Keeping Disco cool

Submitted: Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:17

ThreadID: 9293 Views:1752 Replies:8 FollowUps:3

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MartyB

Hi all,
Could you give me some advise on keeping my disco cool.
I recently bought an early 94 3.9l V8 manual discovery. Seems to be a good car but am having problems keeping it cool.
Half way home from buying it the temp gauge was on 3/4. Stopped & let it cool down & continued home.
I rang the local landrover shop and was told that these vehicles have a problem with castings from the motor gradually blocking the radiator & the only fix was to have the radiator tanks removed, the radiator flushed out & the tanks reinstalled.
Went to the local radiator shop & he though this sounded like bull. He flushed the radiator while in the vehicle, removed & tested the thermostat and had me take it for a drive & check that the fan had gripped. Plus new Natrad brand coolant.
Vehicle still got hot if I push it (3/4 on the gauge) so I removed the radiator & there was a fair bit of leaves etc between the rad & condensor. I hosed this out & reinstalled the radiator.
I also checked the ignition timing while I had the fan & shroud removed. This was out so I adjusted it. Only problem my manual states 2deg BTDC for non catalist & 6deg BTDC with catalist. I couldn't see a catalist conveter so I set it to 2deg. Is this correct??
As a result it still runs the same. Slightly over half for normal town driving, 3/4 if I push it. What would you suggest the next thing I should try? Only things I can think of is have the tanks removed & flushed or just replace the radiator.
Any suggestions appreciated. Fraser Island is so close but I am not game to go over without the cooling sorted out.

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Reply By: Member - Ross - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:33

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:33

Marty

I had a 95 model and it had no catalytic converter .. if that helps. I've never heard about the castings story either. Had the top tank on mine repaired earlier this year and the radiator bloke said the core was OK.

Prior to that I did have a slight weep from the head gasket which meant I was losing coolant with subsequent heating probs. Check around the heads for any sign and keep an eye on coolant level.

No other suggestions at this stage.
Fidei defensor

Rosco

AnswerID: 40920

Follow Up By: Member - Ross - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 07:50

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 07:50

P.S. Also check the radiator overflow tank. If it's black plastic they were inclined to split at the seam and only weep under pressure. The newer ones are light brown where they overcame the problem.Fidei defensor

Rosco

FollowupID: 303474

Reply By: Truckster (Vic) - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:34

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:34

Only things I can think of is have the tanks removed & flushed or just replace the radiator.

thats probably a good idea eh, its the only thing left, except starting to replace waterpumps, and hoses, rad cap, thermostat, etc

Getting a full engine flush would also help...

Good luck...

AnswerID: 40921

Reply By: Member - Eric- Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:40

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 00:40

I had a similar problem around 5 months ago , ended up been the head leaking gasses into the cooling system . Give it a tk test , and also get the CO sniffer out and place it over the radiator to ditect any co coming out of the cooling systemVenus Bay

AnswerID: 40922

Reply By: Andrew - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 08:36

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 08:36

Hello Marty

I'd try Eric's suggestion first then find someone with one of those remote temperature guns like they use for testing display fridge temperatures. They also use them for testing brake temperatures on the side of the road. And some of the radiator repaireres have them because they can aim them at different parts of the rasiator core and work out wether the coolant is flowing properly. If part of the core is too cool they know that there is a blockage.

Assuming you have covered all the basics like leaks and faulty radiator caps it is woth checking that the thermostat is opening at the correct temperature, too low and too high can both cause problems and finally check that when the gauge says hot that it really is hot, gauges are often inaccurate.

regards

A

AnswerID: 40943

Reply By: Dave from Fraser Coast 4WD Club - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 10:34

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 10:34

Where are you MartyB??

I know some very clever people!

AnswerID: 40951

Reply By: Willem - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 12:01

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 12:01

Is your viscous fan working correctly?

I have similar problems on two of my vehicles. The Valiant does the same thing with the temp guage and after going through every conceivable check, I have discovered it is a faulty temp guage connection behind the dash.

The Nissan's oil pressure guage always lay in the red denoting no pressure. The sender is rusted in to the block and I did not want to break it and re-tap the thread so I disconnected the wire. End of problem.

Some times the fault is something simple...Good luck

Cheers,
Willem

Always going somewhere

AnswerID: 40958

Reply By: MartyB - Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 14:08

Tuesday, Dec 23, 2003 at 14:08

Thanks everyone for your replies.

Dave,
I am in Maryborough. How do I go about contacting you?

Marty.

AnswerID: 40965

Follow Up By: MartyB - Wednesday, Dec 24, 2003 at 21:29

Wednesday, Dec 24, 2003 at 21:29

Hi all,
Just to let you know, I rang the local radiator shop & was quoted $88 to remove one tank & clean it out properly.
Amazingly I dropped it off Tuesday afternoon & have it back Wednesday afternoon.
Radiator had a lot of mud like stuff blocking the bottom quarter of it.
It is now all cleaned out & ready to refit. This should fix the problem.

Who said I would not have the car ready for the Chrisy holidays.

Marty.

FollowupID: 303626

Reply By: volvofh12 - Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 at 01:37

Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 at 01:37

Hi Marty,

Just wondering how you got on. Have a similar problem with my 93 discovery

AnswerID: 41289

Follow Up By: MartyB - Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 at 10:58

Tuesday, Dec 30, 2003 at 10:58

Hi,
Car now runs with the temp gauge on 1/2. Which I assume is where it is supposed to. Yesterday I did about 300k with some low range soft sand driving. No problems at all.
All up cost was $88 plus $22 for coolant. I removed & replaced the radiator myself. Shop was Maryborough Radiator repairs.
They removed the tank, cleaned out the radiator, acid bathed the radiator, soldered up some small leaks, replaced the tank & repainted the radiator.
I definately recommend this shop.

from Marty.

FollowupID: 303835