New guy, with a weird issue!!! Please help!

[jcat]

Hey all, glad I finally joined.


About 2 months ago I bought an 01 disco II with 129k on it.


It now has about 132k, and i'm getting ready to do the next oil change. High mileage, i know. But the guy that owned it before me took excellent care of it from day 1.

The truck has had the 3 amigos since i bought it, and I don't have the cash to shell out for an ABS modulator, so that's staying the way it is.


the problem i'm talking about here, has just occurred within the last 2 days. I noticed last night that I started driving, and the water temp gauge was reading at the top of the normal range (not quite in the red yet). I pulled over, waited a minute, the needle started to drop so i started easing it back up to around 50mph, the air started to cool it down more. I got it home, bled the pressure off the expansion tank, which bubbled up through the coolant. Then, the coolant drained somewhere, but wasnt leaking out. I started the truck back up with the tank cap off, and the coolant kept coming in and out, i assume due to the action of the thermostat. The engine and radiator pipes were not hotter than normal operating temp. There is no coolant leaking outside of where it should be. Little oil around the valve cover seals but nothing major.

the same thing happened this morning, but then was fine the whole 31 miles to work. Then, on the way home, the needle almost hit the red. I pulled over and shut it down immediately, waited 5min and turned the key to accesory. the temp needle was dead in the middle.

I had the heat cranking, drawing as much as i could off the engine, and the air was coming out cold for a while, and then got hot.

Since i bought it, even when the temp gauge read in the middle, the heat was not warm at all.

Is it temp sensor? Thermostat? Both? I'll be changing the oil tomorrow so I'll be praying there's no coolant in it (headgasket, i know). What else could it be? I figured i could bleed some air out if it was there from the bottle, but should I remove the shroud and do it from the radiator cap? The fan is functioning properly btw.

[jcat]

BUMP! cmon guys, help a brother out?

[kencary]

Overheating could be due to lots of things, but it these engines are known for blowing headgaskets, you should check before it gets worse.

One think to look for is is excessive bubbling in the coolant when you rev the engine. That is one sign of a leaking head gasket. Also look for oil in the water. Sometimes a headgasket can leak oil into the water under pressure yet not have water in the oil.

If it is a badly blown headgasket, you will see it right away with a compression test. If you have 2 cyl next to each other with low compression, chances are you have a blown headgasket.

[jcat]

the coolant doesnt bubble when the engine is running, it just comes into the bottle for a few seconds, then drains back out.

when I bled the pressure off with the cap (engine hot) it bubbled and the level went up, then the cap was completely off and it drained out again.

If it was headgasket, I'd see the engine running weird no? Pinging etc?


The coolant seemed fine, bright red and no oil in it, which i would imagine would be kinda brown since it's been about 2800 since my last change.

[hafaday]

u aint my brother














just kiddin man.

kinda sounds like your antifreeze is low, if the heat never really worked. and now its finally catching up with you. fill it up and bleed the system, there is a certain way that ya have to do it.

1. down load this.
2. then read the cooling section (adjustments). it tells you how to do it, plus the manual is good to have and a good read

http://www.landroverresource.com/doc...hop_Manual.pdf

[jcat]

ha, thanks man. this will probably get done tomorrow along with the oil change.


specific coolant? I'd neeed to buy it at autozone to avoid 15 miles to the nearest rover dealer.

[hafaday]

if red is in, go red. you don't want to mix them. and i'm starting with the easy sutff first in case anybody asks

[jcat]

Originally Posted by hafaday

if red is in, go red. you don't want to mix them. and i'm starting with the easy sutff first in case anybody asks

so red being which specific coolant (i know certain cars are supposed to have certain ones, what does the LR take?)

[hafaday]

this is out of that manual you should have down loaded, but also ck your user manual that should have come with your truck

Anti-freeze
Use Havoline Extended Life Coolant (XLC), or any
ethylene glycol based anti-freeze (containing no
methanol) with only Organic Acid Technology (OAT)
corrosion inhibitors, to protect the cooling system
CAUTION: No other anti-freeze should be used
with Havoline Extended Life Coolant.
The cooling system should be drained, flushed and
refilled with the correct amount of anti-freeze solution
at the intervals given on the Service Maintenance
Check Sheet.
After filling with anti-freeze solution, attach a warning
label to a prominent position on the vehicle stating
the type of anti-freeze contained in the cooling
system to ensure that the correct type is used for
topping-up.

[hafaday]

not trying to be an a$$, just want ya to read a little bit. some forget to do that

[jcat]

well, i did sort of an abridged version of the manual's process for lack of tools and time. Here's what I did:


Undo filler cap
Undo reservoir from bracket
pull hose out of lugs
remove bleed screw
wedge dunkin donuts cup underneath hose as a fluid catch
mix up the coolant, lift reservoir and start filling
air blows out of bleed screw, then steady stream so i stop pouring.
continue to hold reservoir, and *try* in the dark to fill bleed screw
replace bleed screw, put reservoir back in the bracket
fill reservoir to the cold fill line (truck was kinda warm but no big deal)
start truck with reservoir cap off, let run for a few minutes with heat on high at defrost and legs
shut truck off, replace reservoir cap, start truck up and let run a few minutes more



i let the truck cool down, then went out and started it back up. took a little longer to get to operating temp this time, but after a few minutes i had blazing hot air coming from the vents, and the motor ran cooler than before according to the gauge.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the info, saved me a potential top end job.

[spiderfreak80]

Originally Posted by kencary

Overheating could be due to lots of things, but it these engines are known for blowing headgaskets, you should check before it gets worse.

One think to look for is is excessive bubbling in the coolant when you rev the engine. That is one sign of a leaking head gasket. Also look for oil in the water. Sometimes a headgasket can leak oil into the water under pressure yet not have water in the oil.

If it is a badly blown headgasket, you will see it right away with a compression test. If you have 2 cyl next to each other with low compression, chances are you have a blown headgasket.

Ok...you got me scared... I have bubbling in my resevoir, but it is coming from the hose that goes over to the throttle body... Normal ?? No ?? It pretty much does it all the time. No heater issues or temp issues... 04 Disco with 69K

[yubert]

Even though you added more coolant, you might want to replace your thermostat. It's a cheap repair, the part costs $20 to $25 and considering your mileage it might good preventive management. And seeing that your high temperature was intermittent, your thermostat might be sticking.

[DiscoDream2]

Adding coolant helps but what is the REAL problem, why did you have to add anything...? Keep an eye on it it you keep adding, there is a leak...

[Philnerd]

Originally Posted by yubert

you might want to replace your thermostat. It's a cheap repair, the part costs $20 to $25 and considering your mileage it might good preventive management. And seeing that your high temperature was intermittent, your thermostat might be sticking.

I'll second that, our 2000 needed a new one at around 106K. Was causing intermittent overheating. Get a genuine one too, no point trying to save money on a $25 part that's so critical.