by "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
Published 12/18/2017 at 11:05
by "Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
Published 12/18/2017 at 11:05
Tags: Disco Inferno
STARS: 2
Since buying the damn thing in May, I knew it had a coolant leak. When I took it on the test drive the reservoir was bone dry and I have to add coolant about once a month. I also know the temperature gauge on a Disco is mostly for show and the head gasket is more fragile than a teenager’s self-esteem. I bought an OBDII gauge that alerts me when the temp goes into “goodbye head gasket” range, keep an eye on my coolant, and get regular oil tests.
Of course, when I was driving around rural Oklahoma none of these safegaurds helped. The Landy recently developed a minor evap leak which causes a check engine light to come on. This also causes my OBDII gauge to beep annoyingly every couple of minutes. You can silence the alarm, but only if you managed to push a button on the back of the display in the short time window you have available... and try not to hit anyone during.
Anyway, I say all this to say when I noticed my, noted useless, factory temp gauge was creeping into the red, my OBD2 gauge was unplugged to keep it quiet and I knew were were deep in code brown territory. I immediately put the heater to max and notified my passengers we were about to have a problem. Noticing the heater wasn’t... heating, I put 2 and 2 together pretty quickly, pulled over, and shut off the engine.
Yup, my dumb ass forgot to check the coolant and ran it dry. Opening the bleed screw revealed the scope of my idiocy: all the top hoses were dry.
This is why I can’t have nice things!
Long story short (too late) the nice man whose driveway I was blocking came out and gave us some water for the engine and I successfully refilled and bled the system. On the drive home everything seemed fine and the temperatures stayed in the green.
While I think I am in the clear (the temperature never actually got into the red, just above operating temperature) there is always a lingering doubt that I caused lasting damage. I will, obviously, keep an eye on the coolant and oil to look for any signs of contamination. It is also on my list to track down and eliminate the leak this week.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:13, STARS: 2
Ah Land Rover ownership. The one thing I knew about discoveries before I knew anything about discoveries was their cooling systems are a pain. That being said, I have a coolant leak right now on the cruiser so I can’t cast too many stones. Hoping its just a bad waterpump gasket.
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:28, STARS: 0
What year is your cruiser?
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:28, STARS: 1
97
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:29, STARS: 0
Sweet.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:29, STARS: 2
Its been pretty great, but I think its reaching an age Im looking for something else. 300,000 miles is a lot on anything, even a Land Cruiser.
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:36, STARS: 0
Wow.
"TheRealBicycleBuck" (therealbicyclebuck)
12/18/2017 at 11:38, STARS: 2
As a teenager, m y uncle bought a 1970 Challenger SE with a 318 (stock) . Not long after he bought it, h e was cruising down the freeway with a friend when things went horribly wrong. The bottom radiator hose had blown and poured all of the coolant onto the road. The only sign of trouble was that it took more and more gas to maintain freeway speeds. He was young and inexperienced, so he just kept pushing the pedal harder. He finally reached the point where the gas pedal was on the floor and the car was slowing down. He finally realized it was time to pull over.
When he lifted his foot off the gas , the engine seized, the rear wheels locked up, and he started sliding down the freeway. He managed to get to the shoulder without getting hit.
After they popped the hood, they realized what had happened. His buddy hitched a ride to the nearest auto parts store and came back with a new hose and several gallons of coolant. By the time he got back, the car had cooled off enough for them to replace the hose and refill the system.
To his surprise, that little 318 fired up on the first try.
Sometimes we just get lucky. Here’s hoping the damage to your Landy isn’t too bad.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/18/2017 at 11:40, STARS: 1
You only get one or two of those before SHTF quick. Good luck, hopefully that 4.0 is still all sealed up inside. You running the 180F stat yet? You should be.
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:42, STARS: 0
https://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/d/1987-toyota-land-cruiser-fj62/6387118249.html
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:43, STARS: 0
nah, thinking Im going to jump to 200
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:43, STARS: 0
I don’t know what that means...
FJ200?
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:45, STARS: 0
URJ200
https://www.ksl.com/auto/photo?ssid=4258145&rnid=1#2
"random001" (random001)
12/18/2017 at 11:45, STARS: 0
Hey! U R J200, then!
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/18/2017 at 11:49, STARS: 0
Fingers crossed.
No, I bought a stock replacement and planned on putting it in as preventative maintenance. What are the arguments for the 180F stat? I thought in general running lower temperatures caused a steep efficiency loss.
"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch)
12/18/2017 at 11:50, STARS: 2
just as an FYI - the first letter or 2 in the sequence is the engine code. So if you want to sound cool talking to cruiser people (easy because cruiser people are nerds) just use the series if you don’t know the engine code. i.e. 80 series vs fzj80 (1fz-fe engine). J means wagon, the “F” in FJ40 is for the “F” engine. It could also be a BJ40
"benjrblant" (benjblant)
12/18/2017 at 11:53, STARS: 0
Oh no! Good luck!
"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/18/2017 at 11:59, STARS: 1
Efficiency is not an argument to be had when talking about Rovers. The argument is that your engine is running cooler, and thats farther away from overheating.
http://www.roversnorth.com/ProductDesc.aspx?code=PLQ028&type=0
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/18/2017 at 12:11, STARS: 0
Haha efficiency is always important. Still, I will keep it in mind. Thanks.
"Urambo Tauro" (urambotauro)
12/18/2017 at 12:40, STARS: 3
I guess that factory temp gauge isn’t so useless after all.
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
12/18/2017 at 12:59, STARS: 0
touché
"RacinBob" (racinbob)
12/18/2017 at 13:42, STARS: 0
Last I heard, the amount of heat being put into the water, the system’s heat rejection capacity, and the amount of water determines whether it overheats or not. It would have overheated with a 180, 190, or even no thermostat.
You ran it out of water and it overheated. Period. Don’t mess with the stat.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/18/2017 at 13:46, STARS: 0
Everyone who has a DII switches to the 180F stat and has been doing so for years. It’s not that it doesn’t overheat with a lower stat, it that the truck runs 10 degrees cooler; which is necessary in these motors.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
12/18/2017 at 13:48, STARS: 0
Every Disco 2 enthusiast switches to the lower temp stat to lower operating temp. It’s a necessary thing to do on these motors, as the later ones were pushed to run hotter from the factory to increase fuel mileage, which is a big no-no for longevity on these things.
"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction)
12/18/2017 at 16:49, STARS: 1
Ugh. But glad you broke down in front of a nice, helpful Okie’s place!
"shop-teacher" (shop-teacher)
12/18/2017 at 23:14, STARS: 0
D’oh! Fingers crossed that no permanent damage was done.
That reminds me, I saw an overheated Disco on the side of the road last week. Unfortunately I had to get to school, and couldn’t stop to help.
"random001" (random001)
12/19/2017 at 06:35, STARS: 0
Heh. Thanks for that! Neat info!
"Akio Ohtori - RIP Oppo" (akioohtori)
04/12/2018 at 14:56, STARS: 0
Well, four months later: you were right! I replaced the thermostat with a Britpart (I know, I know) 195 thermostat and did the coolant temp sensor when I did the heads. Upon resurrection the temps were exactly the same, which was slightly higher than I’d like. (About 208 on the highway, 221ish at idle)
Swapped out for a Land Rover genuine warm weather thermostat last night and happy with the results so far. Engine is running right where I would have expected with the 195. Bummer to have wasted the time and money putting in the stock one, but sometimes you have to learn the hard way.
"adamftw" (adamftw)
04/16/2018 at 06:46, STARS: 0
Alright alright. At least you were able to get it swapped. You should be in good order for now with all the other repairs you did.