Risk of overheating damage - signs?

[trs80]

TL;DR: would any damage due to overheating happen immediately or could there be a future surprise?

I recently purchased a 2016 LR4 SCV6 with 110k miles (out of state) Decent service history, all at JLR dealer up to 100k miles. I had a PPI done, but it turned out to not be so great (to the point they are refunding me). It recently had the the coolant crossovers, assorted pipes, and water pump done at an indy ..(6 months and 3k miles ago).

I took it to a local land rover Indy when I got home to get and oil change and a look over ...It is leaking from the rear coolant manifold and they mentioned it was discolored which could be signs of previous overheating. I did call the gentleman that sold it to me to ask and he said it never overheated with him (he was second owner for 1.5 years 10k miles and owned two LR4). No previous history of coolant work according to the records I have and the Carfax. Before I sink a couple grand in it getting it up to par to be my daily (fixing coolant leak, door lock actuator, windshield cowl) ...I was hoping for some peace of mind or advice. I have driven it over 500 miles and love it.

 

[Longtrail]

There's been a lot of threads recently about checking your cooling fluid with a kit from Harbor Freight; I don't know the exact details but you can determine if there are exhaust gases in the coolant and if there are it's indicative of a leaky head. I would start there; many others have pointed out that this is the first quick and cheap test.

 

[Longtrail]

Here are some threads:

Head gasket leak symptoms

LR4 is over 110k miles starting to smell a 50/50 coolant and exhaust smell coming from the exhaust but I don’t know if it’s just in my head. Not seeing bubbling in the coolant tank. Does anyone know of any sure fire signs of a head gasket leak on a LR4?

www.landroverworld.org

dreaded coolant level warning

A few weeks ago I got the low coolant warning on the dash, and lo and behold, the expansion tank was empty. I haven't really been watching it much since having the coolant system done a few years ago (25k miles ago). I filled it with 50/50 mix and have been monitoring since, and it is now...

www.landroverworld.org

Same thread result - not great:

dreaded coolant level warning

I would suggest doing a cheap exhaust gas test on the coolant tank. I so wish I would have done that first. None of us want to do this test for fear of it being positive, but it is the right thing to do.

www.landroverworld.org

 

[trs80]

Thanks, I guess I want searching the right terms .. And new so I didn't see them historically. I ordered a year today from Amazon!