mice?

Greg_M

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2021
227
100
Vancouver Island
Here's that thread on fans I mentioned:

 

1of40

Well-known member
Oct 23, 2017
244
58
Va
This is interesting. The HG in mine was replaced by the PO so I don't believe that's my issue though I understand they could need replacement again at some point. Have you checked your fan? I only ask because I did and it seemed fine. But I've been under the hood quite a bit lately and noticed it spinning longer than I thought it should (or did the first time I checked). I've checked it several more times now and a bit less than half the time it comes to a reasonably quick stop while the rest it spins longer. I'm not familiar with the failure mechanism of these things but I don't like unpredictable mechanical parts. Thinking it has either failed, is failing, or will fail I searched for fan repairs here on Discoweb and there is an interesting thread ongoing right now. I wish it was as easy as ordering a replacement so I could tick that box. I can't see how it would matter but should I be checking the fan while the car is specifically hot or cold? I don't understand why sometimes it seems coupled and sometimes not.
I threw on a HD one made by Hayden and noticed a 2* difference driving under normal conditions so I assume it is working better than my non-HD one that’s 5-6 years old. I hate the power that’s lost running the HD unit, plus it loud as shit. I’m in the process of adding a manual override switch for the condenser fan to see if it’s of any help.
 

Greg_M

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2021
227
100
Vancouver Island
I threw on a HD one made by Hayden and noticed a 2* difference driving under normal conditions so I assume it is working better than my non-HD one that’s 5-6 years old. I hate the power that’s lost running the HD unit, plus it loud as shit. I’m in the process of adding a manual override switch for the condenser fan to see if it’s of any help.
Ok, you're way ahead of me I see. I'll be watching to see what the group agrees on.
 

p m

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Apr 19, 2004
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La Jolla, CA
www.3rj.org
I have a 200K mile GEMS 4.0 that's on all its original seals and gaskets. It too stays in the 180 to mid 190's in normal driving conditions but when it's under considerable load it will climb to 210-215. I'm thinking this is it telling me I am due for a HG job.
My D1's GEMS 4.0 used to run up to 219F under heavy load/hot conditions, before I had the radiator recored. I don't think it went beyond 212 since.
 
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Greg_M

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2021
227
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Vancouver Island
I can't see that helping really. At 195° a 165°, 175°, or 185° stat would all be open. Coolant is circulating so it's not stuck closed.
 

DiscoHasBeen

Well-known member
Aug 7, 2016
1,171
262
Indy
I could, but would likely hesitate to put a 25 yr old rad back in service anyway so I'd replace it at that point. I can't see the inside of course (fluid is clean and bright green [not orange though]) but I've been over the outside of it pretty good. No debris, dirt, brittle or bent fins, pin holes.
The car runs low 180's to low 190's normally. The low range uphill crawling was the first time I saw 200 degrees.
What's the electronic logic for the condenser fans? I haven't owned a vehicle with AC before and haven't tried it yet on this car. A switch to kick the fans on might help a bit.
I guess I'd ask what was the ambient air temperature? If it were say 50 I'd assume something may be wrong, If it were "101 in the shade" then probably acceptable. If I thought something was wrong my first guess would be poor flow inside a 20 yr old radiator.
 
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DiscoHasBeen

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Aug 7, 2016
1,171
262
Indy
Would have been 65 - 70 ambient.
OK, take this for WIW. Here on the golf course it has been upper 90's for a while. Guys bring the rough mowers in with debris clogging the radiator/hydraulic radiator. Also much debris clogging the cover to that area. They don't overheat. If your fan is working correctly common sense would lead one to believe there is a flow problem.
 

Flyfish

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Oct 29, 2004
1,402
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St. Louis
Would have been 65 - 70 ambient.
Wow, 211° when it was that cool out?

Seems like more than just a fc issue unless the fan isn’t spinning at all. Maybe a partially stuck closed t-stat, failing water pump or poor flow/clogging in general..
 

1of40

Well-known member
Oct 23, 2017
244
58
Va
Wow, 211° when it was that cool out?

Seems like more than just a fc issue unless the fan isn’t spinning at all. Maybe a partially stuck closed t-stat, failing water pump or poor flow/clogging in general..
I’ve heard, don’t know how true, tStats slowly fail so an older tStat could be operational but not at peak performance I guess.
 

Flyfish

Well-known member
Oct 29, 2004
1,402
212
52
St. Louis
I’ve heard, don’t know how true, tStats slowly fail so an older tStat could be operational but not at peak performance I guess.
Anything is possible, its hard to say. But what we know for sure is that something isn’t right.

Normal ambient temperature, steep grades and low range, (which means higher rpm’s and fan/water pump speeds)……. That sounds like every wheeling day I’ve had and he should be able to do that all day long If it’s 90° outside.

67BA6236-468F-46F9-A3BC-B77FCCE16F40.jpeg
34B0F62F-3CDF-4723-8DEA-094F2DD76097.jpeg
 
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terryjm1

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Jan 23, 2011
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I have a 96 D1 with a 4.0 GEMS. I purchased it knowing it was “getting hot” on longer runs with grade increases. It will idle all day and not get hot. PO replaced the fan clutch hoping that was the problem. It wasn’t. By the way, the gauge gives no indication it is getting hot. The only clue is a check engine light. To confirm it is getting too hot I hooked up my code reader and watched the temps. Like clockwork, it gets hot and the check engine light comes on after a few miles on the uphill climb. It cools back off on the way back down.

The radiator has around 150,000 miles on it. I doubt it has ever been replaced or serviced in any way.

I dont know the history of the engine but one head is really clean compared to the rest of the engine. I suspect one head gasket has been replaced or maybe both head gaskets and one head. Aside from getting hot the engine runs strong and surprisingly quiet.

I am about a week away from swapping in another radiator that has 55,000 miles of usage. I will report back when that job is done to see if anything has changed. I will also be replacing the water pump at the same time as it has a very light drip from the weep hole. I will be using a cardone rebuilt pump. I like the rebuilt as it is an OE pump with new seals and bearings. Cardone, in my experiences, have a reliable history. (I purchased it when rock auto ran a clearance on them.)

If I can find an old school radiator shop, I will see if I can get the removed one cleaned out. If not, it is worth about $45 here in scrap metal value. I prefer the original all copper and steel radiators.

Oh, and about the chewed hose. I have seen this from squirrels. (I have purchased a few parts vehicles over the years stored outdoors for long period that became the homes of squirrels. I suspect they are squirrels (maybe chipmunks) as they are very thorough at packing acorns. The last one I purchased they even ate the plug wires.

On a different note, I just replaced the water pump on my D1 with 300tdi. I have no idea how many miles were on the old pump. I purchased a “rebuilt” engine that did not include a new water pump. Puzzling... I purchased it from a UK seller that years ago sold a lot of 200tdi and 300tdi engines. I do not believe he still does. (Turbo was bad, injection pump bad, injectors bad, and the entire assembly was really greasy.) I feel fortunate the engine itself is good.

Three broken bolts later and the new pump is installed. Job took 3 hours half of which was extracting broken bolts.

I should have taken a photo of the backside of the water pump pulley. It was coated in very sticky rubbery tan/yellow substance I have a suspicion was stop leak that eventually failed to stop the leak.
 
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Greg_M

Well-known member
Dec 27, 2021
227
100
Vancouver Island
I have a 96 D1 with a 4.0 GEMS. .. it gets hot and the check engine light comes on

I am about a week away from swapping in another radiator that has 55,000 miles of usage. I will report back when that job is done to see if anything has changed. I will also be replacing the water pump at the same time as it has a very light drip from the weep hole. I will be using a cardone rebuilt pump. I like the rebuilt as it is an OE pump with new seals and bearings. Cardone, in my experiences, have a reliable history. (I purchased it when rock auto ran a clearance on them.)
Please do provide an update after the rad swap. This will very good information for me. I have the same Cardone water pump from Rock Auto as a spare.

My engine light didn't come on but perhaps 211 isn't hot enough for that? The gentleman who owned my D1 previously was retired from the military having been in charge of vehicle spares in Africa (he did tell me that the spares stocked for the Land Cruisers was largely maintenance/consumable items while list for the Land Rovers was much longer, more diverse and esoteric including knobs, door handles, pins, hinges and the like) and is mechanical and fastidious by nature as well as being maintenance trained. Going through the notes and receipts that he provided with the car I see receipts for replacement rad/heater hoses (including the one I was concerned could have rodent damage) as late as 2017/2018. I know he drove annually to Mexico for close to a decade prior to Covid in a loaded condition (roof tent, BMW GS1200 motorcycle on a trailer hitch carrier, etc.).

I would like to get this sorted out.
 

terryjm1

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2011
1,486
375
Please do provide an update after the rad swap. This will very good information for me. I have the same Cardone water pump from Rock Auto as a spare.

My engine light didn't come on but perhaps 211 isn't hot enough for that? The gentleman who owned my D1 previously was retired from the military having been in charge of vehicle spares in Africa (he did tell me that the spares stocked for the Land Cruisers was largely maintenance/consumable items while list for the Land Rovers was much longer, more diverse and esoteric including knobs, door handles, pins, hinges and the like) and is mechanical and fastidious by nature as well as being maintenance trained. Going through the notes and receipts that he provided with the car I see receipts for replacement rad/heater hoses (including the one I was concerned could have rodent damage) as late as 2017/2018. I know he drove annually to Mexico for close to a decade prior to Covid in a loaded condition (roof tent, BMW GS1200 motorcycle on a trailer hitch carrier, etc.).

I would like to get this sorted out.
I decided to start the job today. Unfortunately, I discovered my spare radiator is for a manual trans and doesn’t have the ports for the automatic trans fluid cooling. So, I just ordered a new all aluminum 4 row radiator. I am also contemplating replacing the front crank seal as it is much easier to remove the crank pulley with everything out.

The water pump bearing sounded “gravel“ like and had a good amount of play. I am surprised the leak was only a drip. It would not have been long before the pulley/fan broke loose.

The major win today was no broken bolts and no real surprises..Well, one surprise... the ports for the heater core were very corroded, so much a good portion of one of the ports was rotted away. I haven’t seen that previousLy. I am guessing someone put the wrong antifreeze in at some point. If it does not get worse, I think it will be ok.

I had some blue color antifreeze. I will go back with the regular universal stuff.

One of the long bolts that go through the timing cover to the block was very rusty. It was touch and go but with a lot of careful back and forth movement it came out.

I will post back when I get the radiator installed. I also replaced all the cooling hoses as well as the power steering hoses. I have a large power steering fluid leak and it is so messy it is almost impossible to know exactly where it is leaking. The hoses all looked original (still had pinch clamps) so if it doesn’t solve the leak problem, it is still good preventive maintenance. I think the leak is from the hoses at the reservoir based on the mess under it. I am very hopeful it is not the steering gearbox.

I also replaced the tensioner bearing. It also had the “gravel” feeling. For less than $10, it just makes sense.
 
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mlnnc

Well-known member
Mar 23, 2008
266
31
Charlotte
Back to mice.

A few years ago I noticed what looked like little nibbles taken out of a bar of Ivory soap sitting at a utility sink in the basement. Had me scratching my head, since I'd never had a mouse problem. Then, I noticed what looked like mouse droppings nearby. A quick online search taught me that mice are attracted to the fat in the soap.

I bought a mouse trap, baited it with a little cheese, and sure enough after a day or two there was one less mouse on the planet.

I moved soon after that so I don't know whether or not there are still mice getting in.
 

terryjm1

Well-known member
Jan 23, 2011
1,486
375
I decided to start the job today. Unfortunately, I discovered my spare radiator is for a manual trans and doesn’t have the ports for the automatic trans fluid cooling. So, I just ordered a new all aluminum 4 row radiator. I am also contemplating replacing the front crank seal as it is much easier to remove the crank pulley with everything out.

The water pump bearing sounded “gravel“ like and had a good amount of play. I am surprised the leak was only a drip. It would not have been long before the pulley/fan broke loose.

The major win today was no broken bolts and no real surprises..Well, one surprise... the ports for the heater core were very corroded so much a good portion of one of the ports was rotted away. I haven’t seen that previousLy. I am guessing someone put the wrong antifreeze in at some point. If it does not get worse, I think it will be ok.

I had some blue color antifreeze. I will go back with the regular universal stuff.

One of the long bolts that go through the timing cover to the block was very rusty. It was touch and go but with a lot of careful back and forth movement it came out.

I will post back when I get the radiator installed. I also replaced all the cooling hoses as well as the power steering hoses. I have a large power steering fluid leak and it is so messy it is almost impossible to know exactly where it is leaking. The hoses all looked original (still had pinch clamps) so if it doesn’t solve the leak problem, it is still good preventive maintenance. I think the leak is from the hoses at the reservoir based on the mess under it. I am very hopeful it is not the steering gearbox.

I also replaced the tensioner bearing. It also had the “gravel” feeling. For less than $10, it just makes sense.
I finished the water pump and radiator replacement today. Good news! The problem is completely resolved. It was getting up to 215-220ish on long uphill runs and giving me 3 trouble codes when that happened.

When I completed the job I took it on about 20 miles of long uphill runs. The hottest it reached was 192 on those runs. It briefly jumped to 194 when I stopped to turn around and after a very short time going back downhill settled in at 187, occasionally going to 185. No return of the check engine light as well.

Picture to prove 😉 it below.
 

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