96' Landrover Discovery SD - strong oil/gas smell

[luckyskip19]

I recently bought a 96' Discovery SD. Runs well. I can smell oil or gas burning. Im a little new to the Land rover relm. also I have noticed a slight grinding noise when i accelerate between 35 and 50 mph... could this be my water pump? Everything runs and shifts well. Engine does run pretty hot though, seems to be common with the older models...(and the cold starts are pretty rough sometimes...) Any help is much appreciated. Thank you.

[Savannah Buzz]

Don't get angry, but you have a sick truck IMHO.

1. Drive with windows down to avoid passing out from fumes if exhaust leak into cab. Stop driving truck until grinding noise resolved. Won't be water pump, that runs would make noise if parked when revved up. Water pump bearings, when they fail, make noise, wobble the pump pulley, and can allow the fan to fall off and cut up the radiator.

I would suggest you do a complete lubrication of the underside components. That would be the front "swivels", the front and rear drive shafts (if no zerk fittings, see rebuild article in tech section), front, rear differentials, transfer case. You can verify wheel bearings by jacking up truck and spinning each wheel. Also check fluid level of tranny and consider doing tranny fluid and filter (also in tech section).

2. Oil could be a leak from valve cover gaskets, onto the exhaust manifolds, very common. Many say they snug up valve cover bolts each oil change. You need an 8mm 12 point socket, 1/4 inch drive, the space is tight to get into.

3. When you say "pretty hot", do you mean that temp gauge goees above 9:00 position on the gauge? The D1 is designed to show from 8 - 9:00 for a wide range of coolant temps, like 135 - 235F. If above 9:00 you are overheating and make no mistake about it. he best way to know what is going on is to attach a data reading code scanner, or an Ultra Gauge, to the OBDII port. A separate coolant temp sensor tells the ECU how hot things are 1 degree at a time. But I am not sure if you have an OBDII port under the dash, if not, best you can do is a point and shoot IR thermometer.

Causes of overheat are easy to fix until you get to end of this list:

A. Belt route
B. Low Coolant level (middle of coolant bottle) [chek for coolant loss daily until overheat resolved]
C. Bad thermostat - $10 plus a gasket. Factory is 192-195F, you can also easily get a 180, and a 160, but 160 won't give much heat.
D. Radiator fins clogged with trash and mud, or between radiator and AC condenser.
E. Radiator clogged with calcium build up. Indy rad shop can boil out with "acid" and unsolder a tank and rod out, $90. You can home flush, but it won't do what a shop can. ew rad is $600.
F. Head gaskets $500 DIY, $1700 indy shop
G. Cracked block. Game over.

Pix attached of old vs newer water pump, scale build up, temp reading vs scanner reading. Download RAVE so you will have full set of service manuals.