a head gasket. With the truck running open the coolant fill and check for bubbles. Hope this helps.

[SeriesCanuck]

I checked for bubbles---didn't see any. Also noticed I'm also low in oil (I know it's a Rover .....but it actually doesn't have any oil leaks).

I guess I should go buy a compression tester and check.....what would I be expecting to read on a 4.2L?

[57loboy]

If you have low oil pressure @ idle, a couple things could be happening... First, do you have the correct oil in the pan? I don't want to open/re-open any sort of dialogue on "what is the best oil" but you need to be sure the right viscosity is in there. I use Rotella 15-40 on my '95 w/145k miles.
Another possible cause could be that your oil pump is worn out - they are repairable. What is telling you the oil pressure is low? There's no factory pressure gauge on the trucks and I've never seen a specified pressure for these @ idle.
Coolant leaks from bad head gaskets manifest themselves in many ways, including those listed by earlier posts... If you're losing coolant, you're most likely losing it from the head gaskets - it's just the LR way I suppose. You can get correct gaskets for the 4.2 from any number of vendors including our hosts here... be sure you get new bolts too...

[SeriesCanuck]

The oil light comes on after being warmed up at idle. I was under the impression that the oil light is connected to a oil pressure sensor as well as an oil level sensor. I may be way off.

I haven't had time to do a compression check yet. In the meantime I have filled all fluids up full and will see what happens.

I may also get a pressure test done on the cooling system if the compression check goes ok.

Any tips are welcome and I will follow up when I find the issue.

[ptschram]

Oil warning light illumination on a warm engine is either due to viscosity loss due to dilution and/or elevated temperatures, worn bottom end bearings, worn cam bearings or worn oil pump internal components.

Easiest to correct is oil, next is pump parts.