Thread: Series IIa LWB 1969 Land Rover Overheating!!! Help

1. Check the ignition timing is correct.

2. Buy an infra-red thermometer and check the temperature of the radiator core; if it is working properly it will be cooler at the bottom when the engine is running all the way across the core.

3. If both of the above seem OK, check that the temperature sensor is the right one and working.

Unlikely that the water pump is not pumping, but one way to test, is to crank the engine when cold with the top hose disconnected and look for flow.

If you inspect the oil and it is white, suspect that the head gasket is leaking, or that there is a crack in the head, or block,

Cheers Charlie

Cheers Charlie.

Oil is good, not emulsified, so that is why I am thinking it may be the pump? or the sensor sending a wrong signal or maybe the radiator is blocked.... but thanks I do have an infrared thermometer will be testing that tomorrow and yes will see if there is flow from the pump.

Yep, as mentioned, get an IR thermometer and check to see if it really is overheating first. It may be just the gauges not reading right - this can be due to an incorrect sensor or a dodgy earth.

My 101 has both a mechanical temp sensor and an electric one - the electric one reads 15 degrees higher when the headlights are on but they are both the same when the lights are off.

Could be nothing wrong with the engine. If it really is over heating, the water pump is easy to remove - I've seeen the pump vanes corroded off a Holden 6 pump before. If the radiator is not blocked (internally or externally) then there are only a few things it can be.

To test for cracks or blown head gasket you need to do a TKO test on the radiator water , it will detect exhaust gasses in the radiator water. It is done by removing the radiator cap & drain some water out od the radiator down to the fins , you dont want to suck the water out with the pump.. Run engine up to opporating temp then put the hand opporated vacume pump in the filler neck while engine is running . The pump will extract any exhaust gas out of the radiator water . If the is gas the dye in the pump will change colour. Then it is only a matter of shaking the pump & the dye will change back to tis origional colour .
Have you checked the cap is holding pressure & a quick way to check the radiator is not restricted is to pull the dottom radiator hose off the fadiator with the cap off. The water should rush out if it has any blockage it will come out slowly. Also what condition are the radiator fins.
The other thing is it getting hot or is the gauge reading hot, the sender could be faulty.

You live on the wrong side of the country , if you were in Brisbane I would do it for you. The TKO T
testers can be bought on Ebay for under 100 dollars.

If you look up combustion leak detector at Repco there is a video on there that shows you how to use it. They may also be available at Super Crap. When I worked as a motor mechanic , once we bought one of these it was only a 5 minute job to tell if exhaust gasses were getting into the radiator.
We have one in our tool kit for the race cars so if we are having over heating problems we can eliminate the Head & gasket 1st up before wasting our time looking for other things. The beauty of it , the dye can be used over & over again providing it doesn't get radiator water in it.

These engines very rarely overheat unless there is something obvious, such as badly retarded spark, lack of coolant, loose fan belt, clogged up radiator (both water and air) etc.

Failing anything obvious like these, I would make sure using a separate instrument such as an IR sensor, that it really is overheating. If it is not, the most likely suspect is the earth on the voltage stabiliser. If this is the issue, an indicator is that the fuel gauge reading will change according to whether the battery is charging or not.

John

With the thermostat out you will be able to see if the water pump is working by looking for flow in the radiator with the cap removed. Do this before the engine gets warm.
Cheaper Holden water pumps have a pressed steel impeller and this can rust away to nothing.

Cheers! Did the IR thermometer reading, the top of the radiator after 5 minutes running, was 97 and as i went down to the core it kept going down from 45 to 31 at the very bottom of the core. which was the outside temp at the time. so I do not think its over heating then, right?