Well winter was coming so not a bad time to do this. And another job I don't trust the dealers to do properly.

The service schedule specifies coolant change at ten years. My TDV8 is nearly 6 years old and that’s long enough on the same fill especially as with a used car you don’t know if it’s really up to strength.
The coolant is responsible for prevention of corrosion and without this property major components could be quickly wrecked.
The anti –corrosion properties deteriorate with age so a timely coolant renewal could save problems with corrosion of expensive parts like radiators or at least make them last a bit longer.
The layout of the surprisingly complex TDV8 cooling system can be found in my gallery as pdf:

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/gallery/albums/us...layout.pdf

And the LR procedure for renewal of the coolant can also be found in my gallery:

http://www.rrsport.co.uk/gallery/albums/us...Change.pdf

The good news is you won’t need any special tools for this job.
Deciding how much coolant to buy should be simple but Land Rover make it harder by confusingly stating different volumes for the cooling system:
Owner’s manual 2008 edition: LRL 1002540802 – cooling system capacity 12 litres
My copy of the workshop manual however states 17 litres capacity ‘dry’ and 13.7 litres to ‘re-fill’

In the end I needed seven litres of Land Rover’s special long life antifreeze/coolant which doesn’t seem to be available anywhere else other than dealerships. Bearing in mind it appears the old coolant can’t be fully drained it seems best to stick with the OEM coolant to avoid problems with incompatability.
You will also need seven litres of de-ionised water as it’s a 50% dilution.

The whole procedure can be done with the vehicle just in off-road height (but put axle stands under the chassis rails for safety in case the car decides to sit down). Ideally on flat ground but if your working surface has a slope then recommended to have the engine at the higher end to aid bleeding of the air when re-filling.
Removal of both the radiator splash shield and the engine under tray is essential and I took off the two plastic shields covering the lower intercooler turbo hoses as well – this improves access and gives you an opportunity of inspecting the hoses for splits.

After removing the expansion tank cap and opening the bleed valve next to it, drainage of the old coolant starts with attaching a short (9 inches) piece of tubing to the black plastic drain tap towards the n/s of the bottom of the radiator.
I used a length of reinforced fuel tube and had to dip it in hot water first to make it soft enough to slip over the tap outlet:



Opening the tap releases a disappointingly slow flow (unless my TDV8 is suffering from an enlarged prostate) but eventually about 4 litres of coolant was collected in the large plastic storage bin that I’d recommend over a bucket, which would be too small. Taking the tap out completely didn't improve he flow:



The old coolant looked opaque in the bin but was pleased to see when put a sample in a glass that it was clear with no visible particles:



Next move to the o/s of the radiator bottom and release first the big hose (I used channel-lock adjustable pliers on the ‘rotor spring band constant tension’ type hose clamps but there are special tools available that make this job easier) and when it has finished draining the smaller one next to it (the pdf in my gallery will help you easily identify the pipes).

Next drain the transmission fluid cooler which you will have already noticed just behind the radiator.
I had been forewarned by the technician at my indie that ‘you won’t get it all out’. He was of course correct and only about 9.5 litres was collected out of the 12 or 13.7 litres stated capacity. It would have been possible to extract more by draining the auxiliary radiator in the o/s wheel arch but I decided not to mess with it (cowardice). Think the fewer disconnections made the less chance there is of inducing a leak.

After connecting everything back up you can start refilling with a 50% dilution of coolant with de-ionised water. This is where it all got a bit messy as only about three litres went in before the expansion tank was full. Then you have to start the engine and are supposed to then crawl under the motor whilst it’s running and disconnect the return coolant pipe from the fuel cooler – allow any trapped air to escape and then re-connect it.
The fuel cooler is about the size and shape of a sardine tin but with cooling fins and lives under the engine tucked up behind the cross member. The connection is a push-fit type and not knowing how to deal with this and not being keen to learn the wrong way lying under a rapidly warming rumbling V8 I, bottled it and hoped for the best! Probably because I had the car facing up a slight slope, the fuel cooler may not have got any air in it and I have had no problems.

With the engine running the instructions for bleeding and filling sound simple but are a bit difficult to follow in practice. The idea is to keep the expansion tank at just above the cold fill mark until coolant runs out of the bleed point without bubbles. A lot of coolant and air comes out of the bleed point making a terrible mess before you decide there is no more air to come and refit the bleed screw. If doing this again I would definitely try and find a long piece of clear tubing to fit to the bleed point and catch the escaping coolant in a large container – avoiding all the leakage over your immaculately detailed and dressed engine bay.

At this point you have to hold the revs up at 2,000 for 25 seconds a few times and keep topping up the expansion tank. When everything seems to be normal, switch off, replace the expansion tank cap, wash off the spilt coolant very thoroughly with a hose and clean up.
Take for a test run and check for leaks and check the coolant level after the engine has cooled and top up if necessary. A few anxious moments for me getting stuck in a long delay on the M40 the next day but the temp gauge never budged from normal.
Job done for another ten years! 2008 MY Java Black TDV8 HSE

Awesome tutorial mate, much appreciated! I popped the top rad hose off the block whilst up the bush on a particularly difficult climb. I'm trying to work out if I have a head gasket issues or an airlock in the system! Your post is making diagnosis much simpler.

Maybe this should be a "sticky" post in tips and tricks ?