Engine Saver TDV6/TDV8

[101RRS]

There have already been a couple of instances of TDV6/TDV8 engines getting cooked due to low coolant due to hoses coming off or failing. I have a TM2 Combo fitted to my 101 telling me when the radiator is just a little down - well before any damage is caused.

So has anyone fitted a low water alarm to their D3/D4/RRS and if so which model did you go for and where did you fit the sensor?

Garry

[Celtoid]

Hey mate,

That's weird timing.....

Ron B recently posted a thread on changing an RRS engine....body off chassis etc.

He'd stated that the motor had just been slightly cooked.

I just asked how that occured and how the owner was unaware.

I guess you've just alluded to the fact that the system doesn't warn you with sufficient time.

Is that the case?

Cheers,

Kev.

[CaverD3]

D3 already has one. A float sensor in the coolant tank. There have been istances of them becoming porous and dropping on their own.

[101RRS]

I guess you've just alluded to the fact that the system doesn't warn you with sufficient time.

Is that the case?

Cheers,

Kev.

In a catastrophic coolant loss that you do not hear/see/smell will not give any indication on the dash. As there is no coolant there is nothing to cause the temp sensor to rise. I had this happen in an old Datsun 200B hire car - I lost the bottom radiator hose, I didn't know and the first I knew was the smell of hot oil and a rattly engine - the temp gauge stayed on normal. The temp gauge tells you the temp of the coolant not the engine so if there is no coolant who knows what it is reading.

Carver - if there is a loss of coolant in the main system will coolant also drain out the filler/overflow bottle. Certainly in my 101 the level of coolant in the overflow bottle has no relationship to what is in the radiator - as a result my sensor is in the top radiator hose.

Cheers

Garry

[PAT303]

My L322 has both the low coolant and overtemp alarms as standard,I would have thought the newer D4/Sport would be the same?. Pat

[Daniel]

My L322 has both the low coolant and overtemp alarms as standard,I would have thought the newer D4/Sport would be the same?. Pat

L322 3.6 tdv8 has not got any "low coolant" warning.
L322 3.0 td6 has "low cool,ant warning"
L322 td6 ems first cuts the AC when engine temp rises followed by cut to fuel to the engine making it almost impossible to cook an engine through slow coolant loss

[Ean Austral]

I raised a similar question a few months back because of the need for a similar device on the D2.


Hopefully Gordon will see this thread and reply to it, but I am sure he said that the D3/D4 had appropriate alarms, even to the point of the ECU going into a form of limp mode.


Hopefully he will come on and correct me if my answer is wrong.


With the amount of hoses on the TDV6 I will buy 1 tomorrow if they don't have some form of warning.


Cheers Ean

[discotwinturbo]

D4 has low water warning.

Spoke to the engine saver guys and he said not to purchase one, as the D4 is well equipped.

Brett....

[Graeme]

A low pressure alarm could be useful as long as it allowed for low pressure on startup. I had a low oil pressure monitor on my TD5 D2 that did just that. For an ignition cycle low pressure was OK until there was pressure, after which low pressure was an alarm condition that triggered stifling of the engine by closing the EGR inlet throttle valve and opening the EGR valve. However just an alarm would be of benefit.

[gghaggis]

Hopefully Gordon will see this thread and reply to it, but I am sure he said that the D3/D4 had appropriate alarms, even to the point of the ECU going into a form of limp mode.


Cheers Ean

It'd be hard to cook a TDV6/8, as it will enforce an "engine restriction" when it senses an overheat. Not impossible I suppose, depending on what you tried to do after that. I haven't checked, but I'd expect the low water warning to do the same.

Cheers,

Gordon

[Daniel]

It'd be hard to cook a TDV6/8, as it will enforce an "engine restriction" when it senses an overheat. Not impossible I suppose, depending on what you tried to do after that. I haven't checked, but I'd expect the low water warning to do the same.

Cheers,

Gordon

There is no "low coolant warning" on a Land Rover Range Rover tdV8 3.6.
Ford ECU unlike BMW ECU in the td6 doesn't cater for that.

At 105k on the odo my RR tdv8 3.6 popped the top radiator hose off at the engine end and dumped most of the coolant instantly whilst driving in heavy traffic (20 kph) which allowed me to see the resultant steam and pull over within a couple of minutes. The AC even kept functioning normally which is a bit of a worry. The ambient temp was about 22°C. It would have been interesting for this to happen when it was 39°C and towing a 3.5 trailer as I frequently do.

After it cooled down I spent an hour getting removing top engine cooling components to get enough access to be able to pop the hose on again whilst replacing the hose clip with a proper worm drive clamp.

The temp gauge didn't register any coolant temp rise (as it was sitting in air rather than coolant.

If this had happened on the freeway at 110 kph then goodbye to a good tdv8 engine.

During my next service I intend to replace all coolant hose clips with worm drive clamps and fit a TM4 watchdog.

[Geedublya]

There have been plenty of engines destroyed when the plastic water outlet fails and dumps the coolant. There is no over temp situation as there is no coolant.and I don't think the float switch picks it up quickly enough.

[gghaggis]

There is no "low coolant warning" on a Land Rover Range Rover tdV8 3.6.
Ford ECU unlike BMW ECU in the td6 doesn't cater for that.



There is a level sensor in the expansion tank, which would not be of much use in your specific situation. I guess there's always a way to beat the sensors!

Cheers,

Gordon