cooling system preventative maintenance

[Tugela]

I bought a D1 a little over a year ago and the previous owner replaced the head gaskets. The live data from my reader shows that the cooling system is struggling in some situations, like sustained climbs. I have acquired a collection of new parts to install to improve cooling performance, including:

• radiator
• water pump & gasket
• fan clutch
• thermostat

I have replaced a radiator and thermostat before and replacing the fan clutch is straightforward, however I'm curious if there's anything I should prepare for in terms of the water pump. Special materials needed? Special tools? One piece of advice I have already received is to use thread sealer on a couple of water pump bolts. Hoses are in good shape so I'm not planning to replace those.

Anything else I should plan for while I'm at it? Tips for access, removal, replacement? Any suggestions to make the job easier based on experience? I will be studying RAVE before and during the project.

 

[kk88rrc]

Anything else I should plan for while I'm at it?

Maybe new bolts for the WP. Both times I've done it, I've broken a couple either removing or installing.

 

[ERover82]

K-seal, prevents leaks on the trail.

 

[luckyjoe]

If your going that deep I'd just do hoses and t-stat too. Then you have a baseline starting point.

 

[jymmiejamz]

Just make sure you put some kind of thread sealant on the long water pump bolts on the driver's side. Pretty much anything will work such as Right Stuff, Loctite, or pipe dope.

 

[p m]

If your thermostat doesn't have a jiggle pin, drill a 1/8" hole in the flange near the centersection, and install it with that hole at 12 o'clock position. Makes a world of difference in bleeding the air from the system.

 

[Tugela]

If your thermostat doesn't have a jiggle pin, drill a 1/8" hole in the flange near the centersection, and install it with that hole at 12 o'clock position. Makes a world of difference in bleeding the air from the system.

Any chance you can post/link to a photo of this? I think I can visualize it but would be helpful to have a pic.

 

[p m]

Here's a couple of images of D1-specific thermostat on Amazon with the jiggle pin:

If yours doesn't have one, drill a hole where one is supposed to be. If it does, I'd consider tearing the jiggle pin out.
Install with the hole up.

http://www.stant.com/index.php/english/products/consumer-products/thermostats/faqs/

 

[Tugela]

Perfect, thank you.

 

[jymmiejamz]

In my experience, some of the aftermarket thermostats don't fit very tightly in the housing which can make it slightly annoying to install. I always just use a Genuine one since they are cheap and reliable.

 

[p m]

In my experience, some of the aftermarket thermostats don't fit very tightly in the housing which can make it slightly annoying to install. I always just use a Genuine one since they are cheap and reliable.

True.

Also, keep in mind that using 180F or lower thermostat does not lower your maximum coolant temperatures, but it increases the range of temperature swings. It is not necessarily good for the engine; I chose 180F thermostat for a single reason to lower the average temperature and pressure in the cooling system.

 

[Trent and his Rover]

Our D1 required a new coolant fitting on the casting featuring injectors/thermostat. The fittings on the bottom of the plenum also aged poorly. Both locations had corrosion. Removed the old fittings and tapped.

 

[salvvia]

Use non silica/phosphate coolant it is less likely to attcack the metals also if you can find a cathode for the top plug on the radiator
i think oreillys brand coolant is good just check the back of the jug it will tell

 

[Tugela]

This morning I took everything apart just fine and mess-free: radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, and water pump. Had new water pump gasket on, was torquing bolts to RAVE spec, and on the final bolt...SNAP. Of course, a long bolt, the one on the passenger side. The first centimeter or so of the threaded end sheared off. Just the tip, as some might point out. There is no re-using the rest of the bolt at this point, the threads don't grab on anything.

No, I didn't buy new water pump bolts and am now paying the price for my lack of vision. Any suggestions for rescuing the little bit stuck in the front cover housing? Is a bolt extractor going to remedy this? I'm a little hesitant messing with this in an awkward location and am leaning towards taking the truck to my friendly indie Rover shop to fix. Free time is something I don't have a lot of at the moment.

EDIT: after looking at a few bolt extractor kits online, none look like they are long enough to reach the broken piece. It's probably 4-5" inside the housing and the extractor bits all look shorter than that. I don't think any of my drill bits would even reach it.

Any suggestions?

Radiator is out, so I have a little room in the front of the engine compartment.

 

[JohnB]

Don't think its worth trying to drill into it unless you are really good at this kind of stuff. Do you think that pulling the timing cover off would give you the ability to just use vice grips on the bolt.
That's a lot of work but that's all I'd do since I've had horrible luck with other means. Best fun I had was breaking a drill bit in the stud. Little hard to drill into a broken bit!

 

[rovercanus]

If it's 4 or 5" in the housing try threading the hole and using a shorter bolt. Other than that, if you try to extract it use a left hand drill bit. Most of the time you will extract the broken bit just drilling it out with one of these.

 

[jymmiejamz]

You need to remove the front cover to get the bolt out since it threads into the block. It likely will come out easily as the bolts are very soft. The problem is that the bolts deteriorate over time and will break if you follow the toque spec.

 

[Leadvagas]

I am embarking on a similar project, my "Back from the dead D1" any body got a list of fastener sizes and length for water pump replacement?

 

[salvvia]

Deep Creep penetrate oil has worked well for me on removal of bolts just have to let it soak its as good a kroil

 

[Tugela]

That might be helpful for freeing seized hardware. My problem is that the broken piece of bolt is deep inside the timing cover housing. The cover is going to have to come off to access it. The threads are clean and covered in sealant so removal will be easy. It's getting to it that's the pain in the ass.