By Scott H on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 01:20 am: Edit

I was off road doing a hill climb in low 2nd gear for about a mile...it was hot (90 degrees) and dusty..and I got to the top and looked at the temp guage and it was close to being in the red (oh the AC was on for about 1/2 the climb). I immediatly turned it off opened the hood and let it cool. I know how finicky these things can be if they get hot and was a bit worried. Once I got the thing home and let it cool a couple of hours I found the water was about a liter low, the oil was not.... My questions are:

Would a liter make that big a difference?.If so, the problem is solved.

If not does this happend often? I have had my disco in the desert before offroading, where the temp was 100+ and no cooling problem.

If the liter wouldn't make a difference what could it be?

Any help is appreciated.

thanks
Scott H

By Jon Williams (Jonw) on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 09:36 am: Edit

It could make some difference, or it could not. But since you had the A/C on it may have been just working too hard. It's unusual that it would happen, though (at least in my experience, and I've done some major heavy work in hot conditions). Check your fan clutch. Sometimes when the A/C is on, the condenser fans trick the fan clutch into believing there's enough cool air so that the clutch releases the fan. I can imagine that would be inconvenient in a high-heat, heavy loading situation. But a liter is only a little more than a quart, and I doubt a quart would make a significant difference, but then again I always make sure mine is full.

By Ken Beck on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 09:48 am: Edit

Check the A/C electric fan from the front, when your a/c is on, the fans should be turning. However, don't be foul by a slow turning A/C fan, the suction air from the mechanic fan is just enough to turn the electric fan.... misleading you to think the electric fan is spinning. My Disco would only over heat with a/c on in a hot day.

Ken Beck

By MA on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 11:29 am: Edit

I think that it was your radiator clogged up by dust. I had the same problem a couple of months ago. Just go in there and spray it with a garden hose(not too much pressure, give it a while to dry off). Another solution to this is to turn on your heater(as crazy as it sounds) and that will flush out the heat from your engine and bring it inside the car. Although you would be burning your ass off, your Rover would be safe! The a/c might have contributed to this problem a little bit.

By James Gall on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 08:24 am: Edit

Check your water pump. I had the exact same problem.

By kevkor on Wednesday, June 20, 2001 - 03:17 pm: Edit

When ALL else fails replace radiator if its old. Worked for me.

By Scott Bowden on Sunday, June 24, 2001 - 12:26 pm: Edit

The core of my radiator was clogged. Pulled it out, $65.00 later the radiator shop rodded and cleaned it, works fine now. Cheaper than a new one and just as good.

By Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) on Monday, June 25, 2001 - 08:34 pm: Edit

My '95 Disc. was doing the exact same thing earlier this spring -- turned out to be a bad thermostat -- easily fixed with $10 part.

By scott h on Sunday, July 01, 2001 - 06:22 pm: Edit

Just wanted to follow up. I actually pulled the thermostat the other day. I put it in a pot of hot water and brought it to boil to see if it would open...it didn't so I went in search of anew one. Problem was I was up at my girlfriends parents in the middle of no where and couldn't find a replacement so I cut the spring on the thermostat and put it back in, in the hopes that this would allow the thing open easier and cool down.

Well it didn't...but here is the question. I may have put the damn thing in backwards. Does the spring part face towards the front of the truck or away? I can't remember(I really ought to pay more attention to these things). If it faces away then its in backwards. So now that I'm back home I can go get a new one, replace it and no problem.

anyone give me any direction on this?

thanks.

By scott h on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 08:28 am: Edit

and finally...it was the thermostat...thanks for the help all

By Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 06:11 pm: Edit

My memory is foggy, but looking at my trusty factory Workshop Manual, it appears that the spring faces out away from the motor. You can also probably tell by looking at the how the thermostat "interfaces" with the housing -- there is an indentation all the way around the edge of the flat part of the thermostat that fits onto the thermostat housing.

Also, the vent hole/"jiggle pin" should be at the 12 o'clock position.

I bought a replacement thermostat from Atlantic British for $10 with an extra in the glove box, just in case...cheap insurance against a meltdown -- probably a good idea to change it out with the coolant every year.

Norm

By Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 06:21 pm: Edit

Also, be sure to fit a new joint washer (gasket), which fits between the installed thermostat and the outlet elbow. Also, be careful not to knock the alternator too hard when replacing the thermostat -- for some reason, my alternator went on the fritz shortly after replacing the thermostat.

Norm

By Norm Orschnorschki (Norm) on Monday, July 02, 2001 - 09:55 pm: Edit

Well, Hell's Bells -- apparently I gave you some faulty info:

After looking at my trusty Haynes Service Manual for the Discovery (you have to have both the Haynes and the factory manuals to work on these suckers), I saw an actual photo of the thermostat unit in question, which happens to show the unit installed with the spring TOWARDS the motor, with the forked end of the "jiggle pin" in the vent hole aimed outwards towards the outlet elbow.

I then removed my spare thermostat from the glove box and examined it thoroughly: if all else fails, you should be able to see the word "FLOW" along with an arrow pointing toward the aforementioned "jiggle pin"/ vent hole inscribed on the top side of the unit, as more or less designated by the word "TOP" stamped on the front face of the unit thereof.

You may then install said unit accordingly -- that is, if it can be discerned which direction the coolant is supposed to flow.

So much for depending on the crappy diagrams from the factory Workshop Manual.

---Norm