Thread: 1988 Range Rover Overheating

Originally Posted by Mercguy

Respectfully Shane I will disagree - but the point you make is absolutely valid for a scenario where the radiator is contaminated with silicone worms from cooling system repair or where substituted for a gasket.

Flushing without citric acid is a waste of time - absolutely.
Flushing a block (reverse flush) is not a waste of time when the waterjacket is full of oil (in which case there are pH neutral solutions to remove oil - sodium metabisulphate is one of them.)

Citric acid flushing works very effectively if done properly - with the proviso that there is no silicone contamination.

The main issue is that people always think that this is some kind of miracle cure - when it isn't. It's ROUTINE cooling system servicing, just like you're supposed to change out brake fluid every 2 years, or your ZF transmission every 60K. Or the atf in the BWTC...

Just about every issue owners can conjure up, can be effectively mitigated by a properly thorough regular scheduled servicing regime.

But not everyone does.

If you're going on a big trip, or to remote areas, then it's a no-brainer. But for a local rubbish tip trip hack, or boatramp vehicle or weekend abuse toy, the priorities may simply not be there.

But to be completely dismissive of a proven decontamination and descaling process which is used across many different pressure vessel applications in industry (not just cars) then that's not a statement that you would want to leave unqualified.

Oh, I have nothing against flushing a cooling system .... I've just found flushing a radiator to try and clear a blocked core .... is about as pointless task as you could possibly imagine. The way they clog up is quite remarkable. I unsoldered the tanks on one of my cars heater matrixes..... I couldn't push ANYTHING through its tubes..... The bulidup made replacement the only option (you would split the tube before it would clear). flushing is a waste of time when even a ground down hacksaw blade can't clear the debris

seeya,
Shane L.

The radiator has arrived. It is twice as thick as the one currently in the car but went straight in and located in position. I have had to put some cuts into the shroud to get it to fit and shorten the radiator hoses. It shouldn't overheat with this in it, if it does there must be a serous problem with the motor.

Sounds very similar to mine which is working very well

I have now driven around 100km since putting in the new radiator. The highest temperature I have seen is just over 80c, I have an 82c thermostat, and it will go down to about 75c. It looks like the old radiator was the problem even though it seemed to flow pretty well and I had run cleaner through the system.

My brother couldn't stop the 3.6 TDV8 in his MY08 RRS from overheating so eventually replaced the radiator which cured the problem. He had attempted to backflush several times whereby water appeared to flow easily but with nothing else to blame he replaced the radiator, as recommended by Bruce Davis.

I took the Range Rover out yesterday in Melbourne with the outside temperature around 30c for a 30km drive. The coolant temperature did not go above 82c, that is the value of the thermostat. Before putting in the new radiator on a 30c day it would have overheated within a few minutes. I am happy with these results but now would like to get a bit more performance out of the engine, I have come across a 3.9 I am thinking of building up and putting in to replace the 3.5.