hot v8

[mate]

Hey guys somthing has been bothering me since I bought my disco2 3 weeks ago. Ive noticed the enging gets really hot very quickly. Once I start the car then drive it to the end of my streed 1km long the temp gauge is already at 1/2 way. It never gets any higher even when going through muddy black soil tracks on 4x4 trips but it smells hot and the heat the motor is emiting is strange to me.

Is this normal? I have started noticing more and more discos on the road now I own one and have to admit alot of them have heat effected paint on their bonnets

I hope its nothing major as im not rich

[ashhhhh]

Assuming your radiator is good, replace the thermostat.
Mine ran at 100c+ basically all the time, electric fan always running. Replaced the thermostat, now it is never over 90.

[bee utey]

Your nose isn't an accurate temperature gauge and neither is the dash gauge. It doesn't sound like it's actually running abnormally hot, just that you can smell either oil or coolant leaks on hot metal. If you really want to find out how hot your engine is running you need something like an engine watchdog. Example:

Engine Watchdog TM1 Temperature Sensor Gauge LOW Coolant Alarm Temp Recorder | eBay (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ENGINE-WATCHDOG-TM1-TEMPERATURE-SENSOR-GAUGE-LOW-COOLANT-ALARM-TEMP-RECORDER-/131428550282?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_15&hash=item1e99c0868a)

[sierrafery]

Also try to stop the viscous fan with a rolled newspaper when the engine is hot... if it stops when you apply pressure on it replace it asap cos it doesnt lock and the cooling is affected

[CaptainJack]

Hey guys somthing has been bothering me since I bought my disco2 3 weeks ago. Ive noticed the enging gets really hot very quickly. Once I start the car then drive it to the end of my streed 1km long the temp gauge is already at 1/2 way. It never gets any higher even when going through muddy black soil tracks on 4x4 trips but it smells hot and the heat the motor is emiting is strange to me.

Is this normal? I have started noticing more and more discos on the road now I own one and have to admit alot of them have heat effected paint on their bonnets

I hope its nothing major as im not rich


Interesting comments. I only purchase my 2000 V8 disco a couple of weeks ago. Its a weekend project for me to restore. Your comments about the engine getting hot quick and the smell is exactly what i am experiencing with mine.

As mine is a weekend garage project, ive given the car a good service and changed most of the fluids excpet for the coolant. Mine has a near new radiator in the last 6 months by previous owner, but im going to fit a new thermostat, and give it a flush just for my peace of mind.

As suggested by others, i think i might look into a seperate temp gauge for monitoring - do most have it attached to the engine block or actually monitor coolant temp?

In researching this i notive a bit of debate about using a lower temp thermostat as opposed to a genuine one.

What sort of thermostat are others running here? - would like to hear some feedback on this ....

[Eevo]

the d2 warms up quick, i read once it was designed that way for british winter when you want the heater on asap

[Eevo]

im running a lower therostat.
still warms up quick.


also, when the coolant hits 55 degrees (from memory), its shows as the needle as halfway.
so when it says its warm, its may still have 40 degrees to go. if that makes sense.

halfway on the needle can be anywhere between 55 and 115 degrees.

[ashhhhh]

Agree with all of Eevo's comments.
The needle is basically useless, when mine ran at a steady 104 it was still half way...

I would also agree that you should get a test tool, I use a Nanocom personally. (You will likely want one for other diagnostics before long, and it could show issues you are not aware of)

I would buy the new thermostat through British Offroad if you are unsure of which you need, they only sell one - and it is the correct one. (Lower temp)

[sierrafery]

The gauge works as follows:
- up to 40*C close to the bottom
- between 40 -70 at quarter
- at 70 rises to the middle and stays there untill 120
- from 120 goes up to danger zone

so between 70 - 120 the gauge is on the middle and you can drive it hard and for long at 109*C without even knowing it... i'm saying 109 cos at 110 the electric coolin(aircon) fan kicks in to help cooling(so you might notice it if the fan doesnt work then on aircon request) it stops if the temp drops to 105.... at any time when the electric fan will be on after the ignition is off it's a sign that the coolant was above 110 then so time to investigate

[ashhhhh]

The fan is meant to kick in at 88c AFAIK, mine is at 90 as reported by Nanocom.

[ozscott]

Agree with all of Eevo's comments.
The needle is basically useless, when mine ran at a steady 104 it was still half way...

I would also agree that you should get a test tool, I use a Nanocom personally. (You will likely want one for other diagnostics before long, and it could show issues you are not aware of)

I would buy the new thermostat through British Offroad if you are unsure of which you need, they only sell one - and it is the correct one. (Lower temp)

When I had my head gaskets done there 2 years ago they didnt recommend that I fit a colder thermostat - they put in a new stocker, so I dont know if they have changed their view since then.

Cheers

[Pedro_The_Swift]

"heat affected bonnet"
:lol2:

try The Great Australian Sun affected bonnet!
and roof, and flares, and ----:angel::p:D

[ashhhhh]

When I had my head gaskets done there 2 years ago they didnt recommend that I fit a colder thermostat - they put in a new stocker, so I dont know if they have changed their view since then.

Cheers
The dont sell it as "colder", its just what they have and it happens to be the cooler option.
My opinion is that in Aussie conditions you want the coolest available. My car now runs at 88-90c in pretty much all conditions, under bonnet heat is greatly reduced and the thermo fan no longer runs in general use. (only extended idle)

[sierrafery]

The fan is meant to kick in at 88c AFAIK, mine is at 90 as reported by Nanocom.

We are both wrong, i knew those figures by heart for Td5 and was carried away so forgot we are speaking about a V8:(, it seems that on the V8 there's exactly 10*C difference, i apologise...see ttachments

the way the gauge works is the same for both though so you can drive the V8 at 99C without knowing it or if the electric fan is seized at 119C before the gauge goes up:cool:

[ozscott]

The dont sell it as "colder", its just what they have and it happens to be the cooler option.
My opinion is that in Aussie conditions you want the coolest available. My car now runs at 88-90c in pretty much all conditions, under bonnet heat is greatly reduced and the thermo fan no longer runs in general use. (only extended idle)

Hi mate - I should perhaps have said cooler not colder. In any event they didnt want to budge off stock for me. They know I tow a 2 tonn boat too. There are views that its about the Bosch system running at optimum - fuel economy and emissions in particular, but Pedro I think and others in here run the cooler thermostats. I guess my point is you will have to ask exactly what they are selling at BOR to make sure it is in fact cooler than stock (ie opens at a cooler coolant temp). There was on guy on here that had a cooler one and found it ran hotter so went back to stock. I cant explain that BTW.

Cheers

[sierrafery]

On some sites the PEL500110 is named ''warm weather climate'' on others ''soft spring style'' so maybe that's suitable for down under :)

[mate]

as far as i know it has had a rad flush and a new thermostat and water pump installed just recently from looking at the notes in the service history log book so now this is worrying me, i cant remember ever hearing the thermo fan kick in so im going to have to take it for a long drive and really crank the revs up to see if i can get that to turn on i guess so i make sure it even works, ill have to do the rolled up newspaper test also to see if the clutch fan is fkd also. but becides this all i can think of is a head gasket problem??

[sierrafery]

Don't torment your engine to check the cooling fan, remove relay R4 in the engine bay fusbox and bridge it's contact with a wire to see if it works or not(instead pins 30-87 it's a scheme on the relay)...fuse is F5 to check

[mrapocalypse]

Interesting comments. I only purchase my 2000 V8 disco a couple of weeks ago. Its a weekend project for me to restore. Your comments about the engine getting hot quick and the smell is exactly what i am experiencing with mine.

As mine is a weekend garage project, ive given the car a good service and changed most of the fluids excpet for the coolant. Mine has a near new radiator in the last 6 months by previous owner, but im going to fit a new thermostat, and give it a flush just for my peace of mind.

As suggested by others, i think i might look into a seperate temp gauge for monitoring - do most have it attached to the engine block or actually monitor coolant temp?

In researching this i notive a bit of debate about using a lower temp thermostat as opposed to a genuine one.

What sort of thermostat are others running here? - would like to hear some feedback on this ....

If I were you, I'd get a new water pump.

Mine stank of coolant for ages and had all new bits EXCEPT the water pump.

Replaced it and only then saw it had a weep.

I.

[Pedro_The_Swift]

i cant remember ever hearing the thermo fan kick in

The thermo will kick in at startup,, then stop.;)

[CaptainJack]

If I were you, I'd get a new water pump.

Mine stank of coolant for ages and had all new bits EXCEPT the water pump.

Replaced it and only then saw it had a weep.

I.

Yep, been thinking that too. New water pump and 82deg thermostat arrived today by express mail. Ready for a big saturday doing a full system flush, bypass of the throttle de-icer, new pump and thermo.

I drove the car today to work and back and logged the temps on my OBD Tool.

In traffic (the slow crawl on the mount lindsay at browns plains in brisbane) it got up to 101deg, but doing 80ks it was at 95deg, and at 100km on tjhe motorway it dropped to 90deg.

But as soon as i got off the motorway in thet city back in traffic it went straight back up to 107 deg

Be interesting to see the difference after i change it all.

Ive read a few other posts by some saying they are only able to replace about 5ltr of coolant max. I use a electric pump to first flush the entire system of the old coolant with distilled water, then i pump new coolant right throuh the engine first, then the radiator to replact the distilled water with fresh coolant.

Every other car ive used this method on i seem to be able to get the total capacity of coolant changed.

anybody else have similar success getting a full capacity of coolant changed rather than leaving some water in the system and adding coolant?

[Road Stone]

Hi,

Your temps do sound high. In tropical high humidity conditions my V8 never went over 100c. The thermostat opened at 98 ant then the temp dropped quickly, 92c round town and 87 on the open road.
I never had an over heat issue but did change EVERY hose over a period of 6 months and clean out the rad. Apart from what you are doing, changing the expansion tank cap could help too.

Cheers Jerry

[CaptainJack]

Hi,

Your temps do sound high. In tropical high humidity conditions my V8 never went over 100c. The thermostat opened at 98 ant then the temp dropped quickly, 92c round town and 87 on the open road.
I never had an over heat issue but did change EVERY hose over a period of 6 months and clean out the rad. Apart from what you are doing, changing the expansion tank cap could help too.

Cheers Jerry

Thanks Jerry - Ill change that tank caps as well i think. See what happens over the weekend after a big cleanout. If its still high then i will pull out the radiator. Although, by the looks of it, the rad was replaced by the previous owner

[Pedro_The_Swift]

you dont have two bloody great spotties bolted up in front of the rad, do you?:angel:

[Cannon]

Yep, been thinking that too. New water pump and 82deg thermostat arrived today by express mail. Ready for a big saturday doing a full system flush, bypass of the throttle de-icer, new pump and thermo.

I drove the car today to work and back and logged the temps on my OBD Tool.

In traffic (the slow crawl on the mount lindsay at browns plains in brisbane) it got up to 101deg, but doing 80ks it was at 95deg, and at 100km on tjhe motorway it dropped to 90deg.

But as soon as i got off the motorway in thet city back in traffic it went straight back up to 107 deg

This is exactly how mine used to behave.

I even have a low temp thermostat.

Turned out the radiator was blocked & was actually cold in front of the fan.

This meant that the heat activated doodad in the hub of the fan was never actuated and the fan never locked up.

So at low speeds or in traffic there was no air being pulled through the radiator but as you moved off or on the highway temps would drop back to normal.

New radiator & all of my cooling issues disappeared.

[CaptainJack]

you dont have two bloody great spotties bolted up in front of the rad, do you?:angel:

nope

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm24/CaptianJack/Discovery/CapJackDisco_zpsrtycqott.jpg

[CaptainJack]

This is exactly how mine used to behave.

I even have a low temp thermostat.

Turned out the radiator was blocked & was actually cold in front of the fan.

This meant that the heat activated doodad in the hub of the fan was never actuated and the fan never locked up.

So at low speeds or in traffic there was no air being pulled through the radiator but as you moved off or on the highway temps would drop back to normal.

New radiator & all of my cooling issues disappeared.


The rad was replaced 6 months ago by previous owner so i dont think its blocked, but if its still happening after i do everything else, i will rip it our and replace again.

[CaptainJack]

well it seems i have a stuffed viscous fan. Thats why at highway speed its getting enough air to cool but overheating in slow traffic or at standstill.

I checked it a couple of days ago and it had some resistance when hot, but tonight after a 20 min dirve is was totally free - could stop it with a newspaper when running, so its simply not drawing through enough air on idle.

so got to see if i can source one somewhere in brisbane on sat morning without paying through the nose.:eek:

[Cannon]

Land Rover Servicing Brisbane - Land Rover Spare Parts Brisbane - Welcome to MR Automotive, Redcliffe, Brisbane, Queensland (http://mrautomotive.com.au/)

these guys are open today.

[CaptainJack]

Land Rover Servicing Brisbane - Land Rover Spare Parts Brisbane - Welcome to MR Automotive, Redcliffe, Brisbane, Queensland (http://mrautomotive.com.au/)

these guys are open today.

yep - but there price is also triple the price for the part to be shipped up from melbourne.

Did the full flush and clean - butit will sit in te shed now until next weekend when the fan arrives :censored:

[Road Stone]

Have you tried checking the rad for hot/cold spots?


You do this on the car has warmed up and feel at the top, then bottom of the radiator fins. If there are cold areas it generally means there is a blockage somewhere.


Cheers, Jerry

[CaptainJack]

Have you tried checking the rad for hot/cold spots?


You do this on the car has warmed up and feel at the top, then bottom of the radiator fins. If there are cold areas it generally means there is a blockage somewhere.


Cheers, Jerry

rads only 6 months old - flushed it today ane its fine and flows well. culprit is def the viscous fan - spins freely even when hot. its just not pulling enough air through. highway speed ok, but when in traffic or idle it warms up real quick.

im very confident the whole cooling system is fine except for viscous fan.

Even did a heater core flush today and flowed through fine.

My method is to fully flush everything with tap water, then i use my low pressure electric pump to pump through distilled water in evey part of the colling system.

Finally i pump through coolant into everywhere to ensure all the plain water is out using a pump.

Then top off coolant via the header tank and bleed air out.

heres a few pics of how i flush and pump coolant into the heater core. Cheap pump - a cheap $19 camping shower from BCF. Used this for years on various cars to ensure i get a full flush and full of coolant and not water

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/

[CaptainJack]

OMG i solved it.

Just did test run - 88deg at speed, then driving slow in the burbs it hit 90 deg. Come home and sit in the driveway just idling - 90 deg - sat for 10 mins like this, then drove out my driveway and straightback down to 88deg.

Fan is working allbeit not as strong as i though it would.

But, here the thing that i know will spark others to say how dare I ....

THE RAVE DIAGRAM IS WRONG.

Dont follow it if you are installing a thermostat. This has probbably been pointed out on here before, but i couldnt find it in any posts.

Below is the rave diagram - clearly shows the angled y piece going to the upper hose and radiator.

BUT - the angled Y peice goes to the pump.

I bought a new thermostat and installed it exactly how the previous owner had the one in there (which was done by a landrover dealer in Melb according to the service book)

So i put my new thermostat in exatcly the same way - just like in RAVE

Now as i bought a generic 82 deg thermostat it didnt have any markings on it like the word PUMP

So anyways, after doing some reading on here i seemed to pick up that some say the angled Y peice goes to the pump.

Turned the thermostat around and hey presto - runs perfectly.

Previous owner had it around the wrong way too.

Damm it feels go to have solved this.

In any case, entire cooling system has been flushed, cleaned and renewed.
Probbably still throw a new viscous fan on it for peace of mind soon anyway.

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm24/CaptianJack/coolantflow_zpsmceqdyyw.jpg

[sierrafery]

That's strange, what kind of RAVE do you have there?, see attached the pic from mine and it's exactly like you say, the angled piece goes to the pump, also AFAIK there is a certain difference between the OD of the straight port and the angled one which means the previous owner should have noticed that IMO

[CaptainJack]

That's strange, what kind of RAVE do you have there?, see attached the pic from mine and it's exactly like you say, the angled piece goes to the pump, also AFAIK there is a certain difference between the OD of the straight port and the angled one which means the previous owner should have noticed that IMO


Yep - yours is correct.
Mine is the latest RAVE CD bought from this site only a week ago.


Interesting ...... lucky i did some checking.


Funny thing was, the original thermostat that was in there, was installed the wrong way too - and that was done apparently at the last service by a LR dealer. I have my doubts as the thermostats plastic is all discoloured from heatt, and you can see the rubber seals inside had come apart,




Anyway, all good now, and i know every last drop of gunk and old coolant and water has been flushed and replaced so im confident it will be good to go now.