Thread: Rangey Heat Problems?

Originally Posted by happykid55

Ive recently bought my self a 1975 Range Rover, its in great condition and very oil tight, its the 3.5l V8 with the dual stromberg carbies.
Firstly when driving on a average summer day here in sydney (25-30*c) the temperature gauge sits a little to the hot side of half, and in traffic a little hotter, is this normal for car this age in Australia? Or is the radiator clogged and in need of flushing? I know they are renowned for running a little hot.
Secondly the air intake for the 2 carbies sits directly above the engine block, i'm sure this is how they came but has anybody made some form of cool air intake, with noticeable results? that would seem a logical step to increase the engines performance.

Thanks for any help.

1. Don't rely on the original temp gauge to give you an accurate reading. Get a quality electronic gauge for accuracy. Your temp gauge reading sounds completely normal though.
2. Fit a new thermostat, that is what controls your temperature on cool days. An 82C one will run your engine a bit cooler but may reduce economy.
3. Rodding a radiator is good insurance and should be done every few years. It may not need it but it's not expensive.
4. Check your fan is working properly and drawing a good load of air when the engine is hot, viscous fans wear out and lose their drive when old. Electric fan conversions are recommended by some forum members, they use the twin fans off later model Falcons, eg AU.
5. If your engine compression is 8.13:1 (as written on the block next to the dip stick) then you don't benefit much from a cold air intake. Extending the inlet to a cool spot may help a little in hot weather but the tube itself may reduce air flow simply by its length.

Thermostats for different models

Carby is 78 degrees
EFI is 88 degrees


I'm running a 78 degree in my EFI ... but have a wired in a switch, to make the ECU "think" it's running at Temp


Cheers
Mike

The fan does seem to work well,
But i think ill get the radiator done as it seems to be a reoccurring recommendation!

Does it seem to work well, or does it work well? A way to check is to have the car hot, and see if when you turn the car off, the fan still spins. If this happens then the fan is buggered. Another way to test is to shove a rolled up piece of newspaper down there when it's on the hot side.. if it chops it up then it's ok.. but this isn't the safest way to do it.

My rangie runs between 85 and 95 degrees on a hot day. This is at the hottest point with an aftermarket gauge. I have twin thermofans and a reco'd radiator and new water pump.. just to give you a bench mark, it should run a little cooler than this (my headgasket is pretty cactus).

I don't know if Rangies have this issue with the twin carbys (mine is a single) but on my P6B with the 3.5, I have fuel vapor lock problems when it gets hot. So perhaps, insulating your fuel lines would be a good idea.

Originally Posted by happykid55

Secondly the air intake for the 2 carbies sits directly above the engine block, i'm sure this is how they came but has anybody made some form of cool air intake, with noticeable results? that would seem a logical step to increase the engines performance.

Thanks for any help.

The air intake posi would work well in the country of origin. Probably needed to be there to get the temp sensitive pollution stuff to switch off in the fullness of time.

Snorkel is the easiest form of cool air intake, but if the 75 is in good nick you may want to think a bit about hacking the panels to fit one.

cheers, DL

Ok thanks guys thats this weekends job,
Second question,
How can i tell what the reason is the oil temp and pressure guages are not working,
it could be dodgy wiring, gauge or sender, is there an easy way to determine the culprit?
Id like to get them working.

More than probably you have a wiring problem, pull the gauge out and check if it's getting voltage. I can't remember if the original gauges had power and earth, or just power and then earth through the sender. I don't have smiths gauges in mine anymore so I can't tell you.

You can also check if it is infact, connected to the sender units. The big cylinder looking thing off the pump housing is for pressure, and the little thermistor looking thing is the temp sensor. I think the wiring is white and black for temp, can't remember though sorry. You can check the resistance of both, i dont know where the spec is but it should change while the engine is heating up. The oil pressure sender has a diaphragm in it which can sometimes leak or collapse with age, giving you false or no reading at all.

After checking today, the fan on the grill side of the radiator isn't working at all engine running or not it doesn't move.
should i try fix this or just replace it straight up with an electric model?