V8 Coolant Hose temp ? Engine Smell?

[Robgw]

I know the top hoses run hot on the Thor V8 and run at high pressure.

However, the bottom hose on my engine into the Thermostat from the rad seems 'warm' but not hot like the top hoses after a long run. It's must be opening and closing OK, as I have never overheated and the temp is solid at midway.

Does the Thermostat on these engines open and close at a high temp?. Do they open fully or partially? My front fan rarely runs and when it does the engine often smells of hot coolant and oil when standing after a good drive. I have zero leaks. I guess this odor is normal for the big V8 compared to my X-Trail which never smells hot..?

Tempted to change the Thermostat and Water Pump as it's 11 years old. Or is it case of if it's not broke, dont fix it?

[Pedro_The_Swift]

The D2 V8 runs at a terrifying 96,,
so yes it runs hot!
they only run way up there for emission purposes.
I would love to stick an 88deg out of a Classic and see what happens,,

[Robgw]

The D2 V8 runs at a terrifying 96,,
so yes it runs hot!
they only run way up there for emission purposes.
I would love to stick an 88deg out of a Classic and see what happens,,

Thanks Pedro, I thought this would be the case. My dad who's a mechanic says stop worrying it supposed to be hot!. I guess i'm not used to the V8!

I though the same with the Thermostat! I could imagine how rich it would run? And most likely throw the ECU into confusion? I guess this high temp and pressure is why they can be leaky!

Rob

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Exactamundo!
but temp vigilance is required!:eek:

but I think the jury's still out on the ECU needing that high a temp---

[Robgw]

Exactamundo!
but temp vigilance is required!:eek:

but I think the jury's still out on the ECU needing that high a temp---

What Kind if vigilance? As per the manual checking the coolant level weekly? Mine has used only about 5mm in 6 months or 4k of driving, about the same as my x-trail. Any more idea's for ensuring it runs well?

rob

[Pedro_The_Swift]

If the temp gauge moves upwards at all be VERY concerned!

there are several temp monitoring solutions, both low water and over-temp, one good one a long term site sponsor,,

There is not a lot you can do to make a D2 V8 run better(other than physically taking bits off).
Check for coolant stains at the rear (hell, everywhere!:p) of the engine, the orange colour stands out like the proverbials,, check your viscous fan is operating correctly, The MAF will slowly fail but is easily checked/replaced, not so leads and coil packs but they last considerably longer.

But in the end heat will kill these before old age does.

[Robgw]

If the temp gauge moves upwards at all be VERY concerned!

there are several temp monitoring solutions, both low water and over-temp, one good one a long term site sponsor,,

There is not a lot you can do to make a D2 V8 run better(other than physically taking bits off).
Check for coolant stains at the rear (hell, everywhere!:p) of the engine, the orange colour stands out like the proverbials,, check your viscous fan is operating correctly, The MAF will slowly fail but is easily checked/replaced, not so leads and coil packs but they last considerably longer.

But in the end heat will kill these before old age does.

Thanks for this. I assume the MAF is the Air Mass Meter ? From the air filter? If so this has just been replaced. Viscous Fan? is this the one which kicks in at the front of the rad? The one behind driven by the Serpentine belt seems to constantly run.

[Robgw]

Has anyone fitted a lower temp Thermostat to a Thor V8?.. If so is all OK? Same , Better ? Worst etc?

[diesel]

I'm actually ordering a PEL500110 stat now from the UK. From what I have read it lowers the overall temps a few degrees and remains at a steady temp rather than fluctuating.

See here. (http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f40/installed-180f-thermostat-place-192f-thermostat-57041/)

FYI I have 56D engine.

M

[Pedro_The_Swift]

excellent link M;)

[Robgw]

excellent link M;)

Thanks Pedro/Diesel,

I may get one sent over to from Rimmer Bros. However, the PEL500110 seems made for the 1.8 Freelander (K series to run cooler) or the TD5.

If fitted to the V8 will it just lower the running temp?...

Rob

[Pedro_The_Swift]

This from over there

"PEM100990 - Cream is 88° With hard Spring (Designed for Diesel and V8 applications)

PEM101020 - Black or Cream is 82° With Hard Spring (Designed for a V8 and used as a stopgap with K4 engines)

PEL500110 - Grey is 82° With Light Spring (K4 engines)

The spring referred to is the pressure relief setting. the car K4 engine has a lighter spring because the volume flow is much smaller than the V8 or diesel engines.

the 88C is 192F and the 82C is 180F the listed temperature at full opening."


the second is interesting--

[Robgw]

I'm actually ordering a PEL500110 stat now from the UK. From what I have read it lowers the overall temps a few degrees and remains at a steady temp rather than fluctuating.

See here. (http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f40/installed-180f-thermostat-place-192f-thermostat-57041/)

FYI I have 56D engine.

M

Thanks for this, appears it's made for the 1.8 K Series (helped with the Head Gasket issues I have read!) and the TD5 engine.

Can this be used on the 4.0l V8?

[Pedro_The_Swift]

found this on an MG Rover forum,,,


As I mentioned in my first post, the difference between any of these in real world terms is negligible and the only thing you may notice is a slight change to heater performance.

When the engine is being pushed and cooling becomes an issue, they will all be operating above their set temperatures and be wide open. The pressure spring side of things just makes a slight change to the engine speed at which the stat will open regardless of temperature.
Dr Rik


any techy people care to comment?

[jafir]

The pressure spring side of things just makes a slight change to the engine speed at which the stat will open regardless of temperature.

I believe this statement that you quote from the MG forum is just a little incorrect. The thermostat bypass and the spring weight has to do with how the system behaves when cold. The D2 (and I guess other land rover cooling systems) will bypass the radiator when cold and most of the coolant flows through the heater core/matrix instead. This allows the engine and passenger compartment to come up to temperature more quickly. The bypass spring allow for coolant to flow through the radiator instead when revs increase or for other reasons that would cause the coolant pressure to increase. With the softer spring, it's more likely to bypass the heater-core-only circuit, and pump coolant through the radiator too. The only downfall of this is it might take a little longer for the heater to feel hot on a cold day.

When the engine is up to full operating temperature, the main portion of the thermostat is open, and the bypass and the spring are completely out of the equation.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Thanks jafir,,

I asked for a price of a
PEM101020
from a MG Rover spares shop(in OZ) and was quoted $90--:Thump:

[Robgw]

Spoke with my Father in the UK today to get a price and also to Ayres Auto Sydney Land Rover.

Both people I trust said leave the standard one in the car!.

Below is the note from the LR guy in Sydney. Which is also what my father said.
=======================
Rob
It is important that the correct temperature thermostat is always fitted in your car, not a cooler one!
With a cooler thermostat the engine management system thinks the engine hasn’t reached normal operating temperature yet and will inject more fuel.
The engine is designed to run at a specific temperature and that is usually as hot as possible without overheating. This is where Rover V8 engines are the most efficient.
What determines whether the car will overheat or not in hot weather is the size and cleanliness of the radiator (internally & externally) and proper functioning of the viscous coupling in the fan. The coolant is directed through the radiator as needed by the thermostat to maintain exact engine temperature, probably about 95 degrees in your case.
To fit a cooler thermostat will promote poor economy and increased engine wear.
===============

I was also told that the 95c Thermostats are designed to get the engine up to temp quite quick and keep the temp stable.

Cooler Thermostats will give heavy fluctuation in when driving and The head gaskets dont like this much!.

I think I will stick to taking care of he cooling system as LR designed it.

[jafir]

With a cooler thermostat the engine management system thinks the engine hasn’t reached normal operating temperature yet and will inject more fuel.

The only colder thermostats available still allow the engine to run in closed loop. Running at the factory specified temp will probably allow the system to run a little bit leaner and reduce emissions, but I'll bet you'd have a hard time seeing the difference when it comes time to pay for fuel.

Now if you were to do the thermostat mod listed here: Inline Thermostat - LAND ROVER CLUB V.I. (http://www.landroverclubvi.com/inline-thermostat.html) then you could pick whatever thermostat you wanted, and if you pick something too cool, you'd run the risk of never getting to closed loop operation, and the engine would run way too rich.



Cooler Thermostats will give heavy fluctuation in when driving and The head gaskets dont like this much!.

There is a no reason a slightly cooler thermostat would cause fluctuations. And having the temps lower would probably be BETTER for the head gaskets.

[Robgw]

A can of worms here indeed!

Seems lots of evidence either way.

I think i will be sticking to what I have and keeping the cooling system well maintained, after all the car has not had an issue in 11 years.

A system flush once a year won't hurt.

Rob

[diesel]

Thought I would report back with my new stat findings. :)

Temps with the original stat were around 96/97 under average driving conditions, this rose quickly to 102 when driving slow or stationery (as you often are on the coast with all the traffic lights).

If I pulled away quickly they would drop suddenly to 91/92. Then move back to the 97 until I stopped again, then up to 102...
This fluctuation cannot be good for the alloy engine. I have temps go up to 109 if I'm in heavy stop, start traffic.

So, as I posted earlier I did a little research (the link to one thread posted on the 1st page). I can say that I agree with what people have found.
The warm-up time is the same, no slower.
The temperature now is steady at 87.
It moves between 87 and 88 in stop-start traffic. The highest I have had is 91, this was this weekend, while climbing a very steep ascent on rocky terrain in high box when I should really have used low.

With the new stat I have done motorway, normal roads, stop/start traffic and off road, as I said, it holds steady at 87. Plus when I open my bonnet I don't get my hair and eyebrows singed with the sudden wave of heat!!

Further info: When I had my original stat out I compared the springs, interesting as I found no difference–very hard to move... :o

M

P.S. Before anyone asks:
Yes it reaches closed loop, same as before. No fault codes. :cool:

[Pedro_The_Swift]

Thanks for the report Diesel;)

oh and an apology to all about the loud fonts,,
have been trying Opera,, cant seem to get my usual one right,,:(

[Robgw]

Just to close this off. The coolant and hot smell was coming from the top hose which was on it's way out. It was very swollen split in the car park of the garage i service it at! How lucky was that!

I had my radiator serviced/rodded out and coolant flushed. New top hose and thermostat and viscous coupling clean and checked. The report said my rad was 40% sludged from the bottom up.

Yesterday it was 34 in Sydney and I was sitting in traffic with the AirCon on re-cycle driving like this for over an hour. Car did not even smell hot when i got it back home into the garage :-) It's running very sweet!.