Thread: Temp guage gone whacky!

well land rover gurus i am in need of some help LOL changed the thermostat, went for first test run, disco over heated. well i stopped before got near the red, but that guage was going up! its never ever done that. so then i worked out well probably air bubble. bled the system just now by opening the bleed screw thing on the top hose. car running, heater on full. when was a nice flow of water and no bubbles i put bleed screw back on. temp guage only on 1/4, heater i cant tell if hot air or not, doesnt feel as hot as i think it should on a 37 degree day. but then i cannot tell as i dont judge heat well and with it being a warm day all the air feels warm LOL! it is only water in the system at the moment as i cannot afford to spend a fortune on coolant to then loose it all again if i need to pull thermostat off again. when it overheated before the heater was blowing very mildly warm air. i think it is warmer air now coming out as i can smell hot air LOL. Have i bled the system wrong? or is my new thermostat a dud one that i need to take back (it is britpart, should i take it back, get my money back and get genuine?)
please help folks im very sad my disco is not right. i miss it and need it like you would not believe. i do not like throwing up in the hot weather trying to drive a car with no air con to my medical appointments and being in more pain from twisting my pelvis in being in a smaller car when i struggle to climb out, disco it does not happen in!
what have i done wrong LOL?

also what coolant do you guys run? i know its meant to be OATS stuff, and red but what brands fit the bill?

2 things

1) take the thermostat out, put in a pot of hot water and make sure it opens at the right temperature
2) otherwise sounds like air in the system.
it helps if the car is pointing uphill.
when you had the bleed screw open, was the car at idle or did you raise the idle?
raising the idle helps ive found.

good plan thanks eevo! ill put it on an incline and try again! it was just idling, so ill try with some revs 2nd time round! will check thermostat first though

Hey Epic Dragon
I would not rule out a faulty temp sender also. But make sure there is NO air in the system. The best way to keep an eye on your engine temp reliably is to fit an engine watchdog TM2. I believe that these units now come combined with an engine saver low coolant alarm also. This is a digital display unit with a temp sensor you can mount to anywhere with a M6-M10 bolt, ie on the side of the head or "coolant in" port. I have used Nulon long life OAT coolant since its first coolant change no probs and a quality product.
Regards
Robbo

Originally Posted by Epic_Dragon

also what coolant do you guys run? i know its meant to be OATS stuff, and red but what brands fit the bill?

Nulon red. Flush using Nulon r40 or similar to neutralise old coolant and clean system out.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using AULRO mobile app

I think thermostat might be ok after all. Test drove and warmed ip to half way and sat there. So I ended up with that nulon coolant. The sensor sounds like a great idea. I cant remember if mine already has one already in it thats just not plugged in somewhere. Ill have a look. If not I shall be fitting one!

Well all was all going good then just driving temp guage went up slightly then down. Then few more kms started rising so as I pulled over power was lost no acceleration etc ia like it shut itself down. Turns out the little hose into where fill the radiator popped off so coolant all spat out so nothing left in cooling system. Have I just cooked my motor? Please say I havent. I think it all happened fast and it was shut down fast but I also know that with no water temp guage is not accuratw. Im waiting for dad to bring me water lol.