QuestionJohn,
I pray to the heavens that you will be able to help me. I'll try to keep it as short as possible, but, on the other hand, you need to know all of the facts.
OK. 1997 Land Rover Discovery Tdi, 2.5 liter engine. First, I had a leak in the radiator. This lasted for several months and I dumped in loads of radiator leak stop during this time, always making sure the water level was topped up.
My wife drove it for about twenty minutes when the temp gauge was in the red.
What happened after this was that the engine would over heat when driven for about 5-10 miles even though it was topped up with water. I always kept the heating fan blasting just to give me an indication of when the engine would start to overheat. You see, the heating would blow out hot air for a while and then it would turn cool a few minutes before the temp gauge would start to go into the red.
I would then have to pull over as soon as I could, remove the overflow cap. Water and air would flow out of the partially unscrewed cap. Then I would fill the overflow reservoir with water.
Anyway, I picked up a used radiator and thermostat housing, bought a new thermostat and water pump and had a local guy install it all. He flushed and bled the system too, even though there is still some residue of radiator leak stop present in the water in the overflow tank.
Guess what?
It's behaving exactly as before.
The local mechanic took out the thermostat hoping that would correct the problem, but to no avail.
I've been all around the net and talked with a bunch of people who live near me.
Some say it's the head gasket. That it's warped and needs to be removed and machined down. Others say it is an air lock. Still others say there is a blockage somewhere.
Just a bit of additional info; The top hose that goes into the thermostat housing gets very hot and pressurized. The other large hoses are only warm.
Wow. What more can I say. Getting in and out of town takes ages. Please help if you can.
David
AnswerHi David,
The possible causes are that you have a blockage somewhere, the coolant temp sensor is faulty, headgasket is blown.
Have you had the system pressure tested? You could try buying a temp sensor and swapping out the old one. Salvage part from wrecker to save big bucks: www.car-part.com
Could also be (and I suspect this) the heater core (matrix). This would cause a blockage and overheat engine. Do you have sufficient interior heat? Is there an odour? Do you hear water sounds?
Pressure testing system will reveal these faults.
Don't let this last too long. If you drive in extreme heat conditions, you'l damage the engine. The cylinder sleeves will drop (one or all) and then the engine is ruined. No fix. OUCH!!!!
Best of luck,
JohnMc
