2004 D2 - Heater not working, Vehicle overheating, Coolant Boiling

[David Harris]

It's highly possible that you will need a new engine if the block is cracked or a liner has slipped. I have a Discovery 2 and two Rover V8's and sitting in my shop right now with just those problems.

 

[tacr2man]

If your rover isnt cranking then more than likely in view of what you have recounted on here , you have water in a cylinder , so as recomended above remove all spark plugs , crank it and some one standing infront , not at sides will be able to tell you which one the water ejects from . In which case you are up for a rebuild , you need someone who is a rover engine specialist , as ther is possibility that you might have a slipped liner etc (not uncommon) . Otherwise you will be just wasting more money . , a thermostat should not need modding , these engines will operate in 40C plus , in standard spec ( I have used same in Australia) HTSH

 

[overlander]

the fact that you have a mistery coolant loss, followed by a no crank, tells me coolant is getting into the pistons. As mentioned above, it's pretty quick to confirm it. you'll probably see chocolate milk on your dipstick at this point, or coolant drops. turning your engine without pulling your plugs with coolant in piston is going to hydrolock your engine just like ingesting water in a river.

drain all coolant and oil immediately if so in a warm garage. you can replace your head gaskets in a weekend with the parts on hand. it's not hard, just a bit tedious, since you have to pull the intake manifold to do it. it's actually a pretty easy engine to work on.

this is assuming the liner hasn't slipped as mentioned. if you pull the top end (heads and intake manifold off, you should be able to see the liners since the pistons will be exposed, and you'll know for sure. The rave manuals online, as well as the ton of rover forums will show you how to do this yourself on the cheap if you are up to it.

 

[David Harris]

the fact that you have a mistery coolant loss, followed by a no crank, tells me coolant is getting into the pistons. As mentioned above, it's pretty quick to confirm it. you'll probably see chocolate milk on your dipstick at this point, or coolant drops. turning your engine without pulling your plugs with coolant in piston is going to hydrolock your engine just like ingesting water in a river.

drain all coolant and oil immediately if so in a warm garage. you can replace your head gaskets in a weekend with the parts on hand. it's not hard, just a bit tedious, since you have to pull the intake manifold to do it. it's actually a pretty easy engine to work on.

this is assuming the liner hasn't slipped as mentioned. if you pull the top end (heads and intake manifold off, you should be able to see the liners since the pistons will be exposed, and you'll know for sure. The rave manuals online, as well as the ton of rover forums will show you how to do this yourself on the cheap if you are up to it.

When the heads are off, it's important to pressure test the block to check for cracks behind the liner. There are kits to do this, or you can mock one up. You just have to block the coolant and water pump passages, fill them with coolant and then pump them with air to about 20-30 psi from a fitting attached to one of the block offs. Then put some dish soap around the edges of the liner on each cylinder. Bubbles will appear if there is a crack behind the liner. Both failed blocks I have show bubbles under pressure, which means that they are useless outside of pulling the liner(s) welding the crack and then resleeving the block with top hat liners to prevent it occurring again. It's really important to check the block because you could go to all the expense/time of the head gasket replacement and still have an overheating engine when done. It's been reported many times on numerous forums.

 

[taylorRichie]

Really good info thanks everyone... I will be draining all coolant and oil this weekend, hoping I don't find coolant in the oil, then deciding what action to take.

As far as moding the thermostat, I read about it on Land Rover forums... It's a band aid fix to a greater issue of course, but as I understand it, occasionally the thermostat on these v8s can get stock due to air being trapped. By bending the thermostat a little, or drilling small holes it will prevent air from getting trapped, allowing the thermostat to open properly. Surely It's not a permanent fix, but it may bide some time.

I'll be sure to report back, Thanks again everyone for taking the time.

 

[overlander]

Just remember that you can chase symptoms all day long repeatedly, coming up with OTC fixes for just that symptom, only for others to pop up. When everything is working properly, the land rovers can operate perfectly in any climate on earth. If something isn't right, fix it properly and be done with it. forget the band aids. if you want a reliable overlander, than modifying a t-stat to deal with a symptom isn't the way to go. buy once, cry once and be done with it.

if it gets overwhelming, just buy a long block from Atlantic British or someone, test the old heads, put it all together, junk the old block, put new wires, plugs and hoses on, and you'll have yourself a fresh start overlander where you know the whole history of the engine.

 

[David Harris]

Just remember that you can chase symptoms all day long repeatedly, coming up with OTC fixes for just that symptom, only for others to pop up. When everything is working properly, the land rovers can operate perfectly in any climate on earth. If something isn't right, fix it properly and be done with it. forget the band aids. if you want a reliable overlander, than modifying a t-stat to deal with a symptom isn't the way to go. buy once, cry once and be done with it.

if it gets overwhelming, just buy a long block from Atlantic British or someone, test the old heads, put it all together, junk the old block, put new wires, plugs and hoses on, and you'll have yourself a fresh start overlander where you know the whole history of the engine.

Great advice.

 

[proper4wd]

Has anyone come out with a lower temp thermostat for the D2's yet? Part of the problem with these engines is that the factory thermostats are designed to maintain a rather high operating temperature for emissions reasons. Old design aluminum engine + consistent high operating temps = low long term durability

 

[David Harris]

Has anyone come out with a lower temp thermostat for the D2's yet? Part of the problem with these engines is that the factory thermostats are designed to maintain a rather high operating temperature for emissions reasons. Old design aluminum engine + consistent high operating temps = low long term durability

You can use the Freelander thermostat which is a 180 degree I think and swaps right in. Personally, I am going to go with a traditional inline thermostat install to simplify the system to D1 and earlier specs. The factory set up relies on pressure to open the t-stat rather than temperature. The Freelander thermostat simply has a weaker spring, so less pressure is required to open the flow. As you say, this and the bypass installed along with it allows the engine to get up to operating temp quicker for emissions purposes. Here's what I am going to do on mine when I install the new engine:

http://www.landroverclubvi.com/inline-thermostat.html

Uses any Chevy SB thermostat, so there are plenty of options to swap for different seasons, etc.

 

[charlieaarons]

Good excuse for a diesel swap - 200tdi?

Charlie

 

[proper4wd]

Would theoretically be possible, but a TD5 would be much easier. With the right parts from the UK it could be plug and play!