Land Rover Repair: 2001 LR Disco II died while driving, engine management system, engine coolant

Question
I just purchased last month my first LR Disco II with 88K miles and it has run beautifully so far, except last night after driving it about 60 miles round trip when I pulled up in front of my house and slowed down it just died and wouldn't restart. No warning lights or anything indicated any problems. I read through the manual and tried the fuel cut off switch and it sounded like it clicked when i pushed it, but it still didn't restart.
When I came out the next morning and tried it, it started right up and ran fine, I pulled it into the garage, I noticed the engine coolant was low in the resevoir. Does this LR have a overheating safety cutoff on it that would shut it down and prevent restarting until it cools off?
Thanks John

Answer
Hi Daniel,

there are coolant temperature sensors that send reading to the engine management system to establish the best possible setup for the engine to perform.  One of many sensors.  IF you notice a loss of coolant and the engine has stalled - it could be that you need a new headgasket.  Overnight, perhaps the coolant that mixed within the combustion chamber has had time to evaporate or burn off.  Get the repair done quickly as these engines have a known problem within the cyclinder sleeve.  Overheating can cause the sleeve to drop and this will ruin the engine...$$$$...ouch.

If sensors fail, there are default settings that the ECU uses to allow you to 'limp home'.  You should be able to read some of these codes that were probably triggered by your recent event.  Some auto parts shops do this free as a customer courtesy.  Advance Auto, PEP boys, ...  of course the dealer will do this too, but they don't do it for free.  I think they'll do coffee though. :)

Best of luck,

JohnMc