95 3.9 disco getting too hot

Did you do the stuff I said to?

Water wetter is for race cars that are prohibited from using glycol based coolant, not daily drivers. that will not fix your problem.

Ac fans really don't do much. Hard wiring will not fix it. This sounds like an expired radiator
 

tacr2man

Adventurer
Transientmech is on the right path, fit OE , and make sure that components are operating correctly . There is absolutely no reason for V8 3.9 having o/heat problems . I have/had 3.9i in my heavy 110CSW and have used it in 45C (113F) ambient pulling a 5000lb caravan (trailer) in Australia up long steep grades without worry. The only time you might have to watch temps is when operating an auto gearbox model in heavy sand with your aircon on , which a thing in common with most 4wd that i have come across, (not mine as the condensor is on the roof). The Landrover products were very much developed with a close eye on sales to middle east , and with their ancestry , have always operated in extreme conditions. From what you are describing , eg slow travel speed o/heat with a drop as soon as speed picks up , then you need to be looking very closely at your non standard Viscous fan , you should be able to hear the roar of the fan as soon as the temp goes above normal operating temp, this should cycle on and off as you continue with any hard working , as the cooling system should have sufficient reserve capacity to deal with temp rises. HTSH
 

Antichrist

Expedition Leader
There's nothing wrong with at least some of the aftermarket fan clutches. I use Imperial/Hayden without issue, though, to be clear, the severe duty locks up more as a percentage of shaft speed. For the part numbers I provided, as you go from standard to severe duty they turn the fan at the following percentages of shaft speed; 60-70% for the standard, 70-90% for the heavy duty and 80-90% for the severe duty.
They all lockup at a radiator air temperature of about 170 degrees.
That said, if your preference is to pay a lot more for OEM (at least in the States) because you prefer OEM, there's nothing wrong with that.

Have you tested your fan clutch? Just because it's new (assuming it really is) doesn't mean it couldn't be defective.
Did you verify your thermostat was an 88c or 180f?
Did you verify it was working correctly in a pan of water?
Do you know if your coolant ratio is correct? It seems a lot of people think more is better, but higher coolant/water ratios don't cool as well as 50/50. Higher ratios are only for use in extreme low temps.
You shouldn't need to use your AC fans to cool, and obviously shouldn't need your heater.
Since the viscous clutch has been replaced, have you verified the fan isn't on backwards? Concave side should be towards the engine.
Is your serpentine belt tensioner in good shape?
Have you checked your timing? Since your cooling is ok at speed I think that's probably not the issue, but it would be good to eliminate it.
 

tacr2man

Adventurer
"have you verified the fan isn't on backwards?"

have to agree seen that done more than once :smiley_drive:
 

crimson850

Observer
Wheeled the truck for over and hour today. No problems but on the way home it heated up with ac on.. turned heat on for about a minute and it went down. I added water wetter before the trip. Seems to help
 

tacr2man

Adventurer
Wheeled the truck for over and hour today. No problems but on the way home it heated up with ac on.. turned heat on for about a minute and it went down. I added water wetter before the trip. Seems to help

Water wetter is just tinkering at the edges, its not going to solve it :)
 

Roverchef

Adventurer
Shoulda done it from the beginning. Fire it up and let it sit there in the drive and get hot(not overheat) but normal running temp and then turn it off and go stick your hand all over the backside of the radiator and feel for cold spots. 100% you got a crappy 'ol blocked radiator. For you to not have a thermostat installed and still overheat is a flow issue. Do your a/c fans come on when you have the a/c on...don't assume. Get out of the Rover and go look with a flashlight since they can look like they are working due to the pulling of the viscous fan. If they aren't then they need to be because they are your back-up when the engine goes into overheat mode. They will automatically come on if everything else is functioning correctly. Good luck!
 

Antichrist

Expedition Leader
Just keep in mind that if the AC fans aren't coming on when it overheats with the AC off and you fix them you haven't really fixed your overheat issue. They are merely a backup, which you shouldn't need. These vehicles were available without AC.
 

proper4wd

Expedition Leader
Coming soon, your next Land Rover owner who will "never own another Land Rover again" because they "have so many problems and are unreliable"...
 

mpinco

Expedition Leader
Agree with everyone, a 3.9 should idle or run under load at low speed without overheating. Have a hydrocarbon test done at the radiator plug to ensure you don't have a head gasket issue. I 'think' the threshold is ~50ppm. Above that and you have a leaking head gasket, pushing CO into the cooling system and lowering cooling capacity.

The red flag is the missing thermostat. The previous owner had been trying to solve the same issue.
 

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