Melted Thermostat Housing Bung or Blown Head Gasket ?

After having bought a 300Tdi through Blackforest. Harmonic balancer wasn't tensioned properly, then the engine overheated. After much arguing and about 3 months without our car the vehicle was picked up, brought back to whyalla and the water pump and bung in the side of block was leaking. Local Natrad replaced with brass ones and fixed the leaks at there expense but would not buy a T-Shirt from this lot. (The dealer principal not once responded to my emails to them or called. Too busy hiding behind his staff)

Have since fitted a coolant alarm. Good invistment IMHO.

Have been happy with all the help and service (paid and unpaid) I have recieved from Lynda's Landrover's They are down the road opposite the Parafield Airport Gates.

Ex Army mechanic. The younger mechanic that works there is also very good and they are straight up. Great help sourcing parts when they don't have them.

For those who aren't aware prestige at walkerville is the same owner. Amazing Land rover are happy to have people like this represent them.

The previous owner of my vehicle when I contacted them won't deal with them again either.

rick 130
A 300 tdi has a problem with overheating caused by the thermostat not opening, exaggerated in hot climates.
removal of the thermostat does not lower the coolant temperature but does slow down the rate of which the temperature rises.
the reduction in power if any will not be noticed in a landrover 300 tdi it isnt a performance vehicle.
your third point is a contradiction, you say the engine needs a certain amount of restriction for optimum coolant flow, you cant restrict something to get the optimum out of it!!
you are correct in saying check air flow and possible radiator blockage , but a restriction in the exhaust will cause power loss not overheating, and as for the type of coolant used ‘its a landrover`
as you also say a thermostat is only a temperature regulator nothing else, but if its not working due to the design of the engine take it out and save yourself hundreds of dollars !
As I said in my first post it has been tried and tested very successfully in African temperatures.
My 300 tdi has been to cape town and back through temperatures you wouldnt believe,
its now clocked up 175000 miles, with its original head gasket.
It passes its MOT emissions test each year which are pretty strict with no problem ( with the ERG valve removed(another thing you dont need)
Im not saying to people to remove their thermostats in any other engine but its a bloody good “band aid” for a 300 tdi

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Originally posted by kie4
your third point is a contradiction, you say the engine needs a certain amount of restriction for optimum coolant flow, you cant restrict something to get the optimum out of it!!

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fluid dynamics... he doesnt mean it in terms of gallons per hour he means it in terms of the coolant flowing thru all parts of the block. with out the restriction of the thermostat aperture the coolant takes the path of least resistance, and that usually means the rear end of the block gets reduced flow. a four cylinder block usually wont be affected by the removal anywhere near as badly as a six or eight cylinder.

the size of the hole in the thermostat fine tunes the flows and therefore the pressure of the flow (not the preasure of the sealed system), which ensures the coolant reaches the back of the block in the correct amounts.

by all means take the temperature controller out but do not remove the restrictor, that hole in the center is that size for a reason.

thanks Inc, you said it far more elegantly than I did.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by incisor

fluid dynamics... he doesnt mean it in terms of gallons per hour he means it in terms of the coolant flowing thru all parts of the block. with out the restriction of the thermostat aperture the coolant takes the path of least resistance, and that usually means the rear end of the block gets reduced flow. a four cylinder block usually wont be affected by the removal anywhere near as badly as a six or eight cylinder.

the size of the hole in the thermostat fine tunes the flows and therefore the pressure of the flow (not the preasure of the sealed system), which ensures the coolant reaches the back of the block in the correct amounts.

by all means take the temperature controller out but do not remove the restrictor, that hole in the center is that size for a reason.

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There was a series of excellent technical articles on cooling and cooling systems in the U.S. magazine "Skinned Knuckles". I will look for them and get my computer literate son to scan them onto this thread. Offenhauser racing engines always had a four branch water manifold (looks like an extractor exhaust system) taking the hot water out of the top of the engine above each cylinder. We used to drill and tap the cylinder heads of side-plate Holdens used in speedway midgets above each exhaust port and fabricate a six branch manifold to take the water out and back to the top tank. Chrysler side valve engines used to have a water distribution tube in the block behind the water pump to evenly distribute the coolant all the way to the rearmost cylinders.